Sequel Baiting #3: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief vs Sea of Monsters

Percy Jackson has had a tough go in movies, a failed attempt at a 5-movie franchise adapting the popular novels by Rick Riordan. And when I say 'adapting' I mean in the loosest possible fashion. The first movie changes some major elements from the first book. With the second, I wonder if the writers had only flicked through the book before throwing it away and working on their script. But this is not a review that will rank these movies as adaptations, I myself have only read Wikipedia summaries of the plot. Both movies had a similar mixed reception, and made a similar amount of money about $220m, but the second one had a higher budget so it was seen as disappointing. I have seen both of these movies and here are my thoughts.

Plot

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief opens with Zeus accusing the son of Poseidon of stealing his lightning bolt for no reason. Seriously, there’s no explanation given for why he’s suspected. Anyway, we’re introduced to Percy and his best friend and revealed to be Junior Protector, Grover. On a field trip he’s attacked by one of Hades’ monsters, he survives thanks to timely intervention but it’s clear he needs to be sent away. Away from his deadbeat parent that really serves no point in the story. They head out but the car is flipped by cows and they’re attacked by a Minotaur. Percy and Grover make it to their new home Camp Half-Blood whilst Percy’s mother is abducted by Hades. They meet the daughter of Athena, Annabeth and the Son of Hermes, Luke, who is so obviously the bad guy I won’t wait to spoil it. Percy, Grover and Annabeth use a map given by Luke to locate pearls that would allow them to escape the underworld once they rescue Percy’s mother, hoping they can convince Hades he’s not the lightning thief and have her released, because he’s kinda dumb. They find one guarded by a Gorgon, Percy uses his iPhone as a mirror. Yeah… bet that wasn’t in the book. The second is guarded by a HYDRA, which after much pointless fighting they defeat with Medusa’s head. The third is in Vegas in the Lotus Resort. They’re fed lotuses to distract them but thanks to telepathic messages from Poseidon, Percy manages to fight it off and help the others. But 5 days have passed and Zeus is approaching his breaking point. With 3 pearls they head to the entrance to the Underworld under the Hollywood sign… Just go with it. But 3 pearls presents an obvious problem, only 3 can leave and Hades refuses to restore his mother. Percy discovers the lightning bolt on the shield Luke had given to them, and that Luke had intended for it to get into the hands of Hades, for some reason… Anyway, Grover sacrifices himself for the others to leave, Luke and Percy fight with Percy using his water powers to come out triumphant and they return the Lightning bolt to Zeus. Zeus in turn restores Grover, now granted rank of Senior Protector and gives Percy and Poseidon one chance to talk, apart from all the telepathic stuff that’s been going on in the entire movie.

I’ll be honest, this is dumb movie, the idea of combining Greek Mythology and the modern day is somewhat intriguing but this movie doesn’t really handle it all that well, what’s missing is a primarily human character reacting to the world. I guess that’s what they were going for with Percy but at the same time he has to be the motivated leader of the group and he has to carry the burden of everything else that’s going on. There are some really annoying scene when other characters wax poetic rather than telling him the truth but that’s neither here nor there. Percy initially doesn’t want anyone coming along, this annoyed me more than it should’ve. I thought the 3 pearls twist was blindingly obvious as was Luke as the villain. I’ll rate it 2 out of 5

