Monday, March 1, 2010

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)


The expectation: I read the first three books in Rick Riordan's series (there are more) and I plan to read the rest of them because they were very interesting and I enjoyed them. Riordan takes the characters and themes in Greek Mythology and uses them in a fictional tale written for young adults. As a Humanities scholar for a short period of time, I was impressed with his mix of themes from Greek culture and action sequences that resonate with contemporary children. So, I was not necessarily expecting Harry Potter, but with director Christopher Columbus at the helm of this one (he made the first two Potter films), I was ready for a smart film that both children and adults could appreciate and enjoy.

The result: This movie is terrible! It is rare that I feel that my money is wasted on a film, that my intelligence is insulted, and that my heart pours out to this author, whose story has been butchered in the worst possible way. Sometimes, I do not understand the choices that directors make when they translate a novel into a film. I realize that they are different mediums with new audiences and this involves making hard choices, but this film blatantly changed all major plot points- essentially rewriting the initial story. This is my major issue with the film because the new story not only deviates from the novel, it changes the way Greek culture is interpreted and presented to the audience. Greek gods are supposed to mess with humans- they are devious, they create havoc, and they use humanity in order to attack each other. They are petty. In no way does this resonate in the film. All important plot points which speak to this are removed or changed. Also, the film comes off as hokey and silly. I think the casting of many of the main characters feeds into this and should have been rethought. The actors make horrible comic stabs- I think for the children in the audience- but they are not smart enough to actually be funny- only silly and stupid. My last issue is that the film did not take into account the rest of the series. Plot points that set up sequels were avoided and ignored. This is another issue that I just do not understand because the subsequent books are there. The audience has read them. The umbrella story is more than the initial book. And only a few small moments inserted into this film could have set up this larger story. I am just talking about a few minutes in the film. Overall, I obviously did not like this film- and I am so disappointed I feel that I need to finish reading the series as soon as possible in order to make up for it.

What to watch out for: Don't go. please. read the books.

Flickr photo by deansouglass

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