In the 2nd of the Percy Jackson series we find Percy (Logan Lerman) and his friends once again at Camp Half-blood. We are quickly introduced to a new member of the cast, Clarisse (Leven Rambin) a daughter of Aries who feels it necessary to best Percy in everything. We also learn that Percy has a half-brother named Tyson (Douglas Smith) who is a Cyclops (he is the son of Poseidon and a nymph). Returning to the film are his best friends Annabeth played by Alexandria Daddario and Grover the Satyr played by Brandon T. Jackson.

During dinner Clarisse is teasing Percy and Tyson when Tyson pipes up and says, “Bull”. He clarifies this by saying, “I smell bull”. Then a raging mechanical bull breaks through the magical barrier that surrounds Camp Half-blood and heads straight for the students. The students are finally able to bring the bull down, but it begs the worrisome question; what has happened to the magical barrier? It seems the tree that has always provided the barrier has been poisoned and there is only one thing that can save it, the Golden Fleece.

Although Clarisse is charged with the actual quest to retrieve the Fleece, our hero and his friends also set off on their own to find it.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters was a little disappointing for both me and my ten year old son. They had done such a good job with the first film; I was expecting more of the same with this one. However, they strayed pretty far from the book on this one with snippets that are recognizable. My son (who loves the book series) was complaining loudly about how much they had changed.

Even so, this movie could have been really good on its own merits, but it kept getting confused as to which plotline it wanted to follow. Also, it tried to cram about five different morals into one story. It got a little repetitious after a while.

The actors do a good job in this film (hurrah for a cameo by Nathan Fillion!) They just did not have much of a plot (or 2 or 3) to follow. The special effects are very good – the hippocampus is lovely to look at. As for being in 3-D, there was really only one scene that I would consider 3-D. So if you have to pay extra to see it in 3-D, don’t bother. As for “Sea of Monsters” – well there weren’t that many. There is a scene at the end which promises more to come. Hopefully it will pay more attention to the book next time.

I would recommend skipping this movie at the theater and waiting on it to come out on DVD and watching it then. If you are a fan of the series you will want to see it if for no other reason than continuity for when the next film comes out.

This film is rated PG for fantasy action violence, some scary images and mild language.

I bought tickets to see this film with my own funds