I’ll start off by admitting that I’ve never read the books, and that the movies have so far been my primary exposure to the world of Percy Jackson. I’ve picked up bits and pieces here and there, but I’m about as far from a Percy Jackson expert as you can be.

That said, the second movie was so bad, I don’t remember enough of it to say what I would change. I do think the 3-year gap between the movies hurt it. I felt like when the first movie released the actors were passable as far as their ages, but by the time the second movie came out they were clearly too old. I remember the Nathan Fillion appearance in the trailer being the most-talked about part among my friends, and after seeing the movie, he was clearly just there for marketing reasons. As far as the writing and plot, it was forgettable, and had none of the soul that the first movie had (which certainly had its own problems, but it was at least re-watchable).