Ever since the Harry Potter films grossed billions of dollars worldwide and changed the way Hollywood looks at young adult novels, film studios have been scrambling to find the next kid lit hit (try saying that ten times fast). Some of them range from the decent (I thought Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events was a fairly decent movie), but most of them have just been...bad. Really, really....bad (see: Eragon, City of Ember, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising....you get the idea). A recent example of a young adult book series that has tried to become the next Harry Potter film franchise is Percy Jackson and The Olympians by Rick Riordan.
The series focuses on young Percy Jackson, who finds out that he's a demigod, or half human, half god, and that the gods you hear in Greek myths, such as Zeus, Hades, Ares, etc. are real and still exist on this earth today. Percy discovers that he's the son of the god of the seas, Posiedon and that he's destined to save Mount Olympus from an ancient threat, more ancient than the gods themselves. Now I have read the books on which these films are based and I think they're an excellent read. The concept of the series alone is fascinating and the series deftly blends witty humor with fast paced action and contains a series of well written characters. So you think with an fascinating idea like that they would be able to at least translate fairly well onto the big screen.....right?
Well they tried that in 2010, with the release of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, based on the first book in the series. Looking at the film from a critical perspective, I thought it was....ok. If you had never read the books, it was a semi decent family adventure film that would be fine to rent on a rainy day. Looking at the movie from a fan perspective however, the movie was an absolute mess. Major plot elements were either changed from the book or deleted entirely (I know the film version always deviates from the source material and is never always faithful to the book but this was ridiculous) and the film felt like it was trying too hard to become the next Harry Potter. But, somehow the film made a ton of money, enough to warrant a sequel, which brings us to today's film: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.
In this second installment, we find that Percy Jackson (played once again by Logan Lerman) is living at Camp Half Blood, a camp for demigods that protects them for monsters and trains to fight against them (think Hogwarts for half-bloods....I'm sorry that's the last Harry Potter joke I promise). One day, when the barriers around the camp start to mysteriously break down, it is discovered that the tree helps protect the barrier at camp has been poisoned and only the Golden Fleece from ancient myths can save it. Percy, who has not been on a quest since he saved Olympus in the last movie, heads out to retrieve the Fleece from the dangerous Sea of Monsters with his two friends Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario) and Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) and his new half brother Tyson (Douglas Smith), who happens to be a Cyclops. They must obtain it before Luke (Jake Abel), who turned to the "dark side" can use it to resurrect his evil master.
As I went into this movie, I tried going in with an open mind as a fan. I liked what I was seeing from the trailers, as it looked much better than the last film. Plus, I had some hope that this could become a decent franchise, especially with the concept behind it. I mean everyone gets a second chance, why not the Percy Jackson films?
Unfortunately, all hope I had left for this becoming a good film franchise is officially gone. This film was....not good. At all. There are some good elements, which I'll cover in the next paragraph, but the bad stuff outweighs the good stuff.
The major positive I can find with this movie is that most of the actors seemed to be pretty game with their roles. Logan Lerman is becoming one of my favorite actors, especially with his fantastic turn in last year's The Perks of Being a Wallflower. He was one of the good parts of the last Jackson movie and he looked like he was having a fun time in this role again, coming off as a likeable action hero. Another big standout to me was Dionysus, the god of wine (played by Stanley Tucci), one of the heads of the camp. Anytime Tucci is on screen in any film, he is just mesmerizing to watch. Here is no exception, even if he is only in the film for a short time. He just chews scenery and stays true to the character in the book, giving him a very dry sense of humor.
But by far, the best actor in this whole movie is Nathan Fillion as Hermes. Fillion has always one of my favorite actors, coming off as extremely likeable and charismatic, making him a joy to watch on screen. As Hermes, he's a blast to watch, deftly blending humor with some more serious moments (there's one line that had me laughing out loud that I won't spoil. All I'll say is....if you watched him on Firefly you'll appreciate the joke like I did). I'm glad that Fillion is getting more roles and here's to hoping he's on screen more in the future.
Ok so that's the good stuff....now for the bad stuff. The biggest problem I had with the film was the pacing. It was all over the place. Sometimes, the film moved along briskly and other times it just seemed to drag on very slowly. The director, Thor Freudenthal (which I find very funny considering this is a movie about Greek mythology that's directed by a guy named Thor) does a poor job directing the film and throughout the movie, I did not know whether I should feel excited, bored etc.
Another big problem I have is the CGI.....the CGI looked like it was something you would see in 2006. I mean we've made huge technological advancements since then, why did we have to use something that looks....incredibly outdated? It may be a minor nitpick, but to me, it was way too noticeable.
Finally, the last thing that bothers me is the ending. Speaking from a fan perspective, I was not happy with the fact that they added this one part that was not in the book at all. Without spoiling it, all I'll say is that it felt completely unnecessary and that it did not to be added. As I've said before, not all movies based on books are going to get things right, but this just did not need to be added.
Overall, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters was not particularly good. The pacing was awful, the CGI looked horrible, and the whole thing felt too...familiar. The only reason I can't bring it to the D range is because I did enjoy most of the performances in the film (especially from Nathan Fillion). Even though there's three books left to be adapted in this series, I think it's time for this franchise to be laid to rest.
Grade: C- (and that's being EXTREMELY generous because the actors' performance made me not want to physically hurt myself after watching this.)
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