“At first I didn’t believe it either. But the gods of Olympus are real. And sometimes, these gods have children with humans, called half-bloods. I’m one of them. I’m Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon, god of the sea.”
Some time has passed since Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman), the half-blood son of Poseidon, identified Luke (Jake Abel) as the Lightning Thief, and seemingly drowned him in the course of their altercation. As Percy continues his training at Camp Half-Blood, his powers grow stronger, but he still doubts himself, and wonders if his success on his first quest was just a lucky coincidence. However, when Luke returns and disables the Camp’s defenses, it is up to Percy and his friends to find the Golden Fleece to save Camp Half-Blood. The fleece resides in the Sea of Monsters (aka The Bermuda Triangle) where it’s guarded by a giant cyclops. Joining Percy on this quest are his newly-discovered half-brother Tyson the cyclops (Douglas Smith), satyr Grover (Brandon T. Jackson), his friend Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), and his rival Clarisse (Leven Rambin).
This second film in the series sets up an interesting premise and an adventurous quest for Percy Jackson. It seems like just as Percy and his friends surmount one obstacle, they are immediately presented with another—an attack by a mechanical Colchis bull, being swallowed by a large fish, and fighting off the cyclops Polyphemus are just some of the things the Olympians encounter during their quest. These hurdles yield some pretty great action sequences. However, at times it felt like there were just too many of these and they had to rush through them. I wonder if they are just trying to squeeze too much material from the book into 100 minutes. It seemed like Percy and his crew were able to overcome some of these obstacles way too quickly and easily—with one swing of a sword it was time to move on.
I really enjoyed the character development in this second film. The various relationships between the characters are further explored—Percy and Tyson as new brothers, Clarisse and Percy as rivals, and Annabeth’s distrust of Tyson due to events of her past. The film also sets up the larger question/story of Percy’s destiny (to be explored in future films I assume). There are also some accomplished actors joining the cast this time around—Stanley Tucci (“Dionysus”), Anthony Head (“Chiron”, played by Pierce Brosnan in the first film) and Nathan Fillion (“Hermes”).
Like the first film, this movie also mixes in mini Greek mythology lessons throughout. As new mythological beings or legends are mentioned or encountered, the viewer is usually given some short explanation/history lesson via the other characters. This is a great way to allow viewers to learn something while also being entertained.
The film itself looks great with a crisp clear picture—the special effects looked very natural and blended in with the rest of the picture. The soundtrack is also excellent, and really brings the viewer into the action and excitement of the film.
The bonus features on this Blu-ray release are a little on the slim side—just a prequel motion comic, a few other short featurettes with the cast, and some trailers. One of the more interesting sections of the featurettes touches on how the special effects were done for Tyson’s cyclops eye. It would have been great to get a longer look at how some of the film’s other special effects were done. It also would have been nice to get some deleted scenes, a commentary, a gag reel, or some discussion/comparison between the film and the book. For those interested in more extras, there is a 3-disc Deluxe Edition release that also comes with the 3D version of the film plus 5 Collector’s Cards.
What’s Included:
Film (1:46:09):
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Blu-ray:
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
- Audio: English DTS-HD-MA 7.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1, French DD 5.1, German DTS 5.1, Portuguese DD 5.1, Russian DTS 5.1, Ukrainian DD 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Estonian, Hindi, Latvian, Lithuanian, Mandarin, Ukrainian
- Widescreen 2.40:1
- Audio: English DD 5.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Surround DD 2.0, French Surround DD 2.0
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
- iTunes Digital Copy
- UltraViolet DigitalHD Copy redeemable via Flixster, Google Play or Vudu
DVD:
Digital Copy: (Redemption Deadline 12/17/2015)
Extras (Blu-ray only):
- Tyson Motion Comic (5:50)
In the film, Tyson explains his journey from the woods to Camp Half-Blood, and that is animated in the motion comic which serves as a prequel to the film. - Deconstructing a Demigod (4:11)
A behind-the-scenes look at the actors’ training, choreography and stunts. Includes interviews with director Thor Freudenthal and stars Brandon T. Jackson (“Grover”), Leven Rambin (“Clarisse”), Alexandra Daddario (“Annabeth”), and Logan Lerman (“Percy Jackson”). - Back to Camp Half-Blood (2:39)
The cast members talk about what it was like working together again. Includes interviews with stars Brandon T. Jackson (“Grover”), Logan Lerman (“Percy Jackson”), Jake Abel (“Luke”), Leven Rambin (“Clarisse”), Douglas Smith (“Tyson”) and Alexandra Daddario (“Annabeth”). - It’s All in the Eye (5:00)
Director Thor Freudenthal, visual effects supervisor Dan Kaufman and actor Douglas Smith talk about creating the look of the likeable cyclops Tyson, and show how some of the effects were done. - Theatrical Trailer 1 (2:25)
- Theatrical Trailer 2 (2:12)
- Sneak Peek (12:29)
Play All, or select from trailers for “Walking with Dinosaurs”, “Turbo”, “The Croods”, “Epic”, “The Wolverine”, “Dragons: Riders of Berk”, and “Free Birds”.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I enjoyed this action-packed second Percy Jackson adventure—there is great character development, but at times it felt a bit rushed. It would have been nice if these had been expanded a bit more to give more of a sense of the challenges faced by Percy and his friends . The picture and sound are excellent, but the bonus supplements are a bit slim.
