Ares is angry! Rynka is often off-topic
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Theif Movie Review.
Okay now, I've watched a lot of movies based on books that I'd read before seeing the movie. Many times because said favorite book became a movie than simply wanting to read the book version first. (I've also often read them after).
Sometimes 'Hollywood' gets it right. On occasion they improve the story. Almost never do the characters on screen resemble the characters as described in the books. For example how many of you out there know that Mia Thermopolis is a tall, skinny girl with limp, short blonde hair? At least in the eyes of Meg Cabot. Outside of not looking a thing like the Mia of the books, Anne Hathaway did a great job capturing the essence of the character. And believe me, you, the plot of that second movie is nowhere in the books. But--Chris Pine! 'nuf said.
Sometimes little plot points are changed for reasons that seem more dramatic (or something).
For example, Elle Woods is actually a Stanford Law student, not Harvard Law. Or more romantic, considering there is no Emmett in the book.
And then there are books like Pay it Forward where so much is the same until you get right to the end and the movie pulls the rug out from under you and you're going wtf was that?
Fantasy books, especially serialized ones, are often far too long to be a movie. Hello Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. So often many things get cut--or just changed all together--Seeker anyone?
So, I promised a Percy Jackson review, right, maybe I should get to that.
I read the books first, in quick succession. Due mostly to the fact that I had students waiting for my books, and entirely due to the fact that the characters are enchanting. It didn't hurt that Leenie and iceaffinity were reading the series and equally enthralled. So naturally, the thought of a movie coming out was just giddy-making.
So issues people have had just from watching previews--Grover is black, Annabeth is brunette, and Riptide is a clicky pen.
Of those the only thing I even remotely had a problem with is Annabeth being brunette--and that's solely due to the fact that I am blonde and feel that intelligent women in Hollywood are rarely if ever blonde. (Even Elle, seems intelligent on accident.) Watching the movie--Annabeth being brunette not the issue I have with her character.
Okay, so casting--Logan looks the part, Brandon is a genius at comedic timing also I was entirely amazed at his ability to walk throughout the whole film as if his legs were bent like a goats. Alexandra plays a strong, fierce character and she does it well. The casting of the three Olympians we hear talk worked for me. Hades and Persephone--not so much, but I cannot decide if that was casting or simply writing.
Luke. Luke was spot on in appearance and over all characterization. (Of course I'm weirded out that Jake Able is also the lost Winchester brother, very different characters.)
So plot. Okay, so we've hired actors with experience and aged the characters up about five years. Well that does dramatically change the prophecy story line. Oh--but hey that's okay because they just took it out. There's no prophecy, no Oracle, and Percy being a son of Poseidon just seems rare as opposed to forbidden.
So with that out of the way he should be able to fit in a little better at camp, you know because he's not that special. The weight of the world doesn't rest on his shoulders.
We fast forwarded through his first few days at camp, and the torment of Clarisse. The slow discovery of his lineage. It was suspected--if you knew your Greek gods--but not confirmed until Annabeth, wise blonde daughter of Athena, put him on river boarder patrol in the capture the flag game. The the shit hit the fan and he was ostracized for being a child of the Big Three (not that Zeus hadn't broken the pact first). Also that whole prophecy thing. Setting off to retrieve the Lightning Bolt supposedly being held in Hades, by Hades, and prevent war--chosen to do so in part by the Oracle. It didn't hurt that his mom was in Hades and he figured he could get her back if he could find her.
So...Hades appearance at camp, Persephone's attitude towards him ('he's cruel and abusive?'--and here I thought she loved him enough to be jealous of momma D'Angelo. I think movie Persephone would be glad if he had a woman on the side who took him away for a while), and of course his desire to over throw Olympus. To my knowledge Hades could give a rat's ass about what happens on Olympus--he's only a little embarrassed and quite peeved that someone stole his Helm of Darkness. The Mick Jagger look, I could get behind that, breaking promises to let people go, sure that's par for the course of any Greek god. No deal is good unless they swear on the River Styx.
Oh the River Styx!!! You know it's a little like whoever wrote the screen play didn't actually finish readin the book. The only description they actually captured was that the river was polluted with remnants of things people carried with them in life--unfinished business. But HELL as the sign read looked a lot more like Dante's Inferno than the Underworld--as seen as the entire afterlife not just half of it. The good, the bad and the inbetween all end up in Hades. Just because it's under Los Angeles doesn't mean it's actually all fire and brimstone.
