From fighting monsters to breathing underwater, the new Disney+ adaptation of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” breathes new (and much needed) life into the story of troubled 12-year-old Percy Jackson.
Percy’s story, which was originally told in a book series by Rick Riordan, starts when he gets sent to Yancy Academy, a boarding school for misbehaving kids. He is seen as a misfit at school, until he meets Grover, his only friend, and the only one who truly understands Percy. After Percy gets stuck in a dangerous situation, Grover reveals to him that he is Percy’s satyr (a half-goat, half-human being) protector. In order to protect Percy, Grover takes him to a camp for demi-gods: “Camp Half-Blood”.
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” was a wild ride for all fans watching. The show, with eight episodes in the first season, stayed true to the original storyline of the books, save for a few changes in certain scenes. The show started out with a young Percy Jackson, oblivious to what lies ahead of him.
After finding out that he is a demi-god, and monsters are after him, Percy finds himself at Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for children of Greek gods like him. Percy meets a welcoming Luke, son of Hermes, who mentors Percy and helps him feel at home at camp. Percy also meets Annabeth, and the two seem to butt heads in the beginning, but warm up to each other eventually.
Annabeth, Percy and Grover go on a quest to get Percy’s mom back from the Underworld, where Hades is keeping her captive. But, they also need to get a stolen lightning bolt, which they believe Hades stole, back to Zeus. Zeus thinks that Percy, a son of Poseidon, has stolen his lightning bolt, and is feuding with Poseidon as a result.
A majority of the episodes show the adventurous quest that Percy and his friends go on, and the dangers they face. After a rough journey with many twists and turns, putting them in near death experiences, the three of them return to Camp Half Blood.
When they think all is well, Percy soon realizes that there is a betrayal from someone whom he considers a friend. Percy and the betrayer fight, however this scene isn’t accurate to the books and was changed up a little bit. Originally, the betrayer threatens Percy with a deadly scorpion, but in the show, they change it so that the betrayer tries to recruit Percy but gets caught by Annabeth.
This is just one of many examples where the show was changed up, making it different to the books. Casting is also an example of a difference made in the show, which does bring some controversy. Many people do not like the fact that the actors don’t look similar and bring up that they should have casted people that looked more similar. They also bring up how certain scenes are cut out or changed up in the show.
However, people seem to brush aside the fact that the casting and production was helped out by the author of the Percy Jackson books, Rick Riordan, which means that he had a say in the function of the show and what to cut out in the show, and what to add in. We think that the casting was perfect for the show, because even if the looks may not have been the same as described in the books, the personalities were spot on to the book characters.
“I think that because Rick Riordan helped make [the show], that he made the alterations he wanted to, even though it wasn’t quite accurate [to the books],” Freshman Morgan Goettsch said.
Another student here at LSE believes this as well.
“I think they did a good job of retelling the story in its own way,” junior Kenzie Frederick said. “I feel like the last episode went by way too quickly, because so many things happened, and then it was just over.”
With a successful and entertaining first season, the show is set to renew for season two, the plot being based on the second book of the “Percy Jackson and the Olymmpians series: The Sea of Monsters.” Overall the Disney+ rendition of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” was an enjoyable show for people of all ages to watch, no matter if they had previous experience with the series or not.
