Percy Jackson and the Olympians

I knew this was gonna be mid. The comics are the best adaptation I've seen so far and they've convinced me that motion picture adaptations of Rick's stories need to be animated. They blew through ~120 million to make a boring show with boring fights when they could've spent a fraction of that to deliver a show as entertaining as Avatar The Last Airbender, Young Justice, Invincible, etc.

I'm baffled by the people who imagined things in live-action when reading the books, some of the scenes sounded so goofy and outlandish that I couldn't imagine anything but a comic book come to life. I understand Rick felt pressure to match series like Harry Potter and Hunger Games and I think Walker Scobell has the kind of charisma to compete with the main actors from those franchises, but PJO was obviously never going to be like those books. They should've taken a risk and paved their own path.

I have not read the books, My daughters and wife have read them and were anxious for this series.

I really liked the actors and thought they did a decent job. The effects and look of the series were well done.

My problem was the series felt very rushed. After seeing the entire series I feel it could have been 2-5 episodes longer to supply more detail, build the world out, raise the stakes and allow us to get to know what's at stake.

I know books are always better...but remember I have not read the books and I could tell it was rushed.

My wife and daughter overall enjoyed the series, but were let down at how thin it seemed.

I plan to read the series now to see what I missed!

Having read and loved all the books (and even enjoying the films to some extent), I had high expectations for the new series adaptation.

However, upon finishing the first season, I couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed. There seemed to be so much potential for exciting scenes, thrilling moments, and epic action sequences, yet the entire first season fell short in delivering them. Many fans, myself included, found ourselves eagerly anticipating major developments in several episodes, only to be met with a lack of significant action.

Even the most memorable scenes from the books felt watered down, lacking the challenge and excitement they originally possessed. There were no spectacular moves or thrilling fights to be found.

While I understand that this adaptation is geared towards a younger audience, I still believe there is room for more action and excitement. I urge the creators to follow the books more closely and inject more energy into the series.

As a suggestion, I recommend looking at the new Airbender series, which targets a similar audience but manages to pack more action into its opening scene than the entire first season of Percy Jackson.

I'm hopeful that future episodes and seasons will explore these themes more deeply and deliver the excitement that fans of the books are craving.

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.