Percy Jackson and the Olympians is the first book in New York Time's best selling Middle School/Children's series by Rick Riordan, (AKA, Uncle Rick, if you would.) The book captured the attention of not only the age range the book was originally meant for, but it also captivated the minds of young adults across the nation. The Lightning Thief is a story of a 12 year old demigod (half god, half mortal/human) named Percy Jackson, and his adventures when Zeus' lightning bolt was stolen, and the blame was taken without his knowing. Zeus, king of the gods, and the ostentatious bastard, would blame his brothers, although he blamed Percy, Poseidon's son. Percy, at the time being, had no idea that he was a demigod, much less that the Greek gods existed in the mortal universe at all, until that one field trip to a Greek mythology museum with his Yancy Academy -- which was what, the ninth school he's been to? Like many demigods his age, Percy has dyslexia and/or ADHD, which makes it extremely arduous for him to learn, and his problems have caused him much trouble as he goes on the course of his life. (Fuller synopsis: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28187.The_Lightning_Thief?from_search=true)
A few years after this book was published, a movie adaption was made. (2010) And frankly, being a DIE hard fan of this awesome book series, I. Was. Excited. (Actually, I didn't find out about PJO until 2012 or something and I didn't watch the movie until then, but, whatever.) I thought the movie was going to be AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEE beyond compare. What I got was pure disappointment. See, many fans might agree with the faults I've listed below, while others may disagree and say that 'all movies are not exactly like the book, and the important parts happened' but, honestly, when I watch a movie that's adapted from a novel/book, I expect it to be -- not exactly -- like the book it was made from. I NEVER expect any movie based off a book to be perfectly made, because I can't even think of one that is even CLOSE to that title, but for Hades' sake, I at least want there to a little (and by little, I mean LOT) of similarities with the book. I mean, I love the Harry Potter movies because they directly follow the books' plot, and SURE Peeves got left out and a lot of things were added or taken out, but none of that made the movie unalike the book. I look for two things in movies adapted from books: Does the plot follow the book? Are the characters like the ones in the books? In the Lightning Thief's case, it's a no for both questions.
Let's just scroll through this list.
Everything WRONG With 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief' Movie Adaption
The Characters and Actors: Let me be real frank with you: I hated the actors. For some reason, this hatred and disappointment welled up inside of me when I saw the choices for the characters.
1) Alexandra Daddario. This woman was a seriously poor choice for the role of Annabeth Chase. I dunno what made me dislike her, but I'm pretty sure it's her appearance and the way she completely changed Annabeth's character. Oh, I forgot to mention: Alexandra was 24 when she took this role. TWENTY-FOUR. In the book, the characters are supposed to be 12; the actors don't have to be EXACTLY that age, but they at LEAST have to be somewhere near that age. 11, 12, 13, 14, I DON'T CARE. 24 is pushing the limit, and actually, in the movie, the characters are 17. .__. Anyways, Annabeth is a curly blonde -- not a straight-hair brunette. (I know she dyed her hair in the second movie, but I am bothered by it) Annabeth's personality in the movie was completely different from the book's personality. I don't mind a few tweaks, but no, Alexandra/or the movie producer I don't care, CHANGED EVERYTHING!!!!! Annabeth is NOT a tough, belligerent teenager (SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE 12, BUT NOOOOOOO, SHE'S 17) An example of where her personality fails to meet the book's personality? Percy's first 'Capture the Flag' game at Camp Half Blood; Annabeth guards the flag, right? (NOT TO MENTION THEY LEFT OUT HER YANKEE'S CAP) And ORIGINALLY in the book, she uses it to trick Percy from getting the flag.... right? The movie? Nope. Nope. Nope. Annabeth beats the sh*t out of Percy and maims him. (Against the rules. Oh, and Annabeth is the f*cking daughter of Athena, SHE KNOWS BETTER THAN TO BREAK THE RULES IN CAPTURE THE FLAG) Totally out of character. That is not Annabeth -- that's either Alexandra, the actor herself, or Clarisse, the snotty Ares girl. (The actor who played her in the second movie was a poor choice, too >.<) Fast forward: The way she just leaped into action with Percy and Grover... yeah, Annabeth has always wanted to go on a quest, but the way that she did it -- sneaking out of Camp and crap -- is not how she reacted.
2) Logan Lerman. At least this kid looked like Percy.... but, no matter how much we ship Percabeth, we have to admit that the way Logan played Percy to instantly feel attracted to Annabeth is a little bit rushed -- which is WHY the characters should've been the age they were supposed to. If they were 12, like the BOOKS CLEARLY STATED THEY WERE, then the relation wouldn't have progressed so quickly -_- Remember when Grover was showing Percy around Camp and there was this random moment of when Logan/Percy is transfixed by.... brunette Annabeth, who's just swinging her sword -- NOT DAGGER, NOT DAGGER, NOT THE DAGGER LUKE GAVE HER. Just that moment... just that moment made me want to kill myself. Literally.
LITERALLY WHAT HAPPENED:
Percy: *stares at Annabeth*
Annabeth: *does fancy stuff and tries to look really hot and stuff*
Percy: :O :O :O *obviously daydreaming*
Grover: Dude, she's wayyyyyyyyyy out of your league.
What? What? WHAT? Nooooooooooooo, that's not even close to how they met. Plus, I found it cheesy and stupid.
Plot: The plot was nowhere near the book's. Yeah, there were a few scenes where the plot actually followed the book, but everything else is just BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. The museum scene? Nah.... wasn't really like what happened in the book... (and that part where Grover stares at a statue of Aphrodite's naked body? Wtf? LITERALLY, WTF?) The Fury attack? -_- The whole Persephone scene? Okay, I imagined Persephone as a pale woman with ivory-like skin and dirty blonde hair, and she has a sickly look to her face, yet there's a blooming quality to her paleness... what I did not expect was this brunette with full-applied makeup, this dress that looks like it belongs at a Halloween costume party, cleavage that was SO not necessary, and she literally looks like she's trying to show off her sexiness for no reason, AND THAT KISSING/NEAR MAKING OUT SCENE WITH HADES WTF WTF WTF WTF. (Okay, that wasn't exactly relevant to the plot....=/) Where the hell was Ares? Where the hell was everyone that was supposed to be in here? .-.
Meh, I got sort of tired after writing this....and I think I got a little high. And I babble at night. Sorry for wasting your time.....
