My thoughts on the Lightning Thief: the movie

It's really funny to me, because it feels like it was only yesterday that Rick Riordan wrote on his blog that Logan Lerman and Brandon T. Jackson have been cast as Percy and Grover. That was waay back last March. Now 11 months later, the movie has come out, and right now, I'm sitting on my bed, writing a review of it. Time went by fast didn't it? :/

Well, anyway, I went into the movie last night with mediumish expections. I was scared they were going to ruin everything, and, I was hoping so badly that it would be at least a little decent. But...I enjoyed it! :-D (I'm so happy right now. *squee!*)

~Spoilers~
Ok, let's talk about the cast first, shall we? :) I think the highlight of the cast was (not so surprising after watching tons of interviews) Brandon T. Jackson. He totally stole the spotlight in all the scenes. He added a new dimension to Grover, and the new toughness was a nice add to his character. At first, I did miss the timid/frightened Grover, but as the movie went on, I started loving this version of his character more and more.

Logan Lerman was PERFECT...I was kind of sad that most of the comedy scenes went to Brandon (and that's my biggest complain about his character since I loved Percy's humor in the book so much), but Logan still had a few (like the Capture the Flag scene :-D) and comedy scenes or not, he was wonderful as Percy. (I'm still amazed at how they found a guy that looked 99% like the Percy in my imagination :D) In the movie, they add a little more angst to Percy's character, and, oh my goodness, I loved him in every scene. (No, I didn't like just because he is quite good-looking. He was really great.) ;)

Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth was OK. I was disappointed that they didn't give her much of a role. (I noticed that they gave all her lines in the book to Grover in the movie). They took out everything I admired about her character- her strategy skills (she brags about them, but doesn't show them), her know-it-allness, her pride-but oh well.

The adult cast was awesome! I especially loved Kevin McKidd as Posiedon, Uma Thurman as Medusa (my, the Medusa scene is probably one of the best in this movie!), and Pierce Brosnan as Chiron, and the rest did great too. :)

So, on to everything else now:

Hmm....I think about 60% of the book is changed around, but it's still a pretty good adaption. This had plenty of clever, hilarious, and epic scenes.

I liked the pacing the movie. Everything wasn't too rushed (though Percy could've grieved more about his mom), and the writers still kept all the major scenes and dialogue that were in the book. I think it would've been better if it was longer though.

The soundtrack wasn't too bad either...

The Olympus scene, and the beginning scene with Zeus and Posiedon were kinda cheesy. The dialogue was weird, and a little bit too dramatic. Hehe...some of the dialogue in other scenes were cheesy too. There was also these voiceovers by Posiedon which were done because Percy and other demi-gods sometimes hear their parents talk to them in their heads because they're not supposed to directly talk to them. Those were done so...I don't want to say badly, but that's the only way I can say it without being too mean to them.

Ok, I think the biggest problem I had with this film, was Luke. Jake Abel was nice as Luke, but the problem is, he's only in like, umm, 4-5 scenes? And what was up with no Annabeth/Luke? His character is not well-established, and so it's hard to care for him or understand him. They make him so forgettable. And also, the climax scene was weird. Oh, and no one knows what happens to him in the end! After the climax scene, no one ever mentions him again. Oh no, poor Luke. :P

Oh yeah, and the Persephone's pearls subplot was so unnecessary. It's this part that made it so un-PJOish. Why couldn't they keep the original quest?

Well, they also made things more intense of course! Like the scene between Percy and Gabe before they have to leave for Camp, or that scene when they go down into the Underworld. The intensity was great.

I liked the first half of the movie so much more than the second half. The second half felt a bit choppy (with the climax/Olympus scene/etc.) and I thought they could've done it better.

I'm glad they aged up the characters, and I can see why they decided to do that now.

I thought the last and final scene was done well. It was too cute. :)

So overall, I was happy with this. Honestly, I'm not picky about book-to-movie adaptions that much, and I don't get upset if things are not literally translated from the book to the screen (they can't keep everything in...it's a movie...). As long as the characters and story are true to the book, I'm satisfied. I just thought that they could've tried more to stick to the original story, but I'm glad I saw The Lightning Thief on the big screen. It's worth a watch if you're a PJO fan* or if you want to watch a fun, light-hearted movie. :)

P.S. After the movie ends, stay seated during the credits for an extra scene!

*Though if you're a PJO purist, it'll probably be better to stay away from this. :P