Spoilers to the Percy Jackson books and movies are in the following.
Fourteen years of suffering through the two Percy Jackson movies has finally ended. The movies “The Lightning Thief” (2010) and “The Sea of Monsters” (2013), adaptations of the books, are commonly considered by fans to be an abomination to the Percy Jackson franchise. There is a new Disney TV series, but is it an improvement?
Percy Jackson is a book series following the life of the Greek god Poseidon’s son, Percy Jackson. In the books, Percy fights classic mythical creatures including Medusa, the Minotaur, and the Cyclopes, while creating friends and enemies along the way. He eventually saves the world many times. The series became a two-part series in the Hero’s Olympus including Roman mythology when more characters were introduced. With its huge popularity, there was sure to be a movie made for this rising franchise. And there was.
“The Lightning Thief” was garbage, mainly because the movie was missing so many key factors. Wrong scenes and facts were constantly incorrect. Clarisse, Ares, the Oracle, hellhounds and furies were not included in the movie, and, of the things included, many storylines were changed in ways that did not make sense or detracted from the movie.
For example, the Master Bolt was in a shield, Percy had the flying shoes instead of his best friend, Grover, and the Hydra existed instead of the fight in the St Louis Arch. My least favorite part is that Hades is portrayed as an antagonist in the movie, even though he is just trying to live his life in the books.
The second movie was even worse. To keep it brief, Classrise appeared, but the fight scenes were pathetic, and the scene on Polymethius’ island was bland. And, of course, nobody can forget Kronos’s confusing and upsetting resurrection in the end. Overall, the movies were awful.
Disney did so much better with the series. The show is a season made up of eight episodes. Rick Riordan, the author of the Percy Jackson books, and his wife produced the show. I love that the title of each episode was the name of a chapter from the book. The show and book were pretty similar, leaving a few small things out.
What upsets me is the casting and script. I am not bothered that some of the characters are not how they are described in the books, it is the acting in general. It seems fake. I should be more connected to the characters.
For example, Percy’s mother does not feel like a strong mother, which is her main characterization in the book. Instead, she feels weak and unimportant. Also, the fact that the directors hint at a love relationship with Percy and Annabeth makes me a bit sick. I get that they end up together later on, but that is not until the sixth book. They act like everything around them is crazy even though they live in a world of myths and monsters. Everything that happens around them is shocking. The show overall can be portrayed as very staged and rushed.
The Disney Plus show is far better than the movies and it makes me happy the movies are finally being replaced with something better. I hope that Disney does not make everything so quick and fake if they do end up making a second season. I cannot wait to see what will come from Disney in the future.