Review of Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) by Everett J — 31 Dec 2013

I didn't expect much when the first "Percy Jackson" movie came out and was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed it and thought it was much better than other young adult fantasy movies. Did I think it had enough juice for a franchise? Probably not, but for a one off film, it was good.

So with the sequel my expectations were lower, and that's a good thing, because this falls in the "not nearly as good as the first movie" category of sequels. Here, Percy(Logan Lerman) and his demi-god friends, and Cyclops half brother, have to recover the golden fleece and save their camp.

This feels like a tv episode where it's like "hey guys, let's go on an adventure", but doesn't move the story along at all. All the characters are pretty stagnant, and the Cyclops brother is lame and poorly acted.

Last year Lerman was the star of one of my favorite movies of the year, "Perks of a Wallflower". He showed he can be a terrific actor, but this feels like a step back for him. Also, for being 2013, the effects weren't really up to snuff with other similar movies.

Now, having said all that, I'm not the target audience. This is for kids/teens, and I can see them enjoying it. Will(my 7 year old nephew) came in with about 30 minutes left and seemed to enjoy it.

It leaves it open for a third one, which I don't think it needs, but hopefully it will be better and give this franchise the life it needs to sustain.