Percy Jackson Kingdom of Monsters opens with Percy feeling worthless and a ‘one-quest wonder’ helped no further by the introduction of Clarisse, a spiteful character that takes pleasure on one-upping him at every occasion for no previously defined reason. Percy discovers he has a half-brother who is part Cyclops, named Tyron but also the son of Poseidon. Before that can go anywhere the camp is attacked by a zord from Power Rangers. We see that Tyron is both strong enough to hold the zord back and invulnerable to its flames. However, it’s Percy that ultimately defeats the bull. He’s confronted by Luke, who warns that many half-bloods have turned to his side and offers Percy a chance to do the same, he refuses and Percy teleports away with a plot device he has somehow. They find out that whilst there he poisoned Thalia, the daughter of Zeus who became a tree on her deathbed, a tree that also powers a shield to protect the camp. To heal her they need the golden fleece. So, the quest begins and chosen are Clarisse and some guy named Chris. Of course, the natural choices. Percy is told about a prophecy that says a half-blood will reach his/her 20^th birthday against all odds (presumably upped from the 16 in the book for filming reasons, much like The Last Airbender was upped from 6 months to 3 years in the movie) he/she will carry the cursed blade and his actions will either save Olympus or Damn it. Yay, prophecies, I love these so much… Anyway, currently, Percy is the only half-blood (since Tyron is part Cyclops and that doesn’t count) this could apply to. So, they set out on the quest to stop Luke, the Prophecy also mentioned them fighting over the fleece. And are given co-ordinates by some taxi drivers. OK… Anyway, dropped off in Washington DC because they don’t have a fare, they end up visiting Hermes in Product Placement, but only after Grover is kidnapped by Luke. Hermes tells them Luke is on a yacht called the Andromeda, he also provides them with some canned air and some tape that makes things disappear, which they use once but never again. Tyron summons a ride by calling to Poseidon, something Percy has been doing for ages with no response. They head to the yacht but are soon captured and for no reason at all really Luke reveals his plan to use the fleece to revive Kronos, a god who preceded the original gods who had a tendency to eat his own children. Percy uses his water powers to allow their escape and they flee onto a lifeboat, Tyron loses the engine but Percy doesn’t think to use his water powers to move them, but they do use the canned air. The arrive and end up swallowed by a massive monster where they meet up with Clarisse, who’s the daughter of Ares btw and has an army of zombies on an old war ship. Percy suggests they use the turret to punch out of the monster and they do so. They arrive at the island, where they find Grover having to distract an angry, but visually impaired cyclops by dressing up as one. He holds the fleece they seek and with some distraction they eventually get their hands on it and easily defeat the Cyclops. But Luke is waiting for them and Tyron takes a blast for Percy, falling into the waters below. Rather than try and shoot him again, they’re no captured as Luke revives Kronos. Kronos eats him, what did he expect to happen? Percy finds he holds the cursed blade and uses it to defeat Kronos. Annabeth is killed by one of Luke’s friends. Oh no, if only there was some coat that could heal all injuries, or a person that can heal using water. So they return to camp and Clarisse delivers the fleece and Thalia is revived, all the way as it happens as she is back to human. What that means for the camp shield I don’t know. Since she’s also a half-blood child of the big 3, they tease it might be her that the Prophecy applies to.

This movie has a bit more plot to it, since they didn’t need to set things up as much and it doesn’t have a pointless fetch quest side story. And… the plot is equally as dumb as the first one. From Hermes having basically a post office to a theme park that means nothing, to none of the Greek Gods actually showing up in the entire story, not even Circe, who was mentioned a lot in the stories. Also, for a sea of monsters, there weren’t that many monsters, just one really. Luke’s motivations are just as unclear and any mention of a prophecy automatically marks it down for me. That being said, the integration of modern environments and Greek mythology felt less forced in this one.

Rating 2/5

So, it’s neck and neck, let’s move onto the next category

Acting

There really isn’t a lot of standout acting in either movie, but there is comic overacting in the first one when Uma Therman plays Medusa, giving it the full Poison Ivy treatment. Rosario Dawson’s brief performance as Persephone in the first movie was precious and I’d like to see her in slightly more villainous roles more often. I have a hard time believing Sean Bean as the great god Zeus though. Regarding our leads, there’s only really one problem I remember and that’s Percy’s reaction to thinking his mother was killed. It wasn’t really believable. Donald Glover is Chiron was also a highlight for me, although he also plays a relatively small role.

Rating 3/5

The only real interesting performance I remember from Kingdom of Monsters was Nathon Fillion as Hermes, unfortunately Chrion was recast but the new actor, Anthony Head, does a serviceable job. Missi Pyle, Yvette Nicola Brown and Mary Birdson deserve some credit for their performances as the Graeae, but are ultimately not important enough to the movie to really count in its favour. Douglas Smith does a decent job as Tyron, not really sure how much else I can say here.

