Percy Jackson: A Great Book Turned Into A Horrifying Movie
We live in the age when science-fiction books have become the most popular material to read. Many books have been turned into movies and while there have been some successful adaptations, most of them are just horrible and ruin the legacy of the book. This is the case with the Percy Jackson series as the books were astonishingly interesting, while the movies were horrid.
Rick Riordan is a world-known author who has written books in the genres of fantasy, mythology, and detective fiction. His masterpiece was the Percy Jackson series that consisted of five books. The first book, The Lightning Thief, had a movie made on it which was directed by Chris Columbus and was horrible. The differences between the book and the movie are striking have come under great scrutiny. ”Chris Columbus should be ashamed!!!”, “Did they even read the book? Worst movie of the YEAR! If not ever!”, “I wouldn’t see it again if you paid me. ” These are just some of the comments from people who have read the book and watched the movie.
The book has sold over 1,2 million copies. It is written in the genres of fantasy and Greek mythology and is narrated by the main character, Percy Jackson, a twelve-year-old diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. His life changes completely after a visit to the museum where he is attacked by a Fury and manages to save himself after being lent a magical-pen-sword by his teacher, who later turns out to be a centaur. He goes on a summer trip to Long Island with his mother after the museum. The Minotaur attacks them and Percy’s mother disappears. Full of anger as he believes that his mother is dead, Percy breaks off the Minotaur’s horn and kills The Minotaur. It dissolves after being killed. He goes to a summer camp, Camp Half-Blood, which is for kids like him.
The story of the book focuses on Percy Jackson’s adventures and his attempts to come to terms with the fact that he is a demigod. He also has to return the master lightning bolt of Zeus, which has been stolen. At Camp Half-Blood he meets a twelve -year-old girl, Annabeth, who has curly, blonde hair and gray eyes and Luke Castellan, son of Hermes, who later gives him flying shoes. Percy doesn’t use the flying shoes because of Zeus’ warning of a Poseidon’s son in the sky. He gives them to Grover and he is dragged to Tartarus as the shoes were only a trick. Annabeth and Luke have a history as she sees him as an older brother. They also managed to escape some monsters before getting to the camp. Percy and Annabeth try being friends after not getting along in the beginning. After a game of Capture the flag, where Percy is on the same team as Annabeth, Percy is claimed by his father Poseidon. It comes as a shock to everyone as Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades made a pact not to have children with mortals. During his quest, Percy fights with Ares because of an argument Percy had with his daughter Clarrisse. After managing to complete his mission of returning the lightning bolt to Zeus, he is welcomed back as a hero at Camp Half-Blood, where he promises to come back the next summer. When Luke takes him to the woods, he reveals to Percy his true intentions which are to overthrow the Gods. He also reveals that he is the one who committed the theft of the bolt, following the orders of Kronos and teleports away from camp.
Even though the movie received poor ratings from the critique, it was a success at the box office as it earned 226 million dollars. In contrast to the book, the movie begins with a conversation between Zeus and Poseidon where Zeus accuses Percy of stealing the lightning bolt. When they go on the trip to the museum, Percy doesn’t save himself. He receives help from Chiron and Grover. Chiron gives Percy a pen and tells Grover to take Percy and his mother to Camp Half-Blood, which isn’t what happens in the book. Grover tells Percy to use the pen when they are attacked by the Minotaur. The pen turns out to be a sword, but isn’t of help. He manages to kill the Minotaur later with its own horn.
The differences continue as Percy and Annabeth are 16 years old and Annabeth is with iron-straight brown hair and blue eyes. In the movie, Annabeth and Percy seem attracted to one another. There is no mention of the history between Luke and Annabeth, which makes the betrayal not as significant as it is in the book. During the game of capture the flag, Percy and Annabeth are not on the same team. Also, in the film Percy is not claimed by Poseidon, as we know he is his son from the opening scene. The campers know who he is before he goes to the camp and he is the only one who doesn’t know who his father is. Ares and Clarrisse are not shown in the movie, even though they play a huge part in the book. Luke and Percy fight with the Master bolt, which never happens in the book. They use it against one another during the fight. . Grover also never gets dragged to Tartarus. After returning the Master bolt, Percy stays at camp for the whole year. In the movie, Luke and Percy don’t go to the woods as they fight on the top of the Empire State Building after Percy learns about Luke’s betrayal. The shoes Percy gets as a gift from Luke are worn by Percy during their battle at the Empire State Building.
The book was such a success among teenagers that it didn’t deserve the kind of movie that was made on it. With a completely different storyline in comparison to the book, the film doesn’t continue the legacy of the book. Many books get turned into movies and are successes, while others are failures, such as this one.
