Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, sometimes called Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters and Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, is a 2013 fantasy film directed by Thor Freudenthal and written by Marc Guggenheim, based on the book of the same name by Rick Riordan. It features the return of Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, and Jake Abel, with the addition of Douglas Smith, Stanley Tucci, Leven Rambin, Anthony Head, and Nathan Fillion.
Synopsis[]
When Camp Half Blood is threatened, Percy Jackson and his friends must go on another daring journey to acquire the famous Golden Fleece by traversing the Sea of Monsters.
Plot[]
When they were just children, Luke Castellan, Grover Underwood, Annabeth Chase, and Thalia Grace were on the run from monsters, trying to reach Camp Half-Blood. Before they could all make it safely, Thalia risked her own life to save her friends, getting killed by a cyclops in the process, and instilling an intense hatred towards such creatures in Annabeth. Moved by her heroic sacrifice, Zeus, Thalia's father, turned her into a tree to act as a barrier around the camp.
In the present, Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, has become firm within Camp Half-Blood, though he has become rivals with Ares cabin member Clarisse la Rue who continues to put him down and win every game at the camp. Percy begins to question his abilities and wonders if his adventure for Zeus' bolt was just a fluke. The campers must also contend with the cynical camp head Dionysus, also known as Mr. D, who has been punished to the point that whenever he attempts to drink wine, it turns to water.
One day, a demigod cyclops by the name of Tyson wanders into the camp. He claims that Poseidon is his father, thus making Percy his half-brother. Tyson, who maintains a cheerful and naive outlook, tries to bond with his brother, though Annabeth continues to show disgust towards him. A Colchis bull suddenly barges through the barrier of the camp, forcing the demigods to battle it. During the fight, Tyson displays his fireproof skills against the monster. Percy destroys it using his sword and Luke reveals himself, showing that he poisoned the Thalia tree and explaining the broken barrier. Before leaving, he tells Percy of a prophecy that involves him.
Afterwards, Percy goes to visit Chiron to ask about his supposed prophecy. He takes him to the attic of the Big House to see the Oracle who tells Percy about Kronos, his devouring of the gods, and his defeat at the hands of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Kronos is destined to return and that a child of a the Big Three will defeat him. Percy is concerned that this prophesized hero is him. Meanwhile, Annabeth finds that the one thing that can save the Thalia tree is the Golden Fleece and takes this idea to Mr. D who tells them that it is in the Sea of Monsters, which is located in the Bermuda Triangle. Despite deeming it a bad idea, Mr. D goes with it anyway and announces the quest, only to give it to Clarisse and the satyr Ichneutae.
Percy warns Clarisse about Luke, but due to her overconfidence completely blows him off. Feeling that he was supposed to go on the quest due to the prophecy, Percy decides to sneak away to get the Fleece, convincing a willing Annabeth and a reluctant Grover to come along as well. Just as the trio are leaving, Tyson shows up, intending to tag along so that he could protect Percy. Annoyed at the idea of a cyclops joining them, Annabeth uses a can of mist to hide Tyson's single eye, making him look human.
The group, needing to head to Florida, call upon a taxi service driven by the Gray Sisters, despite the fact that they only use a single detachable eye ball as their guide. When the Gray Sisters reveal that they know about the prophecy, Percy convinces them to reveal an additional detail, which appear to be a string of random numbers. When Annabeth admits that they do not have enough drachmas, the Gray Sisters kick them out in Washington D.C., forcing them to find another means of transportation. During this time, Tyson tries to bond with Percy who appears miffed at the fact that Poseidon speaks with Tyson more frequently than him.
A group of demigods suddenly appear and kidnap Grover in a flash of light. Needing a satyr to find the Fleece, Annabeth comes up with another plan. They head to a UPS store that turns out to be a cover for an Olympian hideout and find that it is run by Hermes. When they mention that his son Luke is plotting something, Hermes takes the group aside to aid in their quest. He gifts them a thermos with powerful air and packaging tape that will make things disappear. His caduceus (twin snakes on his staff), manage to locate where Luke and his followers are. Before leaving, he asks Percy to tell Luke that he shouldn't be mad at the world.
Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson head to a pier where the latter calls upon a Hippocampus to take them to the Luke's yacht, the Andromeda. The group arrive where they are caught and learn that Luke has acquired Krono's casket and also plans on getting the Fleece to revive him. While down in the brig, Percy uses his powers to rock the boat, allowing for Annabeth to get her backpack and allowing them to escape. They fight their way through the turned demigods before getting on a boat and escaping towards the Sea of Monsters. Percy and Tyson become closer and Annabeth reveals the reason by her prejudice against cyclopes.
