Percy Jackson and the Olympians

I was 11 when I first read Percy Jackson and the lighting thief. I was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, and my mother gave me this book because some neighbor said it was good for kids like myself. To this day, one of the most influential books I've read.

I've been waiting for this series for a long time, and man it was worth the wait. 2 episodes in and you can already see the attention to detail they put into this show. The casting choices are so far great, the dialogue is excellent, and the kids they chose for Grover, Annabeth, and Percy have so far nailed their characters. It's obvious they are setting this up to do the entire series (which would be phenomenal) and the pacing is so far pretty good.

If I had a Time Machine, I'd take this show back to 11 year old me to just see the excitement on my face as my favorite character gets an amazing series like this. I'm excited to see where they take the show, and how they introduce new characters through the series like Thalia and Nico. I can only hope that this gets even a quarter of the hype as Harry Potter, but I'm just glad Percy Jackson's finally getting the screen adaptation he deserves.

Heavily expository dialog, slow pacing, odd framing of scenes--why so many shots from behind when characters are speaking?--and clumsy fight choreography are just some of the factors that prevented me from enjoying the first two episodes of a show I was eagerly anticipating. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I prefer the admittedly flawed film. Even the SFX in the film seemed better, and to check my memory, I rewatched the film after struggling to stay awake during the Disney+ series, and yes, those effects from 2010 survive the comparison. The early encounter with the minotaur, for example, feels more kinetic and dangerous in the film, while the TV version fails to convince that the adolescent Percy could in any way survive the encounter.

I waited a long time for this series. I watched the entire thing and didn't really feel it. I mean the story line is a lot closer to the book that the attempted movie adaptation. But I think the cast is not ready or not directed well. Though the movie lost the original story, the actors and actress did a better job. But I have to put in consideration that the ages of the three protagonists are accurate, I'm afraid they didn't capture the essence of the characters. I didn't feel them. Of course they were very young so I guess I better put that into consideration. I hope they'll do a better job with the Sea of Monsters or the show might not last another season.

My headline pretty much says it. The pacing is too fast honestly (great for kids with short attention spans ig) and the lines seem pretty cliché and cheesy to be frank. The visual effects could also be a bit better. I know the movie wasn't everyone's favorite but I do think they had better visuals in it. The issue with the pacing is that it really isn't giving the audience enough time to create an emotional relationship with Percy that readers might already have. If anything this series is for them and no one else which doesn't make it good television. And I might be in the minority but there is nothing wrong with slowing down and letting your affections for the character grow. Since these are based on books they could've gone even MORE in depth than before but they actually are seeming to go faster through the intro stuff than they really should be. I think the show is overhyped and hope it gets better.

My husband, son, and I read the Percy Jackson books together during those long months home at the start of Covid. So we were excited to watch this series together now, which promised to be an improvement over the movies. We came in with open minds but have been disappointed week after week.

I personally don't mind that the actors don't look the way they're described in the books. If they capture the characters' essence/ personality, I'm open to differences in appearance. Unfortunately, I think the child actors were at the mercy of poor screen writing, poor directing, and really strange choices in editing. As others have mentioned, the writing is stilted and the pacing of the show is uneven and choppy. Boring scenes are dragged out for too long, and what could have been interesting scenes are glossed over too superficially.

I also don't know what to make of the choice to cut to a dark screen whenever there's a significant transition. It reminds me of the jarring way TV shows used to cut to commercial breaks in the 80's. It's hard to understand why professionals at Disney couldn't come up with more sophisticated or creative options.

Finally, for a show that's supposedly sticking to the book (with input from the author), there are some very odd scenes that were either not in the book at all or which deviate drastically for no apparent good reason. Again, I am not a purist and am open to being surprised. But those scenes do very little (or nothing) to enhance the story. Watching a twelve year old struggle to drive a taxi while lurching through a parking lot for what felt like twenty minutes made the Fields of Asphodel seem stimulating. And, speaking of the underworld, how is it possible to make Hades less menacing than a cup of weak tea?!

We still really want to like the show, so we'll keep coming back for a few more weeks. But, at this point, we don't expect much. Sadly, the movies are looking better in comparison.