Sea of Monsters adaptation: Things I Liked and Disliked

（Warning: This post is not spoiler-free)

So, like all demigods (fans of the PJO series, if you're wondering), I've been waiting for the SoM movie ever since they announced the casting. Half the people in my fandom even waited a lot longer than I did because I only joined the fandom this year, after reading all the five books in March/April.

Anyway, I watched the Lighting Thief around three times before reading its book. I actually enjoyed the movie before I read the book. I thought it was good. But after the book I realized how much they have changed the plot and how many parts they have cut out. Ares wasn't in the movie. Percy did not help Ares to retrieve Aphrodite's scarf. Grover was supposed to be a little cowardly. Annabeth was supposed to be blond. They didn't explain that Medusa wanted to get her revenge on Annabeth, because her mom, Athena, was the one who turned her hair into snakes. But that's okay. It doesn't affect the whole storyline in general so I'm fine with it.

This time for Sea of Monsters, I was super excited. I think I watched all the trailers, some of the movie featurettes and tv spots. I followed @PercyMovies. I followed some of the cast. I waited for the stills. Judging from its trailer, I had high hopes for the movie. And now, after watching it (I actually watched it two weeks ago but was too lazy to blog about it), I'm going to write my reviews on it.

Things I Liked:

1. I'm glad that they explained Thalia's past at the very beginning of the movie. After all, the second movie centers around getting the Golden Fleece to recover Thalia's tree. If I put myself in the shoes of a fan who have not read the book and judge, it's a good way to start the movie because it explains everything from the beginning to avoid confusion later on.

2. Hermes is so cool. I can't decide whether I like the book Hermes more or the movie Hermes more. (Fun fact: I'm a Hermes kid). I loooove the part where he says "It's cute how you two (Percy and Annabeth) finish each other's sentences." I don't remember that part being in the book so it's a great addition to the movie. And I'm glad that George and Martha (the snakes) are in the movie although they look very unrealistic. They are very cool snakes.

3. Riptide/Anaklusmos. That's the name of Percy's sword if you've forgotten. I like how much of effort they have put into the designing the sword. Especially during the part at camp where Percy fought the Colchis bull and he threw his sword into the bull's mouth and it unwinds in slow motion. That was super cool man. It looked like some high-tech sword. Good job on the sword. I just wish they added in the part in the book where Riptide will always return to Percy's pocket because there was some enchantment on it or something. I can't remember.

4. The Mist. Okay, first of all, THE MIST IS NOT KEPT IN A SPRAY BOTTLE OH MY GODS. THE MIST IS IN THE AIR. IT'S EVERYWHERE. MORTALS SEE  MAGICAL BEINGS DIFFERENTLY. THEIR BRAIN ADJUSTS IT TO WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN, TO WHAT THEY'RE USED TO SEEING. IT AFFECTS EVERYONE, NOT JUST MORTALS. EVEN DEMIGODS GET AFFECTED BY THE MIST. THAT IS WHY WHEN PERCY FIRST MET TYSON HE ALSO SEES HIM WITH TWO EYES. IT'S QUITE COMPLICATED TO BE EXPLAINED IN THE MOVIE so yeah I have to say the movie producers were actually quite creative in changing the part. Keeping the mist in a bottle as if it's perfume. It's funny for book fans (I laughed the first time Annabeth pulled out the mist bottle), but to make things easier and less complicating, okay we'll stick to having the mist in the bottle.

5. I liked the guy with many hands. I don't think he exists in the book. Nope. Unless you count Briares, which cannot be counted, because he's a whole different species. Hekatonkheire. Cousins of the Cyclopes. Okay let's not go to the books shall we because I don't want to confuse you. It's so cool how he makes all the drinks so quickly. And it's nice to see that magical beings get to work, umm, I mean, be a part of the 'normal' society.

6. CLARISSE. The movie Clarisse is so bad-ass. (Being bad-ass is supposed to be Thalia's job but nevermine). Leven Rambin did a good job playing Clarisse. When the casting was first announced, practically everyone said that she was too pretty to play Clarisse. You see, Clarisse isn't supposed to be pretty. In the book, she is described as a big ugly beefy bully. In the first book, when Percy first reached camp, she actually tried stuffing Percy's head in a toilet bowl. (Yes, she was supposed to be in the first movie too). But even though Leven is nowhere near ugly, she did her job well. I like movie Clarisse. And to be frank, I like Leven more as a brunette than as a blonde. (PS: Did you know she was Glimmer in The Hunger Games?)

7. Thank the Gods Dionysus is in the second movie.

8. Again thank the Gods we have double the number of characters in the second movie compared to the first one.

Things I Disliked:

1. Number one. I was going to say that their official camp shirt was supposed to be orange but I will not list that down because it doesn't affect the storyline. But yes, it would be nice if everyone was wearing the same orange shirts.

