Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (PG) 104 mins ***
Since sacrificing the Harry Potter and Twilight
cash cows, studio desperation has grown such that even would-be franchises that
made scant impression first time out are getting another chance, now in
extra-lucrative 3D. This is the one about the teens with Greek gods for
parents, and its second instalment shades marginally darker: sharing his
producers’ doubts that he may be a “one-quest wonder”, Percy “Son of Poseidon”
Jackson (Logan Lerman) has resolved to pluck the Golden Fleece from its current
resting place in, erm, the Bermuda Triangle.
Though the introduction of zombie sailors feels
like a bandwagon-jump too far, some fun remains in its mad mythological
mash-up: Stanley Tucci’s DT-ing Dionysus gets miffed at love rival Zeus for
turning all his good wine into water, while recasting the Furies as sightless
taxi drivers is a pleasing reminder of certain 80s kids’ films. We’ll doubtless
be waiting all eternity for Perce himself to develop beyond have-a-go hero – CG
spectacle trumps character here – but if PJ2
exists chiefly to fill a gap in the market, it is at least cheerfully cheap and
not unlikable: very much the Poundland Potter, as it were.
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is in cinemas nationwide.
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