"I can't pee with her staring at me!" aka why Percy Jackson was awesome

[greenconverses]

Saw The Lightning Thief tonight with mysticfushia, da_widget, and a couple of other friends. We were probably the oldest non-parents in the theatre, which was awkward for like .5 seconds.

It'll probably come as no surprise, but I loved this ridiculous movie. Yeah, the plot was nothing like the book and there was some other issues with it, but overall? It captured the feeling and the spirit of the books and characters, and I think at the end of the day that's what matters more than the fact that they changed the quest around, added/removed characters, or left out some minor details. Deeper, spoiler filled thoughts to follow under the cut.

Beginning with things I absolutely adored:

Percy: Logan Lerman is Percy Jackson, plain and simple. Everything about him was just right - especially the attitude. I think the moment I was absolutely convinced he was Percy was during the Capture the Flag game when he was like, "You guys take this way too seriously," and then proceded to fall down as he's running away from the Ares guys. OH PERCY YOU ARE RIDICULOUS. ♥ Also, Logan has ridiculous chemistry with like every character, I swear. And by every character, I mean mostly Jake Abel; holy crap, we're about to be invaded Percy/Luke shippers.

Annabeth: I was most concerned with her character's portrayal going in - mostly because Alexandra Daddario was the one member of the main four that I hadn't seen act and, duh, Annabeth's my girl - but I ended up really liking how she turned out. She was great in her fight scenes - I was worried she wouldn't be doing much after the initial beating-Percy-up spree - but her taking on Luke at the end was pure win. The scene that sold it was when she and Grover told Percy to STFU and that they were coming on the quest whether he liked it or not; I thought she just hit all the right notes for Annabeth's character there.

Percy/Annabeth moments: Do I even need to explain this one? There were so many and I just couldn't stop grinning from the moment Percy was introduced to her. AND THE ENDING WITH THEM. SO EFFING CUTE. And the fight scenes? TOTALLY HOT.

Grover: GROVER GROVER GROVER. ♥ I'll straight out admit it; Grover is probably my least favorite character next to Tyson in the books, but holy crap did I love what they did to him in the movie. Although the "I'M YOUR PROTECTOR PERCY" crap got old after, like, the fifth time he said it, at least they made him competent at his job and into a slightly more interesting character than book!Grover. Plus, he had all the best lines and was actually funny.

Luke: Jake Abel was pretty much perfect, the end. I wish there would've been more scenes with him though, but alas, it was not meant to be.

Medusa scene: THIS SCENE, I HAVE NO WORDS FOR HOW EXACTLY AWESOME IT WAS. BUT IT JUST WAS. It was probably my favorite monsterbattle out of the entire quest just because they did the reveal really really well. Also, I was just ridiculously excited that they kept Grover's, "Hey, that looks like Uncle Ferdinand..." scene in.

Lotus Casino scene: It's basically a "demigods get high by eating lotus cakes and almost fuck away their quest" scene set to Lady Gaga music. Why wouldn't that be awesome?

And now for the stuff that I wasn't particularly pleased with:

Lack of backstory/plot and character development: This is really what bugged me most overall; I'm cool with character and plot changes if they're well explained, but some of the stuff just wasn't. I wish we'd gotten more time with Percy and Sally before going to Camp Half-Blood and that we would've spent more time there once we'd gotten there so the camp dynamics would've been established better. I did like what I saw of the camp though - no volcano wall, but those cool ass bridges in the trees made up for it. Did not like that Percy being the son of the Big Three was not a BIG FUCKING DEAL like it was in the books, and that there was little reveal for it. Also, Luke's character was barely developed, which is a problem considering, you know, he's the series villain.

I feel like a lot of interesting stuff in terms of backstory ended up on the cutting room floor, which was unfortunate because the movie could've been a couple minutes longer. The beginning seemed especially rushed and choppy, and I really didn't get into it until we got to Camp Half-Blood. It also didn't help that I had SPOILED MYSELF SILLY for this movie either.

Lack of awesomesauce Olympians: Again, disappointed that the gods had maybe a total of five minutes screentime altogether...okay, maybe I was more or less disappointed that Sean Bean had like five minutes on screen, whatever. I'm a selfish fangirl. Persephone and Hades more than made up for that, but again, there was some stuff from the promos that didn't end up in the final version that I would've liked to see from them.

"You can't see your children!" rule: I was OK with this law of Zeus's until it was revealed that it was because of Poseidon's relationship with Percy and Sally that he started the smackdown on Olympian parent/kid relationships. I would've been fine with it if it was an ancient rule or something (I actually liked the idea when Luke was all being Grumpy McBitter about it), but it just doesn't make sense that with the thousands of kids the gods have had over the last couple of millenia, that Poseidon would be the first and only one that would get super attached to them like that. It's entirely possible, of course, considering the way Poseidon talked about Sally in the books. I actually think this would make a really good discussion for fandom because I think we can think of some good reasons for it.