The trio end up near the mouth of Charybdis where they are swallowed up. Within the monster's stomach, they find Clarisse aboard a warship full of zombie confederate soldiers. She later reveals that Ichneutae died fighting Scylla. When Charybdis begins to digest, Percy suggests using the ships artillery to blast a hole in the stomach for them to escape. They succeed and Percy starts to notice that he is capable of seeing ocean coordinates, realizing that the random numbers were the location to Circeland, the abandoned theme park where the Golden Fleece is being held.
Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and Clarisse arrive at the island and discover Grover there, disguised as a cyclops chambermaid, and serving a partially blind Polyphemus, who has the Fleece. The heroes battle Polyphemus with manage to outwit him and get the Fleece. However, Luke and his followers show up. They shoot at Percy with a crossbow, but Tyson jumps in the way, getting impaled and falling into the ocean below. Luke and his followers tie up the others and take the Fleece to put over Kronos' casket. Percy is encouraged to escape and the heroes fight off the followers, with Tyson appearing and revealing that the waters healed him.
However, Kronos is brought back to life and promptly eats Luke, along with Grover. Percy realizes that his sword is what can stop him and begins to slice through him, breaking Kronos apart and sealing him away in his casket. Grover is rescued while Luke falls into Polyphemus' domain, where he is threatened to be eaten. Before they can do anything else, a Manticore stabs Annabeth, but the group kill it and use the Fleece to revive her. Knowing that it is still technically Clarisse's quest, Percy allows her to be the one to present it back at Camp Half-Blood.
The Fleece is used on the Thalia tree and the camp is saved. Percy happily embraces Tyson as his brother and is once again given words of encouragement by Chiron. However, everyone is called to the tree and find that the Fleece worked too well. Thalia has been brought back to life and Percy is left wondering if the prophecy was talking about her being the one to defeat Kronos.
Cast[]
- Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson
- Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase
- Alisha Newton as Young Annabeth
- Douglas Smith as Tyson
- Leven Rambin as Clarisse La Rue
- Brandon T. Jackson as Grover Underwood
- Bjorn Yearwood as Young Grover
- Jake Abel as Luke Castellan
- Samuel Braun as Young Luke
- Anthony Stewart Head as Chiron, Head replaces Pierce Brosnan.
- Stanley Tucci as Mr. D / Dionysus, Tucci replaces Luke Camilleri.
- Connor Dunn as Tereus
- Paloma Kwiatkowski as Thalia Grace
- Katelyn Mager as Young Thalia
- Nathan Fillion as Hermes, Fillion replaces Dylan Neal.
- Mary Birdsong as Gray Sister #1 / Wasp
- Yvette Nicole Brown as Gray Sister #2 / Anger
- Missi Pyle as Gray Sister #3 / Tempest
- Christopher Redman as Reardon
- Jordan Weller as Ichneutae
- Robert Knepper as Kronos
- Robert Maillet as Polyphemus / Laistrygonian
- Ron Perlman as Polyphemus (voice)
- Richard Yearwood as Ganymede
- Grey Damon as Chris Rodriguez
- Shohreh Aghdashloo as Oracle
- Octavia Spencer as Martha
- Craig Robinson as George
Additionally, the characters of Silena Beauregard and Ethan Nakamura appear, played by uncredited actors Zoe Aggeliki and Danny Le Boyer, respectively.
Production[]
Development began in 2011, one year after the first film. Chris Columbus announced that he would not return to direct, but would be on as an executive producer. Thor Freudenthal was soon announced as director. Upon being given the chance to do the sequel, Freudenthal wanted to try and integrate story elements that were skipped over in the first film into the sequel. Filming took place between April 26, 2012 to May 31, 2012. Due to the expanse of time between production on both films, various alterations to the story were made to accommodate for the actors' ages, though not without some controversy. Filming for Polyphemus' island took place at an abandoned Six Flags in New Orleans.
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The film notoriously adds a couple of characters who were supposed to appear in the first film, such as Clarisse and Mr. D, though the latter makes an incredibly minor cameo in the first film and played by a different actor.
- Hermes explains to Percy that the idea for the thermos came from a TV show he liked that was unfortunately cancelled prematurely. This is a reference to Hermes's actor, Nathan Fillion and his role in the popular cult series Firefly.
- Kirby Bliss Blanton was considered for Clarisse.
Book comparisons[]
- This film features elements that were supposed to be introduced in the first book such as:
- The explanation for Thalia Grace and the tree, as well as Annabeth, Grover, and Luke's journey.
