There's a lot of great things noteworthy for SEA OF MONSTERS. It's a new PERCY JACKSON adaptation which is always fun. We have to thank of course Rick Riordan and his YA book series for the source material and plot. There's also the great screenplay by Marc Guggenheim together with a fresh new vision from director Thor Freudenthal.
Most if not all of the cast members from the first movie have also reprised their roles. There are also a lot of fresh faces for the series like Stanley Tucci who plays the role of Dionysus. There's also a brief but sweet nonetheless appearance by Captain Mal himself, Nathan Fillion who plays Hermes, series antagonist's father. Oh and there's Douglas Smith who really looks like Brendan Fraser, as Percy's cyclopean, half brother Tyson.
Gotta hand it to the visual effects team for creating astoundingly great looking mythical creatures. We've all seen the Hippocamp from the trailer as well as Charybdis and that mean looking Colchis Bull (yeah, singular, while the book had Colchis BULLS).
Let's admit it, the first Percy Jackson though fun, was a letdown. It didn't know what it was frankly because it was released around the time when the Harry Potter films where hitting the climax point. So it was quite possible that it was trying to follow the HP formula while trying to look hip and modern and different. SEA OF MONSTERS took a different approach. It took the title of a Riordan book, gathered most of the characters, created a fresh take on the story without sacrificing the real plot of the series and took risks and certain liberties as well and made something out of it.
Just to set expectations, Percy Jackson felt and looked like it was designed for tweens and teens. Don't expect an Oscar winning performance from lead Logan Lerman as you'd definitely be disappointed. Expect a bit of grimness and darker themes here though. Action is another thing you get in droves here as the first 20 minutes you'll already see Percy bruised and bloodied. Which is good actually since it raises the odds.
Another great thing here was the animation effects that they used for introducing viewers to the mythical world of gods and demigods. We've seen it before in movies like HARRY POTTER and HELLBOY: GOLDEN ARMY but it works here. It's also practical since it saves much time.
Mind you though, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters if far from perfect. There's actually quite a few gripes here and there such as the amount of liberties they've taken from the book. There's a lot of plot holes here and there that never gets resolved (or is brushed under the rug, maybe as part of the next movie adaptation). Also the acting can be a bit dry once in awhile.
Regardless, I really think that this is an enjoyable flick. It's got this something that will mystify (no pun intended) Pinoy audience which I'm going to say is one of the easiest people to please when it comes to movies (I'm a testament to that).
PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS is Now Showing in all theaters nationwide. It's also distributed by 20TH CENTURY FOX. Like their Facebook Fanpage to get the last trailers, news and tidbits (LIKE HERE)
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