Based on the popular young adult novels by Rick Riordan, the series of Percy Jackson books tells the tales of Poseidon’s son and his adventures at Camp Half-Blood.
Barring any sort of huge debt owed to another school filled with mystical and magical elements, there happens to be a large fanbase for the hellenic tales of Percy’s life. However, the sequel to the 2010 “The Lightning Thief” is still a lackluster fleecing of material from other fantasy films and took no advantage of distinguishing itself to form its own identity.
At the beginning of “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters,” we’re introduced to four young demigods fleeing through the forest from cyclopes who wish to pound them into dust. The young Talia (Katelyn Mager, “Everything and Everyone”) chooses an act of self sacrifice so the others of their group may retreat to the camp. This selfless kindness creates a tree which in turn shields the camp from all the ne’er do wells and malcontent forces that wish to extinguish those demigods.
Ultimately, when the roguish demigod Luke (Jake Abel, “The Host”), with his merry band of male models, poisons the tree and a mechanical bull begins raiding the camp, Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”) defeats the bull and eventually must trek with his friends to find the golden fleece and save the camp.
There’s a whole lot that goes on in “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” that’s not worth the trouble establishing. Even if that’s its prerogative, the film doesn’t need to juggle so many threads of plot and character arcs. It’s just a lack of profundity in excess.
The film exists in a vacuum of boring and it’s a film that doesn’t deliver on its promise of monsters in the sea in the plural sense. There’s one in the sea. That’s it. That could be perceived as a completely childish demand, but when the title doesn’t match the product, no one is getting their money’s worth.
The large ensemble of actors from Sean Bean to Pierce Brosnan as well as director Chris Columbus who set off the Harry Potter franchise, don’t return for this sophomore effort either.
Director Thor Freudenthal’s (“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”) execution of the material is rather anonymous and there are no personal touches to distinguish “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” from the ocean of other languishing family fantasies such as “The Seeker: The Dark is Rising” and “The Golden Compass.”
A stained glass sequence involving the retelling of how three Olympian gods defeated Chronos is about the most engaging material in “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.” In fact, it’s too engaging to be lumped in a film like this and would fit quite comfortably within the wheelhouse of Guillermo Del Toro’s “Hellboy” series.
So the search for the next franchise worthy golden calf continues and the band played on, half heartedly.
dkahen-kashi@theeagleonline.com