- Percy going to see the Oracle.
- The introduction of Clarisse La Rue and Dionysus / Mr. D.
- Thalia's name is pronounced wrong. The film pronounces it with a silent 'h' when it is actually supposed to be pronounced with a hard 'th'.
- The film opens with Percy already at Camp Half-Blood. In the book, he was at school until Annabeth arrives to pick him up and take him back to camp.
- Tyson enters the camp much later and even already knows he is Poseidon's son. In the book, he was hanging out with Percy before they went to camp and it was only when Percy focused through the mist that he realized he was a cyclops. Additionally, he too did not know he was Poseidon's son until he was claimed.
- The giant obstacle course seemingly replaces the chariot race they have in the book.
- Grover is not with Percy and Annabeth at the beginning, having already gone on his quest to look for Pan. He only manages to make it known that he is in trouble by speaking to Percy through his dreams.
- When Thalia's tree is poisoned, Chiron is blamed and forced from his position at camp, leading to Mr. D to take over and Tantalus to take his place. Because this element is ignored, Tantalus is a absent from the film, however some of his characteristics may have been incorporated into Mr. D, such as his favoritism towards Clarisse and the fact that wine turns into water when he tries to drink it (though in Tantalus's case, he couldn't eat at all). This also means that Percy does not need to trick Luke into admitting fault to it like in the book.
- Mr. D calls Percy "Perry Johnson". In the book, it's "Peter Johnson".
- Percy is depicted being stifled by Clarisse taking the quest to get the Golden Fleece. In the book, Percy was mildly okay with it, until he is coaxed by Hermes to go on the quest as well.
- Percy's meeting with Hermes is different. While the film depicts him, Annabeth and Tyson visiting him after they were already on their quest, Percy met with him before going on the quest as he finds him by the side of the lake and gives him a bag of gifts.
- Annabeth owns a bottle of Mist which she uses to spray on Tyson's face to hide his single eye. In the book, Mist is established as being a natural element that is all around them, explaining why there is no need to constantly hide things.
- The Grey Sisters are the first thing that Percy and his friends encounter after leaving on their quest. In the book, they are how he gets back to camp in the first place.
- Grover is kidnapped by Luke's followers. As explained in the book, he was already missing.
- Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson stop by Hermes before heading out into the ocean to Luke's yacht, the Andromeda. In the book, the three immediately leave camp to a cruise line called the Princess Andromeda and even encounter the residents in a weird translucid state.
- Silena Beauregard and Ethan Nakamura are already identified as Luke's followers. While Silena appeared in The Sea of Monsters, her treachery isn't revealed until The Last Olympian. Additionally, Ethan wouldn't appear until The Battle of the Labyrinth where him joining Luke is shown.
- The movie has the three head out into the sea of monsters where they are swallowed by Charybdis, encounter Clarisse and her crew, and escape by blasting through the stomach. In the book, the three end up in an area where they see a Monster Donut store, only to get attacked by the Hydra (a creature that was featured in the first film), and are rescued by Clarisse and her crew. The group get caught in a fight between Charybdis and Scylla who sinks the boat and separates everyone. As an easter egg, Scylla is mentioned by Clarisse in the movie.
- Ichneutae the satyr was invented for the film.
- The entire ordeal on Circe's island and the aftermath of the sirens is removed from the film, however as an easter egg, Polyphemus's location is in an abandoned theme park called Circeland.
- Tyson's near death experience changes places. In the book, he nearly dies on Clarisse's ship, while in the movie, he is hit by an arrow from Luke meant for Percy.
- Luke never gets a chance to revive Kronos in the book, while the film makes him do so for an extended climax. This creates something of a narrative issue. Had the films continued, Luke's motivation to revive Kronos would've been flawed as the first thing he does is eat him.
- Percy sends Clarisse back home by herself while he and friends take on Luke. In the film, they all head back home together.
- Annabeth's near death experience by the Manticore never happens in the book and was added for the film.
Cancelled sequel and television reboot[]
Talks of a sequel based on the third book, and set to be titled Percy Jackson: The Titan's Curse, were in early development. However, due to the length it took to develop the sequel, as well as the negative reception from both films by critics, fans, and Riordan himself, all attempts at a film sequel were cancelled.
Following Disney's purchase of 20th Century Fox in 2019, Riordan began talks with the studio about developing the books into a television series. On May 14, 2020, Riordan confirmed that a television series was in development for Disney+. The series premiered December 19, 2023.
