Sunday, September 8, 2013

Bored!

Film: Percy Jackson - Sea of Monsters

Director: Thor Freudenthal


Having long given up on the wish to see a good cinematic adaptation of a series of books, it is now easy to enter the cinema hall expecting to be letdown. Sadly, Thor Freudenthal's Percy Jackson - Sea of Monsters is simply an addition to yet another god-awful book adaptation of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series.


On a conceptual level, which is the inheritance of the novel, it seems like such an exciting prospect that the protagonist is an offspring of an Olympian god. Like Hercules, but contemporary. But if this film and its prequel, Percy Jackson - The Lightning Thief, are to be believed, life as a demi-god in the modern setting is duller than the life of a balloon salesman on FC Road.

Picking up from where the prequel left us, the film gives a back story to the shield that protects the half-blood camp. A flashback, shows us how Talia, the daughter of Zeus, sacrificed herself to save three others. Zeus then gave her life in the form of a tree which marked the boundary of safety for the half-blood kids. But our lightning thief returns, breaches the wall and thus begins Percy's next great adventure, the search for the Golden Fleece that has the power to save lives.

A few tedious references to Greek mythology apart, the film lacks humour, compassion and a general ability to keep you engaged for 100 minutes. After the first 30 minutes, which have you convinced that nothing good can happen in the film, you conveniently disengage yourself from the screen and argue with yourself as to which character is the lamest. Unfortunately, the film isn't long enough for you to conclude that debate satisfactorily.

The one thing you deserve out of every film which makes you wear those bulky 3D glasses, is some quality visuals. Alright, make a lousy film, but atleast give the viewers half-a-dozen moments where they live the movie. But no, the imagery is largely derivative and intriguing on no level. The biggest monster of the film titled 'sea of monsters', immediately reminds you of the Kraken from Pirates of the Caribbean. At that point, you know that the makers too want you to think of other things, and not watch this unimaginativeness.

You don't see Zeus, or Poseidon or Haedes in this one. You don't even see Pierce Brosnan in this one. The only god in the film, is the one overlooking you – Boris, the Greek god of Boredom. 

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 

Published in DNA (Pune) on August 31, 2013

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