‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ is an adventurous, immature fantasy. Film and television

Grade: 2.5/5.0

Premiering on December 19, 2023, the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” TV series follows the story of three gods – Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell), Annabeth Chase (Leah Jeffries), and Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri) – as they It’s time to save Olympus amid the rise in power of the Titans.

The show is based on a five-book series by author Rick Riordan, who published the first entry in the series two decades ago in 2005. This new adaptation is the second attempt to bring the series to the screen, after its film counterparts received mixed reviews.

However the new adaptation generally follows the plot of the original series and even features more short stories (such as Grover’s journey towards finding Pan), offering an immersive set and a Integrates an exciting soundtrack, the show falls short in many aspects.

Unlike the previous films, which featured actors in their 20s, the new adaptation features teenagers aged 14 to 17. Despite the original characters’ ages being more accurate, the apparent youth of the actors makes it difficult for the audience to take their conflict seriously. Their journey to the underworld seems more like child’s play rather than a thrilling adventure. The audience gets the sense that the stakes are low – they might as well be watching a light-hearted “teen beach movie” rather than a Greek mythology adventure where the entire fate of Olympus hinges on the trio’s success. hero. Interestingly, this may have been intentional, given that the series was produced and released by Disney+, a platform known for creating kid-friendly content.

The dialogues of the series also disappoint. The scattering of inspirational quotes (“You’re not broken. You’re fantastic”) throughout the show made the scripting feel unnatural and awkward. Maybe if the quotes were better integrated or more aligned with people In fact Speak, they would have been more appropriate in dialogue. Emphasis on “maybe”. The show’s tone and language were also inconsistent, sometimes casually incorporating modern references (such as when Percy painfully and bizarrely danced the floss while defending the team’s base in order to capture the flag) and At other times the choice was made to use more formal language with words such as “bravely.”

The weak performances from the actors was another issue that did not improve the already faltering series. The dialogue felt very clearly purposeful and forceful, adding another barrier between the screen and the audience when it was already difficult to immerse yourself in the series. This, unfortunately, was true for both teen and adult actors. It seemed as if the actors were reciting lines mechanically rather than effectively displaying the emotions of the characters they were meant to represent.

Unfortunately, any attempts by the actors to adopt the characters’ personalities felt forced and unconvincing. For example, Alexandra Daddario’s portrayal of Annabeth Chase from 2010–2013 was smart and funny, as reflected in the character’s archery skills. In comparison, Leah Jeffries fails to really embody the seriousness of Annabeth’s character, coming across as juvenile rather than strong.

Although the show improved significantly as the adventures spread across its eight episodes, which were released weekly between December and January, it never captured the thrilling thrills that readers had experienced in the books. This is an unfortunate disappointment for viewers who wanted an accurate and transformative adventure that could take them back to reading the books as a teen.

It’s always difficult for a screen adaptation to surpass its book series, and it’s no different in this case. With the added pressure of outperforming the first adaptation and its older, more experienced cast, it’s still impressive that “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” has managed to garner the interest of a younger generation who were not the series’ original audience. .

The season remains a children’s show, which is difficult for adult audiences – now grown-up fans of the original series – to fully appreciate. Hopefully if “Sea of ​​Monsters”, the second book of the five-part series, is adapted, the result will be different.