By Kriti Rana
I was ten years old when I was first introduced to the world of Percy Jackson. The Percy Jackson book series holds, and will always hold, a special place in my heart because it introduced me to Greek Mythology.
It showed me that twelve-year-olds can embark on quests and achieve the impossible and it made me want to be a demi-god and go to the Half-Blood camp. Such was the impact of Percy Jackson that I took multiple quizzes online to find out who my Godly parent would be.
Given my interest, which bordered on obsession, I was naturally quite excited when I heard that there was going to be a film adaptation of the book. I have always been aware that movie adaptations are never as good as the books, you can at least expect them to follow the basic storyline.
That is exactly what didn’t happen in the Percy Jackson film adaptations. Honestly, the first time I saw the film adaptations (both the parts), I thought, and I am not the only one, that they were actually spoofs.
Unfortunately, they weren’t spoofs but were actual film adaptations, if you can call them that.
I will start by telling you why the film adaptations were a humungous bundle of disappointments.
Get The Characters Right
First of all, Percy and Annabeth were supposed to be twelve-year-olds which is not followed in the films.
Secondly, Annabeth was supposed to be blonde. Something that they rectify in the sequel, but it really doesn’t matter because that movie is still disappointment personified and more.
Not Just The First Film’s Curse
If you just watched the first part and decided not to follow the second, congratulations, because you saved yourself from some major trauma. I, even after being thoroughly disappointed by the first part, decided to watch the second. A decision that I regret till date.
If you think that they messed up the storyline, characters, and events in the first part, then wait for the second. No matter how much they mess up the first movie, it still tries, fails but tries, to stick to the events in the first novel.
The second film, on the other hand, is a sad attempt, if you can call it an attempt, at a film adaptation.
Read: Greek Goddess Hera Was Shown In Bad Light Due To Patriarchy & Male Dominance?
Follow The Literature. PLEASE!
As if them going against the age, appearance, and storyline of the characters and novels wasn’t enough, the second movie tries to become an amalgamation of all the parts and fails. Correction… fails miserably. Why do I think so?
Because the second movie tries to end the sad and unnecessary franchise that is the Percy Jackson film adaptation by trying to incorporate components from different novels. Only, it doesn’t really bring components from any other novel, let alone the novel that it is supposed to be based on.
What we have instead is a quest that goes in a completely different direction than the book. The second movie sees Kronos rise. First of all, Kronos doesn’t rise in the second novel. Secondly, even when Kronos does rise, it is by using Luke’s body as a host and not what the movie tries to portray.
To sum up, while film adaptations are generally disappointing, the Percy Jackson film adaptations act as a parody rather than film adaptations and are torture for anyone who even remotely loves the Percy Jackson book series.
Editor’s Note: Haven’t seen any of the movies but, Alexandra Daddario is stunning.
Image Sources: Google Images
