Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

The Book

This is the second in the Percy Jackson series, and not having read the first I was basing my previous knowledge on the first Percy Jackson film - the Lightning Thief. The general conceit is that the Gods and monsters of Greek legend are real and still live amongst us, albeit having to adapt to 21st Century civilisation.
Percy is the half-blood son of Poseidon and together with Annabeth (of Athena) and Troy (a Cyclops), they head of to the island of Polyphemus to rescue their satyr friend Grover and recover the Golden Fleece.

As the book is a sequel, it is clear that the original film played about with the plot removing a connecting strand about the evil Kronos. Having seen the trailer for Sea of Monsters I can tell that this part of the story has now been included, but quite a lot has been altered.

The film does seem to make the story more adult and sensible, however - not a bad thing. I found quite a lot of the humour a bit childish and ill-judged.




I also have a problem with the delivery of the whole idea.. rather than the legend and classical grandeur of the original Greek myths, the translation to modern day seems to have brought them low and marked them for ridicule eg. Hermes in jogging outfit and mobile phone. Another irk is that you would think that Percy and his friends would know all the stories and therefore be forewarned - a case in point is landing on the island of CC's spa resort: don't they read the Odyssey at school? If you know the stories, then you already know how Percy's encounters will go as they mirror the classical tales, so few surprises.
The idea that the Greek Gods move to where Western civilisation is at its most powerful - America of course - smacks of patriotic jingoism and I hated it.



Book series website


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The Film

I am aware that a lot of people enjoy the books, so they must be really disappointed when they go to see the films! They only bear a passing resemblance to the original novels. I, on the other hand, think they are an improvement, as they ditch any attempt to recycle the old legends - gone is Circe's island and the use of sheep to escape from the cyclops for example - and simply lets Percy and friends rely on their own wits and powers.
There's no real standout acting on show, but its not really called for - you just need to react to CGI. Nathan Fillion, as Hermes, was always going to be a standout cameo and he even gets to deliver a comment about how all the best TV series get cancelled, having a swipe about Firefly. A dubious decision, however, to keep the two bitching snakes as comic relief, somewhat jarring with all the effort to remove some of the hokum and update the original book.


There was a brief mention of Olympus being in Washington, but right-on Grover raised a proverbial hoof, bringing the sentiment down to the austerity age by stating that just like the Gods, the politicians were just in it for themselves. Occupation Camp Halfblood beckons..
The confrontation with Polyphemus at the end was a bit weak and he came out as less of a threat, so throwing Kronos in as the final showdown seemed right. I don't know where this leaves us in terms of future plot, however, as I guess this is scheduled to happen in a later book. Thalia's resurrection is included at the end, linked to the prophecy, and Kronos is still alive but back in the box, so it seems the studios are now committing themselves to the franchise.

If you enjoyed the books, try a translation of the Greek myths or Ovid's Metamorphoses.
If you enjoyed the film, try Jason and the Argonauts or the Odyssey