I mean, all-in-all, it's not a terrible movie - it's a lot of fun and the world is set up wonderfully. If you're a book fan, it helps to check any and all expectations at the door before you go in because you'll enjoy it a lot more if you don't cling passionately to the canon material. If you haven't read the books, the movie is just a taste of the world of Percy Jackson and the books, as always, are a lot better. One of the girls who went with me who hadn't read the books - didn't even know what the books were about - said that she enjoyed the movie a lot more than she thought she would and that she liked it better than Harry Potter. So there you go. ;)

And mostly? I'm just hoping that people will see the movie, be interested enough by it to pick up the original books, and then come play in the fandom. I want more fan fic, dammit! ;)

Comments

[ad-exia.livejournal.com]

I think I pretty much agree with all this~ I wanted Annabeth to be smarter, but she was at least badass. Also, wanted more backstory and gods, yesssss. BUT. GROVER. YES~

[patrioticguy.livejournal.com]

Good points.

The lack of dramatic moments was my only real complaint about it. I liked Annabeth's "Hi, mom." but there should have been so much more after all that. All the demi-gods being bitter in varying degress could have been excellent material.

And the scene after Percy woke up in camp could have lasted longer as he sort of adjusted to what he was seeing.

I know it's a lot harder to get character moments in movies where books can have whole pages for internal monologues but Chris/Titley should have done better on that front if they were going to make their own relationship cues for the movie.

If this movie gets a sequel, they really need to get a better screenwriter.

[from-elysium.livejournal.com]

My reaction vlog is going up really soon, like in a couple of minutes, and my opinion meshes with yours, pretty much. Except a bit more on the negative side. Lots of good discussion, though!

[lambbaby.livejournal.com]

Not gonna lie I haven't even seen the movie and am just spoiling myself completely but this sounds like it may be worth my money. I've been holding off seeing it because I was worried that despite the cool trailers I'd be disappointed. But so far everyone's seemed to really enjoy it.

♥ Also, Logan has ridiculous chemistry with like every character, I swear. And by every character, I mean mostly Jake Abel; holy crap, we're about to be invaded Percy/Luke shippers.

This would so not be a problem.

[dynastessa]

Hi! Directed here from your comment via cabinthree.

Just had to say that we pretty much wrote the exact same reaction/review post. All the way down to Grover's 'I'M YOUR PROTECTOR'-ing forever.

I love the canon hardcore, but put it aside, and the movie is actually a pretty enjoyable adaptation based on the book.

[purplesmudges.livejournal.com]

I agree with every point you made, and as much as I adored the cutely lame movie, I'm keeping my hopes up that they'll dump this screenwriter and get someone that can fix his screw ups.

[da-widget.livejournal.com]

So I'm totally gonna be your example and be all jumping around wanting to read the books now. Can you lend me the first one? I'll go check the library first but I have a feeling it won't be there because of the release of the movie.

You've convinced me! I thought the movie was pretty epic, so now I really want to start reading the books. Haha you can brag to all your fanfic buddies about how you converted someone! Ye gods, that reminds me! I need to see who won my fanfic challenge!

[chibimarchy.livejournal.com]

I pretty much agree with you on all points-- especially Logan and Jake's chemistry, OMG. My friend actually leaned over at one point and remarked, "He (talking about Luke) acts like he's in love with him!" It was practically text, not subtext.

And movie!Grover! SO MUCH WIN. I LOVED HIM.<3

[green-climber.livejournal.com]

So glad to hear it wasn't a total mess...I was getting concerned.

I'm going to see it with my younger sister, who is halfway through the first book and has been for weeks, so I gave up on the idea that she would finish prior to the movie coming out. I just hope she'll still be motivated to finish reading the book after the movie. I'm not worried about spoilers, because she's that unbelievably obnoxious person who calls the end of a movie/book 2 minutes/pages in and is always right. (Seeing The Sixth Sense for the first time with her was one of the more frustrating moments of my life.) She has already guessed the "Luke is evil" thing, so...yeah. And I agree about wanting more (good) fanfic, but as a beginning fanfic writer, I have to say it's hard to get yourself out there. I've gotten pretty limited feedback on what I've done, so it's hard to tell how to not be ungood!

[electricmoxie.livejournal.com]

YESYESYES. I liked Grover in the books except for when he got in the way of Percy/Annabeth but his one-liners -both the cheesy and not-so - really made his character for me. AND HE KISSED MEDUSA'S HEAD.