So, why is Ares so upset? Not only does this little son of Poseidon with zero training take out a bunch of his sons, his daughter is not just missing but has been replaced by a daughter of Athena--since when was Athena('s imaginary children) all about the hand-to-hand?--and of course the one behind the WAR of the gods is a small insignificant demigod. A son of Hermes, no less. Sure they're cunning and little theives, but masterminds of war! Ares is very angry.
Me? Outside of the fact that this movie was actually quite cheesy and lacking in Percy's dry wit, it was a fast-paced adventure. If the whole Hades-is-evil thing didn't leave such a bad taste in my mouth and I'd never read the books I probably would have found it a little campy but enjoyable.
Plot points I miss--learning about the Mist and how it affects what people see. For example Percy being trapped a the top of the Arch in St. Louis with a titan and her pet Chimera trying to protect a family of tourists without the help of his protectors. And then falling into the Mississippi. I think that scene would have been just as cinematographically dramatic as fighting a Hydra in the Parthenon in Nashville. (Or big bad biker guy fighting some kids in a parking lot, or one-on-one on the beach.)
I'm actually, now trying very hard to remember at what point in the series Percy faces a hydra. He has to, because he comes across all of Hercules' Labors in some form or another. Maybe Leenie will know.
I also miss little details like Percy can talk to Horses, people have last names, Riptide not only has a name but cannot be lost. There were a few times in the movie where a non-reader would find 'continuity errors' like...when Grover and Percy collide in the Garden-Gnome Emporium. Percy's sword goes flying and seemingly disappears and he gets up and runs off without it and later poof like magic he has it again. Or he was dripping wet when he got out of that pool but by the time he 'quickly' ran up to the room to catch the news report he was dry swim shorts and hair. Both of those things could be easily explained away with book knowledge. The general references to how intertwined with modern day things they are. Like the buisness suits Charon wore, or the fact that Hades' main entrance is in a big business building. The waterpark and the tv-cameras for Hephastes' reality show. The bed salesman, the forms the monsters and gods take when walking amongst the mortals. We get a little of it but there's so much more.
If you're wondering why I haven't talked about Cronos...well didn't you get the memo. Luke is the mastermind, and sole baddie. (save Hades being all power-hungry) I suppose the beginning of Sea of Monsters could be Luke washing up on a shore somewhere hearing a sympathetic voice who has better plans to bring down Olympus.
I'm really trying not to be too picky about the adaptation. As I stated before there are many where things change so much. I think it's a testament to how good the books are that people get so upset over the changes.
Okay now, I've watched a lot of movies based on books that I'd read before seeing the movie. Many times because said favorite book became a movie than simply wanting to read the book version first. (I've also often read them after).
Sometimes 'Hollywood' gets it right. On occasion they improve the story. Almost never do the characters on screen resemble the characters as described in the books. For example how many of you out there know that Mia Thermopolis is a tall, skinny girl with limp, short blonde hair? At least in the eyes of Meg Cabot. Outside of not looking a thing like the Mia of the books, Anne Hathaway did a great job capturing the essence of the character. And believe me, you, the plot of that second movie is nowhere in the books. But--Chris Pine! 'nuf said.
Sometimes little plot points are changed for reasons that seem more dramatic (or something).
For example, Elle Woods is actually a Stanford Law student, not Harvard Law. Or more romantic, considering there is no Emmett in the book.
And then there are books like Pay it Forward where so much is the same until you get right to the end and the movie pulls the rug out from under you and you're going wtf was that?
Fantasy books, especially serialized ones, are often far too long to be a movie. Hello Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. So often many things get cut--or just changed all together--Seeker anyone?
So, I promised a Percy Jackson review, right, maybe I should get to that.
I read the books first, in quick succession. Due mostly to the fact that I had students waiting for my books, and entirely due to the fact that the characters are enchanting. It didn't hurt that Leenie and iceaffinity were reading the series and equally enthralled. So naturally, the thought of a movie coming out was just giddy-making.
So issues people have had just from watching previews--Grover is black, Annabeth is brunette, and Riptide is a clicky pen.
Of those the only thing I even remotely had a problem with is Annabeth being brunette--and that's solely due to the fact that I am blonde and feel that intelligent women in Hollywood are rarely if ever blonde. (Even Elle, seems intelligent on accident.) Watching the movie--Annabeth being brunette not the issue I have with her character.
Okay, so casting--Logan looks the part, Brandon is a genius at comedic timing also I was entirely amazed at his ability to walk throughout the whole film as if his legs were bent like a goats. Alexandra plays a strong, fierce character and she does it well. The casting of the three Olympians we hear talk worked for me. Hades and Persephone--not so much, but I cannot decide if that was casting or simply writing.
