Kidzworld checks out the home entertainment version of the second in the film series based on the Percy Jackson novels; Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Now available on Blu-ray + DVD!
By Lynn Barker
Percy Jackson, demigod son of Poseidon and a human woman, saved the world once but now he can’t seem to even win in war games or training contests at Camp Half Blood. When he learns that he is part of a hugely important prophecy, Percy doubts that he can make lightning strike…twice.
Story Goes
Seven years ago, young demigods were running for the safety of Camp Half-Blood when they were attacked by Cyclops. Talia, daughter of Zeus, was killed and Zeus turned her into a tree and put a protective barrier around the camp.
Percy defends Camp Half Blood
In the present, Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) son of the God Poseidon, is trying to prove himself in the camp games but Clarisse (Leven Rambin) daughter of the war God always bests him. When the barrier is breached by Luke (Jake Abel) rebel son of Hermes, the protective tree grown from Talia’s body, starts to die. Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), daughter of wise Athena, realizes that there must be a quest to bring the Golden Fleece back to camp to heal the tree and thus restore the barrier.
The demigod gang tries to escape with the fleece
Percy has been told by the Oracle that it is his job to tangle with Luke to either save Olympus and Earth or destroy them. As winner of the latest games, Clarisse is given charge of the quest but Percy, Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) and Annabeth decide to go get the Fleece separately. Joining them is Percy’s newly-discovered half brother Tyson (Douglas Smith) a Cyclops and also son of Poseidon. Knowing that Cyclops killed Talia, Annabeth doesn’t trust him.
Percy has breakfast with half-bro Tyson
After the questers take a magical, wild ride to Washington, D.C., Grover is captured by Luke and his men. Getting a tip from Luke’s dad Hermes (a very funny Nathan Fillion), the gang heads to the Sea of Monsters (our Bermuda Triangle) and learn that Luke also wants the fleece for a separate plan to resurrect the horrible Kronos who, he thinks, will aid him to oust the Gods from Olympus so he and his new breed can take over.
The gang in the Sea of Monsters
After many adventures, Percy and pals are triumphant and return with the fleece to save Talia’s tree only to get way more than they bargained for.
Clarisse (Leven Rambin) holds the golden fleece
Special Features
We only get a few, short featurettes on this set; no gag reel, no director’s commentary.
Tyson Motion Comic – Is a fun backstory for Cyclops (Percy’s half-bro) Tyson told in slightly animated graphic novel format. Living alone in the woods, the teen Cyclops watches a group of campers having fun and envies them. The kids tell scary Cyclops stories around a campfire. When they see Tyson watching, they run in terror. One of them leaves behind a pair of sunglasses and he puts them on to hide his eye. A glowing trident appears in the sky and guides him to Camp Half Blood. This feature is well-illustrated and was, perhaps once intended to be filmed but was cut.
Rebel demigod Luke
Deconstructing a Demigod – concentrates on stunts and the fight training of each major actor. The director talks about the characters and we see the actors in action scenes. It is established that each character has separate battle skills. A few comments by the actors; could have used more.
It’s All in the Eye – This featurette concentrates on Cyclops Tyson. The director talks about his personality; child-like and kind, and how Douglas Smith was cast for the role. We learn that both prosthetics were used to build up a big brow on the actor, then computer effects for the single eye were added. There was an attempt to make him look real and be able to express emotion through just one eye. This, for me, was the most interesting of the extras.
Grover, Percy and Annabeth prepare for another fateful adventure
Wrapping Up
Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters is a fun sequel to “Lightning Thief” as Percy learns that he might have a very serious destiny and struggles to be up to the task. The addition of Cyclops half-bro Tyson is fun. The CGI effects work actually looks better to me on this Blu-Ray/DVD set than it did on the big screen in kind of dark 3D. Still love the beautiful sea horse critter with iridescent skin.
Scary monster Kronos
The film does a great job setting us up for the next film in the series in which Talia will play a major role.
Extra features are sparse, however. A gag or blooper reel would have been a nice addition and maybe an audio commentary by the actors would have been fun. We don’t see anything in depth about how all the fanciful special effects were created. A short piece about creating Cyclops Tyson’s eye is the only look at the tech side of making the film.
Cyclops Tyson
We gave Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters 3 stars originally and, since this home entertainment set is not chocked full of fun extras, we still have to go 3 stars.
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters Blu-ray + DVD Rating: 
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters Blu-ray and DVD Cover Art
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is now available on Blu-ray + DVD!
