Review of Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) by Jacob — 24 Dec 2014

Sea of Monsters is both a step forward and a step backward for the franchise. For the film is well acted, well cast, and well directed. The first half of the film tries to be faithful to the book making the story flow, getting in necessary information, and making up for a lot of the errors made in the last film.

All of these smart moves make it frustrating when we get to the second half. Luke is reduced to a pathetic and easily beaten villain, the prophecy is poorly explained and handled, the Sea of Monsters is overwhelming despite the build up and title, and the way the climax would be handled it makes you wonder if the filmmakers remember they still have three more books.

Nonetheless, this is an improvement over The Lightning Theif giving us something that is more true to the spirit of the book than the predecessor. Don’t know if they’ll get a third film given the poor performance of this film critically and financially but if the franchise keeps improving we may soon get the Percy Jackson film fans want.