Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

[caitlinmorton]

Saw this tonight at the multimedia screening courtesy of Funthing29 (who took me as her +1) and canadian_turtle (who got us tickets). Lovely to spend the day with the two of them as well as martadelas. Big thanks to them for the lovely evening!

Once the doors opened, we were treated to drinks and cookies in the bar, where there were also green screen photos being taken and a face painting stand for the kiddoes. We noticed some blue candy jars in the corner, and C_T had the idea to grab a cup and some candy, and then started a trend, as all the kids followed! Standing by the candy jars was the best idea because although it was hot, as the aircon in the bar was having problems, we were the first to get the canape trays (mini pizzas and hot dogs) as they came out and also the first to get the alert that the theatre was open, so got to pick out the best seats. When we arrived in the screening room we were handed a booklet and bookmark, plus a silicone bracelet, on our way in, and then there was sweet popcorn and flavoured water on our gloriously air-conditioned seats (unfortunately, the aircon's power waned as the screening room filled up, but it could have been a lot worse).

Had three trailers before the time, Turbo, Walking With Dinosaurs in 3D, and How to Train Your Dragon 2, that aired after the intro from the Fox guy.

The film was alright, I wish [spoiler]Nathan Fillion had a bigger part[/spoiler] but I liked the CGI and certainly will be excited for the sequel that is definitely to come. I found a couple of things obvious, like [spoiler]Tyson being healed by falling into the water[/spoiler] though I actually didn't even think about [spoiler]the Fleece having the power to bring Talia back to life.[/spoiler]

All in all quite enjoyed this, would recommend, especially to kids, the mass hoarde of them in this screening were remarkably well behaved from what I noticed. Only real disruption was the crinkling of the popcorn bags, and my guess is that was just as much the adults!

7/10

[moggers]

DD would have loved to be there, we've read all of the Percy Jackson books so she is pretty excited about this movie. I did like the book (we read a chapter every night before bed a few years ago) so quite excited to see if the film is as good as I imagined.

[caitlinmorton]

I've never read the books, the first one came out when I was about 15, so I was a bit older than the target audience. My brother loved them though and I've always heard good things. Maybe something to do once I finish the dissertation!

[claire]

I also went to see this last night and had great fun
Loved the mini pizza. They were yummie. And there was lots of sweets and biscuits too
We gt our photo done and my nephew got a tattoo too.

Ok the film

It was really enjoyable. I loved the first one and and for a sequel it was quite good

8/10

[funthing29]

The first film wasn't exactly groundbreaking but at least it was fun wheras this felt a bit too serious and heavy handed with the emotional elements of the story. Some of the special effects looked a bit dodgy and most attempts at humour fell flat with the exception of Nathan Fillion's dialogue but he was criminally underused. A OK film that was untaxing for 106 mins but rather forgettable. 5.5/10.

[canadian_turtle]

This was AMAZING! A very good adaptation of the book (despite the changes) and the characters were all just so great. Loved finally seeing Tyson, who was less dumb and big than I imagined him but still a very sweet and loveable character. And while I hate the 3D glasses at Vue West End (they're too big and keep falling off my nose) it was well-worth it for this film. Excellent use of 3D in the fight scenes, one with a bull is particularly memorable. I also though this film looked *so* cool, loved the practise fighting sequence in the arena in the beginning the most. Overall a huge improvement on the first film which wasn't bad by any standards but a slight disappointment from the perspective of a fan from the book series.

There was some serious recasting going on by the way with now Nathan Fillion as Hermes, Stanley Tucci as Mr D and Anthony Head as Chiron, all of whom were excellent in their respective parts but severely underused. I particularly missed some proper character development between Luke and his father and hope that is yet to come. The other mentioned characters become a lot more important down the line as well so hopefully they'll have more screen time in future films.

Speaking of which, I was very happy (though surprised) to see them setting up the story for the next film so neatly. I didn't expect a sequel after the Lightning Thief and again didn't expect it now. There are plenty of books to go still (8 in all so far, 5 Olympian ones and 3 Heroes of Olympus ones) but they're slow at adapting them and the kids are rapidly growing up.

9.5/10 - not a 10 because it was too short and because of that they left too much storyline out!


By the way, loved the fun in the foyer beforehand with green screen (sorry for dragging you along caitlinmorton and funthing29), candy, hot dogs, mini pizzas, etc. As well as the trailers we were shown: Turbo (looks hilarious), Walking With Dinosaurs (beautiful and sad) and How To Train Your Dragon 2 (can't wait!).

[martadelas]

Okay, first things first. Very glad C_T invited me as her +1, as I really wanted to see this and was unhappy not having won the tickets. Also glad I got to watch it in great company - C_T, funthing29 and caitlinmorton (nice to have met you in RL).
As for the movie, I enjoyed it but there were bits that almost made me yawn. I was expecting a bit more after watching the trailer the night before, but it was still fun despite some of the special effects being on the lousy side and the story not being as exciting and intense as it could have been (yes, I was expecting to be on the edge of my seat more). Also have to agree, Nathan Fillion was criminally underused, but oh well, at least he was in it and he was hilarious!

7/10

[RickyRaj]

Saw this today, good story, engaging, a little predictable, great visuals 7.5/10.

[Tinpar]

Can't wait to see this on Sunday with the family, thanks for comments looks like it will be a nice bit of Sunday afternoon entertainment :)

[RAZORBACK]

Just got back from seeing this and although I did enjoy it wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped it would be. I was certainly less engaged with the storyline this time around & although there wasn't anything particular wrong with this film I left the cinema feeling fairly indifferent to what I'd just seen.

Not a terrible film by any means but not as good as the first flick so it gets a 6/10 from me...