Movie Review: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

"'Percy Jackson. Your destiny was written long ago.'
'I write my own destiny.'"


So, this is a belated movie review, but here you are.  A few weeks after my engagement was called off, I decided to take myself on a date.  It was a Friday morning when I wasn't at work, and I hadn't seen the Percy Jackson 2 movie, even though it had been out for close to two months (or it might have even been two months).  Whatever it was, I went to a matinee at the Tooele Cinema. It was partly to keep myself satiated until the release of Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades (which I still haven't read due to the excessively long hold list). Because the movie had been out for two months and it was a matinee on a school day, it was excessively cheap and I was the only one in the movie theater. This was kind of fun in the sense that I could talk through the entire movie and discuss it with myself.  But after I told Beth about my date she said, "Hannah, I think you're trying to wallow in your singleness.  Next time you want to go to a movie, call me up, Patrick can watch David, and we'll go to a movie together." I appreciate the supportive sister, but I had a me-date.  Sister-dates, brother-dates and roommate-dates are things I've done my whole life.  But me-dates are a thing I do now since I am a woman spurned.



But back to the movie.  It was only marginally better than the first Percy Jackson movie.  If you need a summary of just how bad that one was, may I direct you to CinemaSins (note that I do not make CinemaSins and they are PG-13-ish). They got a new director who got fans to come back again because he said that he would respect the personality, feel and general plot of the books.  And he made them believe it would actually happen by doing things like bleaching Alexandra Daddario's hair since so many fans balked at a brunette Annabeth Chase.  But then, we get the movie.  I am going to admit some of the off-beat, goofball sense of humor that I loved about the books was in the second movie (when this was completely lacking from the first), but it wasn't to the same level.  And they brought back some of the Greek Mythology mindset, but still fell into throwing Judeo-Christian mindsets into Greek mythology/theology (like Hades=Satan and that Hades runs hell and not just the afterlife in general--that was more of a first-movie problem, but it still exists to a certain extent). Secondly, there were multiple times where the plot was completely chucked out the window, such that I don't know what they're going to do if they make more movies (which it seemed like they were intending to do, or at least kept some opening alive for it).  A lot of it was forgettable.  And so writing a movie review two months later--I can't even tell you a lot of what happened anymore.  And I've read the book, so does that clue you in on just how well it kept the book's plot?

Let me clarify this:  I'm getting less and less that movies have to follow the books entirely.  But I think they need the same plot.  And this movie doesn't fit in that category.

I will also say that my review on this movie is not a reflection of my reviews of Logan Lerman as an actor.  They could have not picked anyone better on earth to portray Percy Jackson (by personality or looks), and he is a freakishly talented actor.  Just watch Perks of Being a Wallflower if you don't believe me.  He just needs better movie projects to attach his name to.

So, it was better than the first installment, but still just not quite worth my recommendation.

Book review later this week.  Next movie review will probably be Catching Fire, which I won't actually watch until going home for Christmas.  Because I'm slated for a sister-date with Sarah on that one.

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