The late 2000s/early 2010s was a hot period of young adult film franchises. As Harry Potter was coming to an end, and after the commercial success of Twilight, studios were clamoring to find the new "big thing" for teenagers and young adults to flock to. That being said, for every success, such as The Hunger Games, there was a flop like Eragon.
One young adult franchise that received particular attention during this period was the Percy Jackson franchise, largely due to the huge popularity of the book series, and how disappointing the movies were — for the most part.
This article will list five hings the Percy Jackson movie franchise got right, and five it got wrong.
Right: Introduced A New Audience To Greek Mythology
While the movies may not have been up to the same standard as the books, Percy Jackson was still based heavily on Ancient Greek mythology, and it was this that would have certainly helped to introduce a whole new generation to these fascinating and compelling tales.
If, despite being an underwhelming series of movies, the Percy Jackson films managed to get children and teenagers interested in Greek mythology, then this is certainly a positive from the movies.
Wrong: Character Ages
Movie adaptations often change several things when adapting the books upon which they're based. For instance, Game of Thrones changed the ages of several characters as well as elements of a character's appearance.
Sometimes these changes are necessary in order to make a movie adaption work on-screen; with an R-rated show like GoT, this makes sense. However, despite being a children's movie, Percy Jackson opted to change the ages of the characters from 12 to around 16, which seemed like a pointless decision.
Right: Chemistry Between The Three Heroes
Despite the fact that the movies took several liberties when adapting the source material, one thing that the filmmakers nailed was the chemistry between the three main heroes of the film. It was this chemistry that made the movie, at least for non-fans of the book series, enjoyable. The humor and banter between this trio was one of the best things about the movie.
Wrong: Character Looks
In the same vein as characters' ages, sometimes a movie adaption makes changes to how the characters look in the books. While sometimes this is forgivable if there are clear production issues with the design of the character, this is not true in the case of Percy Jackson.
In the books, Annabeth is described as having blonde hair and gray eyes, yet the first movie does not match this character description. While the eye color may be forgivable as actors will find it uncomfortable to wear contact lenses for extended periods of time, surely throwing on a wig wouldn't be too hard.
Right: Steve Coogan's Hades
If there is a Hollywood movie about Greek mythology, chances are Hades will be the villain of the piece. This is unfair on Hades as the god generally spent most of his time in the Underworld rather than trying to usurp Zeus every couple of years.
While this movie sets up Hades as the villain, its characterization of Hades is incredibly unique. Rather than making Hades a terrifying villain, it makes him more like a failed rock star, and this characterization is perfectly captured by Steve Coogan.
Wrong: Capture The Flag
One of the central scenes in the first Percy Jackson movie was his initial entrance into Camp Half-Blood, and the subsequent Capture the Flag game that takes place. This is an important scene as it helps to introduce the more action-orientated elements of the characters.
However, the movie has the scene play out very differently to the books. In the books, Annabeth and Percy are on the same team. However, in the movie, they're on different teams and, despite Annabeth training for around five years, she is beaten in a sword fight by Percy, who had barely touched a sword before the game.
Right: Introduced Fans To the Books
While the movies may not have been a fantastic adaptation of the novels, there was enough enjoyment in the movie for it to create a new interest in the book series as a whole. In general, a movie adaptation often drums up interest in the original book series, and this would have been no different with Percy Jackson.
While book fans may not be thrilled at the movie series, they can take solace in the fact that the movie series at least widened the reader-base of the books.
Wrong: Three Pearls
If you'd only seen the movie and not read the book series, you would be forgiven for believing that the book would have followed a similar plot point, which is essentially the three heroes tracking down Persephone's Pearls so that they can escape from Hades after retrieving the lightning bolt.
The main issue with this is that, in the book, the gang is given Persephone's Pearls by a sea nymph; there was no wild goose chase across America.
Right: Pierce Brosnan As Chiron
While casting Steve Coogan as Hades was a masterstroke, there is no denying that the best piece of casting in the movie was Pierce Brosnan as Chiron, the famous "trainer of heroes" in the first Percy Jackson film.
Brosnan played the character in a memorable manner, perfectly capturing the look of a mythological centaur with a reputation for training legendary heroes.
Wrong: Sea Of Monsters Crams In Too Much Plot
Perhaps the filmmakers knew that Sea of Monsters would be the final movie, and as a consequence, tried to cram as much plot as they possibly could into the movie. The result was a messy and bloated film that failed to satisfy both the casual moviegoer and fans of the book series.
The most infamous element of the movie came with the inclusion and subsequent defeat of the Titan, Kronos. Not only was Kronos not in the book the movie was based on, but he would not even appear until the fourth novel.