The thing I disliked most about the movie is CIRCELAND. IN THE NAME OF THE TWELVE OLYMPIANS IT ISN'T CIRCELAND. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CIRCE ISLAND. DO YOU KNOW THAT CIRCE ISLAND WAS ACTUALLY THE PART I LOOK FORWARD MOST TO IN THE MOVIE??? UGHHHHHHH.

Here is what was supposed to happen.

They entered the sea of monsters. They were sailing here and there bla bla bla and they reached this beautiful tropical island. Circe Island. It's actually some sort of spa, a beauty center. They entered the island, and along the path there were a few ladies resting and sunbathing on their 'beach chairs'. (I don't know what you call them). Eventually they reach a room(?) and they met Circe. Circe owns the spa and she offered to make both Annabeth and Percy beautiful. Annabeth went first. She came out looking as a whole different person. Percy thought she looked amazing and everything, but she doesn't look like Annabeth anymore you know. Because she was too pretty and Percy liked simple Annabeth better. Then it was Percy turn. Circe gave him a drink. For the first few seconds he felt wonderful. Then suddenly he felt uncomfortable. He started changing. He started shrinking. Pum Pum Pum AND PERCY TURNS INTO A....guinea pig. Surprise!

THAT WAS WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! Circe is actually a sorceress who despises the male species. She said that the male species gets all the attention. And that whenever something great happens, it always involved a male hero. What about the females? Circe felt like it's their time to shine. At the corner of a room is a cage full of guinea pigs. Every man who stepped onto her island was turned into a guinea pig. All the women on the other hand were beautified. Do you have any idea how interesting this part is? How amazing it would be in the movie? I was excited for this part. But NOOOO, THEY CHANGED IT TO CIRCELAND, WHICH IS AN ABANDONED THEME PARK. WHATTTT????

2. Nectar. Okay, let me clear things up. Nectar is not something you drink for fun. It's actually god food. Too much of it, and it literally burns your cells and kills you. Demigods take it in small quantities for healing. Yes, it heals you. When out traveling they carry cubes of nectar in ziploc bags. In camp they make it into a drink and drink it. Nectar tastes differently to every person. To Percy I think it tastes like something his mom made. It soothes you. It might even make you nostalgic? I don't know. The point is, it's god food, and the reason demigods can take them without going up in flames is that they're half gods. Normal mortals who take nectar will just go through combustion. Changing nectar into something casual you add into your 'Starbucks' drink is just...weird.

3. The Golden Fleece. Holy gods. The Golden Fleece in the movie looks like an old cloth! It's supposed to be a heavy GOLDEN FLEECE. LITERALLY. IT'S MADE OF GOLD AND IT'S SHINY AND IT LOOKS POWERFUL. BUT THE MOVIE FLEECE??? *sighs deeply*

4. Silena Beauregard (I almost wrote it as Silena Beckendorf sobs) and Chris Rodriguez. What in the name of the gods are they doing in the second movie??? Oh my gods?? We are not supposed to know that Chris is a traitor until the fourth movie, after he's rescued out of the Labyrinth (Don't ask me what that is), and Silena's role as a traitor is supposedly one of the biggest plot twists in the fifth movie! Silena is actually the head of the Aphrodite cabin. How are the movie producers going to fix Silena's part I have no idea.

5. As for the last thing I disliked, this is also a minor problem in the books, but a lot more obvious in the movies. You see, I feel like demigods are described and portrayed to be less powerful than they supposedly are. We always forget that demigods are still half gods. And that's quite some powerful shit. In the movies, it seems like Percy is the only one with special abilities, controlling water and healing with water and stuff. Other demigods can do cool stuff do. Hephaestus kids can create and fix anything. In extremely rare cases (coughs Leo Valdez coughs), Hephaestus kids can summon a fire. Demeter kids can make plants and flowers grow. Ares kids can turn your battle weapons into rubber. Some Aphrodite kids can charmspeak you (that means they can trick you into doing something). Apollo kids are healers and they can shoot arrows more accurate than Katniss does. Hermes kids are excellent thieves. (I don't want to talk about children and Hades and Zeus, you'll see them in the next movie ;)) Fighting is not the only thing they can do. But in the movies, I see that fighting is all they do. In my opinion, the other demigods should be given a little spotlight to showcase their powers too.  

So far, these are the only points I can remember. If you are reading this sentence, thank you. Because this probably means you read my entire rant. I'm not the best reviewer in the world, but I just wanted to voice out my opinions. I don't blog interesting stuff either, so thank you for bearing with my not-so-professional review (if you can even consider it a review). Let's just hope that we will have a third PJO movie, The Titan's Curse! (NICO AND THALIA AND ZOE AND BIANCA AND APOLLO AHA YAY)

Thank you, readers! Till next time!