Rating 2.5/5

Music

Let’s talk about shoehorned in pop music. It works in Guardians of the Galaxy because one of the leads is from the era of the music and remembers the songs and it’s the only thing he really has from Earth. It does not work in this kind of fantasy environment that well and many of the songs come off as forced, there’s one in the Lotus casino in the first one that fits the style but the rest really feel out of place to me.

The second movie thankfully tones down and there’s only one pop song in the entire movie. Unfortunately, much like the first movie, none of the music is especially memorable. You won’t have it going through your head when the movie’s over

Ratings Lightning Thief: 2/5 Sea of Monsters: 2.5/5

Visuals/CGI

A lot of the time in the Lightning Thief, Monsters are either in the Dark or a dimly lit room so they can hide the dated effects, it works to an extent but makes the action harder to see. Neither the underworld or Olympus offer the eye much to look at, it’s all dark and full of buildings and stuff. The water effects are generally good but the final battle looks painfully fake, especially when they’re rushing down the side of buildings.

Rating 2/5

Sea of Monsters offers some improvement on that front, some of the monsters you can see more clearly, the water effects are even better in my opinion, or at least they do so much more with it, the Cyclops design is great, and there are some more interesting environments. That being said, the design of Kronos is every generic dark devil design you’ve ever seen so it doesn’t carry as much menace as it probably should and there are still some very fake looking designs, like the bull creature zord from the opening.

Rating 3.5/5

Character and Development

Let’s start with Percy. I’m just going to call bullsh*t on his Dyslexia and ADHD being down to his head being hotwired for Ancient Greek. He’s a likeable character but his arc in discovering who he is is played out early on and doesn’t really factor into the main narrative. He has a sort of romance with Annabeth that doesn’t really go anywhere in either movie. Grover’s role as protector is his motivation for most of the movie and his sacrifice was a tribute to that. Him being brought back at the end by Zeus cheapened the sacrifice, although it was good to see him get his horns. Luke’s motivations, as I’ve said earlier are confusing to say the least. Annabeth is smart but that’s really it. Like Percy and Luke, she has issues with her God-parents. Aside from Luke, said issues are not a major motivator for any of them.

Rating 2/5

Sea of Monsters has a ton of characters, many more than it really knows what to do with. Some of the character arcs feel throw-away. Like the racism subplot between Annabeth and Tyron that was so essential to the movie, I didn’t mention it in the summary of the plot. The idea is because Thalia was killed by a Cyclops with Annabeth as a witness, she hates and distrusts Cyclopses. It doesn’t really go anywhere. She is turned when he sacrifices himself for Percy, which cheapens the racism allegory I think they were going for. I think the only reason this arc exists is to justify the use of a spray that gives him a normal face, likely a budget-saving tactic. Percy’s arc of discovering his self-worth mirrors Tyron’s, so much so that there isn’t much in terms of bonding between them, even to establish any kind of relationship between them until near the end. Grover is barely in the movie and isn’t worth mentioning and Luke’s motivations remain confusing. Clarisse I actively despise as a character and her turnaround to Percy feels forced.

Rating 1/5

Entertainment/Humour

With regards to humour, in The Lightning Thief, there is a bit of pop culture and sexual jokes, mostly by Grover who’s a bit of a womaniser in the first movie. You know, for kids. Neither of these really bother me but come close to making this movie dated. The action however, is reasonably handled for the most part and the leads are all likeable in their own respects.

Rating 2.5/5

Sea of Monsters thankfully tones on the pop culture and sex, there is some unfunny comic relief with Hermes’ snake staff thing but overall the humour is less groan inducing. I wouldn’t say it’s exactly funny but they’re trying harder in this one. The action is well handled for the most part again but there are some less likeable characters in this one, I can’t really grant it a higher score than its predecessor

Rating 2.5/5

Overall

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief scores 13.5/30, whereas Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters scores 14/30. Sea of Monsters marginally wins out over the first one, whilst they both have dumb stories and are equally 'entertaining,' the effects of the second one alongside its less forced soundtrack give it a slight edge over the better character work and more standout performances of the first one.