Adapting the much loved Percy Jackson series is no small feat. With viewers waiting over a decade for a proper on-screen version of the series, expectations were high and there were many ways in which the new Percy Jackson T.V. show could have fallen short. Its predecessor, the 2010 movie, left viewers disappointed. But Percy Jackson and the Olympians, released on Dec. 20, attempts to give the first book in the original series, The Lightning Thief, a fitting on-screen adaptation. Episodes were being released Wednesdays on Disney+, with the last episode coming out on January 31st.
The show follows 12-year-old Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) as he navigates the discovery that he is a demigod, a child of a Greek god and a human. He is sent to a camp called Camp Half-Blood where he trains and learns more about his identity, and then he is sent on a quest across the country with Annabeth Chase (Leah Jefferies) and Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri) to retrieve Zeus’s (Lance Reddick) lightning bolt which has mysteriously disappeared.
The plot is engaging and exciting, with twists and turns around every corner, although it does make some significant changes from the original book. Many of these changes, while big, don’t take away from the heart of the show. However there are some which hinder the characters’ development and the viewers suspense.
In the book, there are many instances in which the characters are tricked by a monster and have to slowly realize what’s going on as they are already in danger. Yet, in the T.V. show, the characters anticipate every trap they come across, which leaves little action or suspense for the viewer. It also hinders their character development, as they are given less situations to learn and grow from.
This issue is most likely caused by the series’ overall issue with pacing. Many of the episodes could have used a longer run time as they often felt rushed. A longer run time would allow the characters to fall for all the monsters’ traps, as they did in the books, which would fix the aforementioned issues the show has with suspense.
A highlight of the show is the actors of the three main characters, Percy, Grover, and Annabeth, who do a fantastic job embodying each of their respective personalities. Other standout performances include Adam Copeland as Ares, the God of War, and Dior Goodjohn as Clarisse La Rue, one of Ares’ daughters. Their portrayal of such fiery and hot-headed characters is accurate without being over the top.
The series does a great job of creating an engaging world, the settings are fantastical while still remaining grounded to the real world. The special effects in the series are excellent, and there is a great amount of detail that many readers will feel match what they imagined when they read the book. Camp Half-Blood and Olympus in particular are almost exactly what I imagined when I read the book.
One thing the series is hindered by is not having Percy’s internal monologue. In the books his point of view and the monologue that comes from it provide exposition and comic relief. Without it, exposition is often delivered in the form of clunky dialogue and many jokes are omitted. However, the series does have plenty of jokes and does not lose the charm of the original novel.
Overall, the show does a good job of capturing the spirit of the original book, despite some issues. I would recommend this show to fans of fantasy and ancient Greek mythology, and to anyone who has read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books who isn’t too concerned about everything being perfectly accurate.
8/10