Luke. Luke was spot on in appearance and over all characterization. (Of course I'm weirded out that Jake Able is also the lost Winchester brother, very different characters.)
So plot. Okay, so we've hired actors with experience and aged the characters up about five years. Well that does dramatically change the prophecy story line. Oh--but hey that's okay because they just took it out. There's no prophecy, no Oracle, and Percy being a son of Poseidon just seems rare as opposed to forbidden.
So with that out of the way he should be able to fit in a little better at camp, you know because he's not that special. The weight of the world doesn't rest on his shoulders.
We fast forwarded through his first few days at camp, and the torment of Clarisse. The slow discovery of his lineage. It was suspected--if you knew your Greek gods--but not confirmed until Annabeth, wise blonde daughter of Athena, put him on river boarder patrol in the capture the flag game. The the shit hit the fan and he was ostracized for being a child of the Big Three (not that Zeus hadn't broken the pact first). Also that whole prophecy thing. Setting off to retrieve the Lightning Bolt supposedly being held in Hades, by Hades, and prevent war--chosen to do so in part by the Oracle. It didn't hurt that his mom was in Hades and he figured he could get her back if he could find her.
So...Hades appearance at camp, Persephone's attitude towards him ('he's cruel and abusive?'--and here I thought she loved him enough to be jealous of momma D'Angelo. I think movie Persephone would be glad if he had a woman on the side who took him away for a while), and of course his desire to over throw Olympus. To my knowledge Hades could give a rat's ass about what happens on Olympus--he's only a little embarrassed and quite peeved that someone stole his Helm of Darkness. The Mick Jagger look, I could get behind that, breaking promises to let people go, sure that's par for the course of any Greek god. No deal is good unless they swear on the River Styx.
Oh the River Styx!!! You know it's a little like whoever wrote the screen play didn't actually finish readin the book. The only description they actually captured was that the river was polluted with remnants of things people carried with them in life--unfinished business. But HELL as the sign read looked a lot more like Dante's Inferno than the Underworld--as seen as the entire afterlife not just half of it. The good, the bad and the inbetween all end up in Hades. Just because it's under Los Angeles doesn't mean it's actually all fire and brimstone.
So, why is Ares so upset? Not only does this little son of Poseidon with zero training take out a bunch of his sons, his daughter is not just missing but has been replaced by a daughter of Athena--since when was Athena('s imaginary children) all about the hand-to-hand?--and of course the one behind the WAR of the gods is a small insignificant demigod. A son of Hermes, no less. Sure they're cunning and little theives, but masterminds of war! Ares is very angry.
Me? Outside of the fact that this movie was actually quite cheesy and lacking in Percy's dry wit, it was a fast-paced adventure. If the whole Hades-is-evil thing didn't leave such a bad taste in my mouth and I'd never read the books I probably would have found it a little campy but enjoyable.
Plot points I miss--learning about the Mist and how it affects what people see. For example Percy being trapped a the top of the Arch in St. Louis with a titan and her pet Chimera trying to protect a family of tourists without the help of his protectors. And then falling into the Mississippi. I think that scene would have been just as cinematographically dramatic as fighting a Hydra in the Parthenon in Nashville. (Or big bad biker guy fighting some kids in a parking lot, or one-on-one on the beach.)
I'm actually, now trying very hard to remember at what point in the series Percy faces a hydra. He has to, because he comes across all of Hercules' Labors in some form or another. Maybe Leenie will know.
I also miss little details like Percy can talk to Horses, people have last names, Riptide not only has a name but cannot be lost. There were a few times in the movie where a non-reader would find 'continuity errors' like...when Grover and Percy collide in the Garden-Gnome Emporium. Percy's sword goes flying and seemingly disappears and he gets up and runs off without it and later poof like magic he has it again. Or he was dripping wet when he got out of that pool but by the time he 'quickly' ran up to the room to catch the news report he was dry swim shorts and hair. Both of those things could be easily explained away with book knowledge. The general references to how intertwined with modern day things they are. Like the buisness suits Charon wore, or the fact that Hades' main entrance is in a big business building. The waterpark and the tv-cameras for Hephastes' reality show. The bed salesman, the forms the monsters and gods take when walking amongst the mortals. We get a little of it but there's so much more.
If you're wondering why I haven't talked about Cronos...well didn't you get the memo. Luke is the mastermind, and sole baddie. (save Hades being all power-hungry) I suppose the beginning of Sea of Monsters could be Luke washing up on a shore somewhere hearing a sympathetic voice who has better plans to bring down Olympus.
I'm really trying not to be too picky about the adaptation. As I stated before there are many where things change so much. I think it's a testament to how good the books are that people get so upset over the changes.