Percy Jackson : La Mer des monstres

It's refreshing to see a relatively non violent adventure fantasy suitable for younger audiences again. Yet older audiences can enjoy it too. I actually prefer the story to the Hunger Games stories with all the killing.

The effects and creatures are slightly fake and unreal looking but it adds to the charm. Cute blending of mythology and the present story.

Logan Lerman still looks young enough for the role but Alexandra Daddario is looking a bit older.

I remember enjoying the first one slightly more with the novelty of the characters but this one is alright enough.

Greek mythology returns in "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters", the sequel to 2010's "The Lightning Thief". Based on the novels by Rick Riordan, the series puts a spin on the rich mythology by blending it with modern society, which is kind of interesting.

The bulk of all the characters here are demigods/half-bloods (offspring of gods and humans). But the protagonist is Percy Jackson, a demigod son of Poseidon. Previously, he along with his besties Annabeth (daughter of Athena) and Grover (a satyr), stopped Luke, the Lightning thief, from destroying Olympus. Here, Camp Half-Blood (demigods' safe haven) are under threat after Thalia's tree, the boundary that protects the camp, is poisoned. The only thing that can heal it is the Golden Fleece which is located on an island in the Sea of Monsters, or what we like to call the Bermuda Triangle.

The movie is quite action-packed and pits our hero against a variety of Greek monsters. I loved the scene where the half-bloods had to face the Colchis bull. The mechanical bull was quite extraordinary and that scene was entertaining. However, I felt that the climax was a bit of a letdown as all the tension that had been generated zipped away so quickly.

Characters come and go. In "Sea of Monsters", much of the ensemble cast that make up the deities from the previous film are absent. We will see no more of Zeus (Sean Bean), Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), Hades (Steve Coogan), Persephone (Rosario Dawson), and Chiron (Pierce Brosnan). That means most of the experienced actors are out (not to forget Uma Thurman as Medusa). In replacement, we get Dionysus portrayed by the reliable Stanley Tucci. The gods Hermes and Chiron have replacements (Nathan Fillion and Anthony Head, respectively). We also have the clumsy but humble Tyson (Douglas Smith), Percy's cyclops half-brother, and the self-eccentric Clarisse La Rue (Leven Rambin), demigod daughter of Ares.

The movie had lots of scenes involving special effects. It was okay but it wasn't excellent. Some of the creatures were stunning (the hippocampus was amazing and eye-candy) whereas some looked pretty cheap and effortless (Kronos).

Under the direction of a new director, the movie is more faithful to the source compared to the first movie's similarity to the book (although by a tiny bit). But that's not to say some of the scenes diverge from he book. The movie is quite well-paced and during the ride, there are plenty of laughs to enjoy.

Overall, "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" is quite an enjoyable film. It's not better than the first and it's not worse than the first. It has quite an interesting premise and some fine action sequences.

Rating: 6/10

Final Verdict: "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" is a decent sequel that provides plenty of action scenes and laughs, with passable acting and okay visual effects.

The Camp Half-Blood is protected by Thalia, a daughter of Zeus that sacrificed her life to save the young Annabeth, Grover and Luke from an attack of Cyclops and was transformed by her father into a magical tree. Out of the blue, Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is visited by his unknown half- brother Cyclops Tyson (Douglas Smith) and they discover that Thalia was poisoned and is dying. Then the camp is attacked by a Colchis Bull but it is vanquished by Percy. Soon he learns that Luke (Jake Abel) is the one that has poisoned the magical tree.

Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario) discovers the mystic Golden Fleece is capable to heal Thalia and save their camp. But Mr. D (Stanley Tucci) assigns the winner demigod Clarisse (Leven Rambin) to the quest of retrieving the magic fleece. However Percy Jackson, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson decide to follow an ancient prophecy and they go to the dangerous journey to the Sea of Monsters to recover the Golden Fleece from Luke that wants to revive the evil Kronos to destroy the Olympus.

"Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" is a reasonable infantile adventure of the demigod son of Poseidon Percy Jackson. The beautiful Clarisse is an unpleasant character and Percy Jackson is a weak hero; Tyson is too dumb and Grover is funny but coward. Therefore the only attractive character is Annabeth, gorgeous and strong. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Percy Jackson e o Mar de Monstros" ("Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters")

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters feels like a cheap ripoff of the Harry Potter series made for younger kids or teenagers who read the books and would like to see it on the big screen. The script is awfully written, some of the dialogues were bad. Some of the funny scenes earlier in the film feel forced and the jokes were not delivered properly by the characters (found out the screenplay is actually written by the screenwriter who wrote Green Lantern).

The storyline is weak and feels out of place. There's simply not enough adventure in the Sea of Monster'S' and the actual quest felt a little too rushed for the audience to feel satisfied. Furthermore, the big finale near the end of the film feels disappointing and lame. Not sure about the novels as I've never read them before, but it seems as if the gods doesn't seem to care much about their half-blood kids (Poseidon seemed to be ignoring Percy despite his many attempts in communicating with him)...There's no appearances of the Greek Gods - Zeus, Poseidon or Hades throughout the film...despite the fact that there's an issue of utmost urgency that requires their immediate attention. One could even question why bother making the half-bloods in the first place?

Most of the plot elements felt contrived or questionable...they're just simply there for the sake of the plot (sorry for mentioning some of the plot element, I just couldn't help it):

-Out of nowhere, Luke just 'magically' found the Tomb of Kronos?

-A powerful crucial magical item such as the golden fleece is only guarded by a Cyclops on an island?

-The film's title mentioned Sea of Monster'S', but in the end the audience just get to see just a monster that looks like a maelstrom?

-How Grover managed to reach the island in the first place?

-How Luke and his crew gets to have a rat-scorpion hybrid monster as a pet in the first place?

-Seriously, if Kronos was defeated that easily, then why it needs 3 powerful Greek Gods to defeat him in the first place?

-Annabelle mentioned that Poseidon's powers don't work in the sea of monsters since the sea is not within Poseidon's domain of power, but Tyson managed to heal his wound?

Not to mention, the film ends in an unsatisfactory cliffhanger as well.

There's some character development in the film, especially Tyson, Percy and Luke. The acting performances from actors were fine and the film is entertaining in some parts of the film, but it certainly didn't reach the heights and complexity of the adventures in the Harry Potter series. While fans of the book series might love the film, but for general audiences, this fantasy action adventure is certainly a miss.

There is a better film about gods and monsters: it's called Gods and Monsters.