Percy Jackson: Diebe im Olymp

Here's the deal. I read the first book, I'm currently reading the second... I loved the books, the imagination, the way it ties the mythology with the 21st century, all great. Now, the movie... the only thing I really have to say is PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE give me back the 2 hours you just unmercifully wasted in my life. I saw this flick with my fiancé on Valentine's Day, my pick. It was so bad even I nearly fell asleep. They changed major plot lines in the book, took out some of the characters that I really wanted to see, added a few that didn't exist in the book, and it was overall just kind of boring. Big effects don't do enough to keep me awake when I was really looking forward to knowing what would happen next in the movie and how it would be made. Instead I just sit there mindless, wondering if it wasn't too late to sneak into Avatar instead. If there is a movie made from the other books in the series... I'll probably download it online, but I won't spend money to see it. Huge, huge disappointment.

I recently read the book series (out of boredom), so I saw this film today with my friend. Firstly, it is quite different from the book. A major part of the storyline was completely left out (or even discarded), some parts were removed, and random parts added that did nothing for the storyline whatsoever. The beginning of the movie felt rather rushed, and hearing the 'whhaat?' from my friend confirmed the fact that they don't really explain things much in the first place. Anyone who might've recently studied Greek mythology or like to read about it as a general interest..it might make more sense to. Otherwise, it would seem a little random.

I'm never impressed when movies make changes from the books that don't greatly benefit the storyline. Unfortunately this was the case, with several things being completely different. But, if you've not read the books, you won't know any better. Still, I think keeping with the original storyline would've been fine, and definitely wouldn't have made the movie longer if done properly.

I honestly thought the acting was excellent from all of them, and there are quite a few laughs along the way.

I'm giving this a 6. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. It should've been better. I doubt they'll continue to make the other books into movies, much like they've completely botched the movie versions of my favourite books (His Dark Materials), but considering a major part of the plot was removed, it doesn't really matter much.

The Percy Jackson books were some of my favorite books growing up, and when a movie came out, I couldn't wait to see it. However, the film stays as far away from the source material as possible, which makes me wonder why the heck this movie was made.



There were certain things the movie just couldn't get right that I didn't think need changing. For example, in the book, Annabeth is blonde, Percy is 12, and when the car crash happens in the beginning, Grover was supposed to be unconscious. While it was true that Luke is evil, Percy doesn't fight him at the end. He fights Ares, the god of war.



The acting is decent, and Logan Lerman is a decent Percy Jackson. The special effects are cool, and the fights are really entertaining. The comedic elements are there, and the chemistry between the three actors are likeable.

In the end, it's just a popcorn flick for the family. It may not be the best movie ever made, but it's decent enough to enjoy. I just wish the movie stuck closer to the source material.

If you don't think too much about how it's not true to the books, the movie is actually quite entertaining. Logan Lerman is a great actor and a great Percy, but he was definitely too old for the character.

Which is one of the first major icks. In the books the characters are kids, Percy is 12, but played by a full on adult. There's a lot of other things the movies have changed but regardless of those, I still enjoyed the movies and it's too bad they were cut short.

I guess you know the drill already. With the Lord of the Rings making Hollywood studios go into a frenzy in adapting the many fantasy books out there, not everything Tinseltown touched turned to box office gold, and more often than not, save for that famous boy wizard, what could have been pilots of franchises, became no more than false starts. I suppose it goes to show that a solid story is still fundamental, other than making yet another special effects extravaganza to try and wow a growingly jaded audience.

So the verdict for Percy Jackson & the Olympians? I dare say I was impressed by how engaging it was, so much so that 2 hours just flew by, but that doesn't mean that it didn't have its fair share of plot loopholes for you to ridicule, or clichés that make you chuckle that these are still utilized in this day and age. Simply put, if the Greek gods and goddesses were all powerful, especially that of Zeus, well the first few minutes as played by Sean Bean, made him out to be a clueless weakling who had his all powerful lightning bolt being stolen from under his nose, like taking candy from a kid, and now the kid's throwing a bad tantrum, threatening the fate of the world and that of Olympus (erm, the Empire State Building in New York, anyone?) unless his accused, the titular thief and demigod son of Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) coughs out his favourite toy.

But that is only if Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is guilty in the first place, given that he actually doesn't know his half-god lineage no thanks to Poseidon being horny enough (as do the other gods in their frequent visits to the human earth) to impregnate Sally Jackson (Catherine Keener), and then Sally deciding to keep Percy safe from jealous harm from other godly beings, because being the son of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades (Steve Coogan) is a big thing actually, the three being big daddies and sworn brothers in this mythology.

But of course in one fell swoop, all hell breaks loose, Percy discovers that a Pen can indeed be a powerful weapon, and allies himself with a Satyr Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) his good friend and protector, the cute demigod Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario) - note the necessary trio of heroes in the vein of Harry Potter here given that they're demigods, but still need to go to a Hogwarts equivalent to hone their special abilities, amongst other Greek god offsprings numbering in the hundreds (told you they were horny), in the middle of a nowhere forest, demarcated by a sign board and a force field to keep out muggles, I mean, humans.

Being an introductory film to the world of the Olympians, we learn facts like why Percy's such a big deal (no he didn't repel the biggest foe in the franchise), and the little do's and don'ts they have to learn from the likes of the centaur Chiron (Pierce Brosnan). But kids being kids, and wanting to save his mom from the clutches of Hell, Percy and his friends embark on an American cross country road trip, and in the meantime try to decipher just who could that Thief be, having 14 days as the deadline to meet, which forms the basis of incidents and episodes that the trio come face to face with in exhibiting their powers (well, actually only Percy's).

Part of the fun is to see how other notable names in the casting list get to play up their gods and demon status. Uma Thurman stars as Medusa, spruced up by special effects snakes adorned on her head, which at certain points looked quite CG-ed for its own good. Or having Rosario Dawson star as Persephone in quite fed-up manner, and the lists goes on. Suffice to say that many of the appearances here are quite self contained in the scene they appear in, that they rarely re-appear again until the sequel (already announced for next year). Joe Pantoliano hams it up as Percy's muggle, I mean human step dad, and I was somewhat impressed by the extremely mean looking CG design of Hades, which can really strike fear with his appearance. The one that came out in the bonfire, that is.

With Clash of the Titans coming just round the corner, one wonders whether it may suffer from an audience jaded with this version's interpretation of Greek mythology, plus the uncanny use of the same villainous types that would prove detrimental by the time Titans come around. I guess that remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned when the end credits start rolling, as there's a scene that'll come on as soon as the cast list rolls off. And I certainly have no clue why "The Olympians" were dropped from the title of its release here.