All the Percy/Annabeth moments totally made up for him not having to learn Ancient Greek from her. And we all knew Luke was secretly a gamer, right? right. ♥

[hunt-for-me.livejournal.com]

WOW! Your review is spot on!

I also think a lot more emphasis should have been put on the cabins. I mean, they were really cool but it would've been cooler if it was made clear that there was a cabin for each god, and an actual scene where you could see all the cabins and see there differences.

[cookie-belle.livejournal.com]

But you see, they all magically knew that Percy was Poseidon's son.....plus I'm effing mad they cut out the kiss. Anyone know where I could find that deleted scene? I keep seeing it in icons(:

[rodlox.livejournal.com]

fantastic movie! just saw it today.

now...to read your review.

[rodlox.livejournal.com]

> Did not like that Percy being the son of the Big Three was not a BIG FUCKING DEAL like it was in the books,
well, Chiron did say that the Big Three rarely have kids (and given Zeus' track record, that's an accomplishment)...and the nymphs (at least) kept hitting on Percy.

I thought the "can't see your kids" rule was because of the Prophecy.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Saw it with my cuz tonight. It's hard to watch and not just compare the hell out of the source material, obviously, but on its own merits it was decent. There were some pacing issues and sometimes I think the director/editors got a little too enthralled with their own VDX (I like to call it James Cameron Syndrome). Character development, aside from Percy, was pretty weak. As far as comparing it to the books, though... I wasn't in love with the first book or anything, but it seemed like a lot more was left out/rewritten than needed to be, especially if they intend to continue the series.

... however, I preferred how the movie dealt with Gabe :)

(At the end of the movie, when Percy is watching Annabeth fight, one of the girls in the row behind me said aloud "He's so cute." Everybody cracked up.

[cookie-belle.livejournal.com]

And then the working class Americans turned into the Hydra xD
All of us saw the drinking fountain, and were like "DUDE! WATER!"

asjfa'

[(Anonymous)]

hey, actually, the god rule of no children interaction is actually enforced in the books. Just wanted to point that out. BTW, Ad Initum was awesome. I was just too lazy too leave a review. ;)

[mediate89.livejournal.com]

I'm one of the people who went and saw the movie without even knowing it was based off of a book series. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I definitely hadn't read the books. I saw a few previews on tv and found the idea mildly interesting. Children of the gods? Hmm...

Watching the actual movie wasn't very high on my to-do list, but I got a tweet from a friend saying she watched it and liked it, and I had my cousin with me for the weekend so I thought... What the hell. She agreed to go see it with me the next day.

I enjoyed the movie as a movie. In retrospect, I'm very glad I didn't walk into the theater with expectations. If I'd been looking forward to the movie because I loved the book, I would have cried. In fact, when I finally did pick up the first book after seeing the movie (another Twitter recommendation) I kept checking the cover to be sure I had the right book, haha.

Watching the movie is a lot harder now that I've read the series. Although I can still appreciate the humor Brandon Jackson (Jackson lol) brought to Grover's character. A few of his lines actually had me lol'ing in my seat.

"Those are working class Americans!"

"Thanks for telling me, man. You're burning money, we're in a recession!"

And Logan's acting was ace. Not to mention he's effing adorable. I can't imagine Annabeth as Alexandra no matter how hard I try, but the Percy I have in my head is a combination of Logan and my own creation. Oh, and did I mention the guy who plays Luke is like... the prettiest boy I've ever seen? Mhmm. :)

I still love the Lotus Hotel scene, even if it wasn't much like the scene in the book. I agree-- demigods getting high off of little pink flowers and dancing to Lady GaGa in a totally bitchin' casino? What's not to love about that?

(Did you notice a bit in the previews that wasn't in the movie? I'm not talking about the whole walking-up-to-the-empire-state-building part. There was an explosion or something outside of the diner. I can't think of what that could have been.)

Well, it's 4:30 am so I'm gonna wrap this up. Basically, I liked the movie before I read the books, now I don't know why they even bothered making a movie. I'm pretty sure I'm still gonna buy it when it comes out though, because like you said, it's fun if you don't cling passionately to the canon material.

same thoughts

[norazea123.livejournal.com]

I had the same thoughts. It was a good movie even though it didnt follow the books. At the theater i went to there were all 20-30 year olds there. I saw the premier at 12. Annabeth was pretty good. She actually turned up as my favorite character.

Logan Lerman did a phenomenal job but i hated how him (and a few of the other cast members) did a lot of lines like "Oh my god what should we do?!" They were really flat but thats probably me just being picky.

It was pretty kool. Where do you get your icons?!