Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters 2013

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: The mythology-rooted "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" franchise is fairly engaging stuff, unabashed "Harry Potter" knockoff or no. Read more

Andy Webster, New York Times: "Sea of Monsters" is diverting enough - the director, Thor Freudenthal, is savvy with effects and keeps his young cast on point - but it doesn't begin to approach the biting adolescent tension of the Harry Potter movies Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: An epic showcase for mediocre CGI and slapdash screenwriting. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Characters don't so much have conversations as read Dungeons & Dragons manuals at each other. The whole thing feels like exposition in search of a story. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Obviously the bar isn't set that high, but Percy still manages to fumble underneath it. Read more

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: This film hits its stride in a way the first one never did. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: Precious little about this is particularly memorable, but it's the odd touch of local color that makes these routine acts of derring-do a bit easier to bear. Read more

Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter: The Thor Freudenthal-directed Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, which actually runs about 10 minutes shorter than its 2010 predecessor, lacks the energetic zip of the Chris Columbus-helmed installment. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: Tweens and young teens should be sufficiently distracted by the movie's brisk pace and heroic mayhem - if they're not too unnerved by its at times nightmarish imagery. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: In Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, choosing the dumbest character is a colossal task. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: With the young wizards of "Harry Potter" fading from memory, the demigod teenagers of "Percy Jackson" are starting to seem like the next best thing. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The movie feels like a watch-the-bottom-line effort that's determined to skimp on everything - guest stars, effects, spectacle - while bringing in new characters we don't care about. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: A fetching mix of whizz-bang CGI and full-blooded classical storytelling. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, New York Daily News: There isn't even an actual sea of monsters in "Sea of Monsters," unless you count some fish guts. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: Like some hybrid beast out of Greek mythology, this young-adult sequel has the body of a "Harry Potter," the head of a "Twilight," the feet of a "Hunger Games" and the tail, oddly, of a "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: Whiny, listless and repetitive. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: There are plenty of bad films to get riled up about in the summer. "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" isn't one of them. This is harmless tween-centric fun. Read more

Andrew Wagaman, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Supporting actors Stanley Tucci and Nathan Fillion have a good punch line or two, but otherwise the book's humor fails to translate with both kids and their parents. Read more

Bruce Ingram, Chicago Sun-Times: You might think it would be endlessly awesome being the offspring of an Olympian god, but it seems like kind of a drag, really, for young Percy Jackson. Read more

Christopher Orr, The Atlantic: Yes, this is the point in the summer when I outsource my critical judgment to my kids. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: With its broad humour and less than serious tone, it's clearly aimed at tween and teen set and it's likely to be a crowd-pleaser among that demographic. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: In an age where even The Smurfs 2 has to arch an eyebrow and pretend that it's hipper than itself, there's something refreshing about the lack of irony in the Percy Jackson series. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: The young cast are smug and forgettable; the action sequences barely get going before they're over; and the whole affair is riddled with product placement and pop cultural references ... Read more

Nick Schager, Time Out: It feels as if the filmmakers are coasting on the fumes of teen-angst fantasy and making up their fairy-tale rules (Cyclopes are fireproof!) as they go along. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Percy is a lot like a certain bespectacled young wizard - sans the lightning-shaped scar. It's too bad his adventures don't have the same enchanting quality. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: Before it descends into Percy Jackson and the Things That Happen in Movies Like This, the adventure at times clicks into the inventive groove of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson novels ... Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Even for those missing their Harry Potter fix, this is some weak, watered-down stuff. Read more

Jen Chaney, Washington Post: It's a shame that the millions of readers who fell in love with Riordan's classic-meets-contemporary children's stories have been handed such limp adaptations of the material. Read more