Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief was an enjoyable enough YA adventure film chained to an overly long title. Featuring a cast of young rising stars like Logan Lerman (Perks of Being a Wallflower), Brandon T. Jackson (Beverly Hills Cop 2013) and Alexandra Daddario (Texas Chainsaw 3D), the adaptation of Rick Riordan’s YA novel series laid down a solid foundation upon which to build the franchise.
With Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, we are thankfully getting a more manageable title – and from the looks of this trailer, a more ambitious attempt at epic adventure.
Based on the second book in Riordan’s series, Sea of Monsters chronicles a story in which Percy must save “Camp Half-Blood,” the safe haven where demigod kids are protected from evil by magic barriers. Someone has poisoned the barriers, so it’s up to Percy and Co. to venture into “The Sea of Monsters” to find the mythical Golden Fleece to save the camp.
The exchange of director Chris Columbus (Harry Potter 1 & 2) for director Thor Freudenthal (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) is somewhat dubious – if only because Columbus has more experience with filmmaking on this scale than Freudenthal does. Still, the trailers looks like what you’d expect, given the first film, with some nice (if moderately budgeted) effects shots.
Sea of Monsters also features a nice supporting cast of fan-favorite actors like Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle), Stanley Tucci (Captain America) and Anthony Head (Buffy) – along with Missi Pyle (The Artist), Leven Rambin (Wizards of Waverly Place) and Yvette Nicole Brown (Community).
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Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters will be in theaters on August 16, 2013.
