“Percy Jackson Is Full Of Monsters And Fun Action!”
Written by Lorenzo Marchessi
Thor Freudenthal (Diary of A Wimpy Kid, Hotel For Dogs) directed this sequel to the boy who was born to a human mother and one of the original Greek Gods, Poseidon. Marc Guggenheim (Green Lantern, Arrow) took the original novel from the very popular book series and written by Rick Riordan and did very a nice job at capturing the spirit and the heart of the story that is “Percy Jackson – Sea of Monsters”.
Logan Lerman (Stuck In Love, The Three Musketeers) reprises his role as Percy and this time his adventure is far more personal than he could have ever imagined. Percy finds out that he also has a half-brother named Tyson who happens to be a Cyclops and is wonderfully portrayed by Douglas Smith (Antiviral, The Boy Who Smells Like Fish). The two seem at odds, but Tyson innocence and sincerity really warm the hearts of e
veryone in the team and the audience.
The team is back and it consists of the other half-humans/half-Gods like Alexandra Daddario (Texas Chainsaw 3D, Parenthood) as feisty Annabeth, Brandon T. Jackson (Thunderstruck, Raising Hope) as Grover who is a real Satyr himself and Leven Rambim (The Hunger Games, One Tree Hill) as Clarisse the over-the-top female bully of the bunch.
One of the most interesting performances comes from Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games, The Devil Wears Prada) playing Mr. D. who is the somewhat despondent caretaker of the fortress where all the Half-Gods are protected by a special tree that was made at the cost of the life of one of their own.
One of the best and funniest performances comes from Nathan Fillion (Castle, Firefly) who plays Hermes, one of the original three God’s first created by the Titans – the Messenger of the bunch. Nathan is obviously having way too much fun with his character in speaking about himself and his abilities and the fact that he himself has a now estranged and wayward son named Luke, another Half-God.
Luke is basically the bad guy in this film, trying to assemble the original Titan who created all Gods and is played quite nasty by Jake Abel (The Host, I Am Number 4). All the kids are back with a few new ones added in the mix too. The entire plot centers around saving the dying tree that protects the fort and stopping Luke from assembling the original Titan named Polyphemus (who is voiced by Ron Perlman (Beauty and the Beats, Hellboy)) who is pure evil and wants to destroy all the Half-Gods and the entire world and every human on it. How? He east them. Yum!
There are wonderful effects including riding a wave on the ocean, a gigantic digestive system of a sea Monster as well as the creation and destruction of Polyphemus. They absolutely leave the ending open for a sequel but this film franchise has a smart heart, big story and wonderfully cast all the way around. Fun for the whole family!