Review of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) by Kerry M — 21 Mar 2017

The one thing to call this film is a missed opportunity. This movie could have been wonderful. The source material is such an engaging read. But the film just turns out to be okay. I love Percy Jackson & the Olympians.

It's my favorite book series. I saw this movie before reading the book. After I read the book, I liked the film a bit less than before. Source material is usually better than it's adapted counterparts, but this film fails at being faithful, right down to having the characters older.

How is the coming of age element going to work if Percy's the age he's supposed to be by the end of the series? The film portrays Annabeth very differently from the novel. She seems more like a daughter of Ares than Athena.

The plot and characters are also very simplified, as if the film is more childish than the book. How did Chris Columbus mess this up? Everything you need alright exists. All you have to do transfer it to film.

Don't get me wrong. I know adaptations aren't always easy as some things have to be taken out but come on. Why couldn't Peter Jackson direct this? Okay, what's good about the film? The effects are decent, the acting is alright, and the film is a lot of fun.

To sum it up, the film is okay as a stand alone movie, but bad as an adaptation. It's a missed opportunity for what could have been the first installment of an outstanding film series. The Lightning Thief is loads of fun, and I do enjoy watching it every now and then, but it could've been so much better.