Comparing Adaptions: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a pretty good book series. So, because of this I decided to (guess what?) write a blog post about it! In this post I will be comparing the book series itself and its adaptations. 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, 2005-2009 (the books)

Age Recommendation: 8+

Rating:  3 1/2 out of 5 stars

To begin this comparison, I think it would be best to start off with the books themselves. 

If you haven't read these books or you have never heard of them before, they are a simplified version of Greek Mythology, which is written for kids, and doesn't focus very much on all the bad things that the Greeks gods and people did. Instead, it focuses on a demigod kid named Percy Jackson. He starts off as a middle schooler, who has a hard time in school because of his ADHD and dyslexia and has moved around a lot. Then he finds out that he is a demigod, but as soon as he does, he must go on a quest to return Zeus' lightning bolt back to him before a war starts. With him he takes his two best friends: Annabeth, the daughter of Athena and Grover a satyr (which is exactly like a fawn, half human and half goat). 

Percy Jackson is a nice kid in middle school who is just trying to get through the school year and make sure that his mom is alright. When all of a sudden, his life takes a drastic turn. 

Overall, the books are very clean, no cussing, not really any romance, and they aren't that hard to read. I think that they are meant for middle school, but I know adults who still love the books ❤!

I give the books the 3 1/2 stars because, yes, they are good, but they are written for middle grade readers, so it was simple writing. The same goes for the style.  

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, 2010 (and Sea of Monsters, 2013) 

These movies weren't the best...

Age Recommendation: 10+

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars. 

The Characters

Percy to start with was weird. He was definitely a 2010's kid. He acted differently than he should have probably because of how the movies were set up. 

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were probably in high school which meant that they acted and looked older than they were in the books. They also were very 2010s, like the clothes, dialogue, acting, outfits, so it seemed more outdated. The story line was very predictable and seemed to mirror every other Disney movie from the time centered around a high school kid.

The Actors

 The actors were a pretty good cast for the 2010s.

Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson) was a decent Percy. Ha was a bit too old for the character and his personality didn't seem quite right.

Alexandra Daddario (Annabeth Chase) did fairly well portraying the character. She doesn't match the character descriptions but did okay overall. 

Sean Bean (Zeus) did a great job even though he wasn't in it a lot :) 

The Story Line 

There were many changes in the story which made it a lot different than the books. One of these being that in the movie (The Lightning Thief) the characters didn't go to the same places, instead they traveled around the U.S. to get pearls which could transport them to the underworld??? In the underworld they met Hades' wife Persephone, who saved them from being killed by Hades, but the weird thing is that because it was summer she really shouldn't have been there considering she would have been with her mom, Demeter. 

The plot was changed a lot and the actual plot in the book is mostly different in the movie. Yes, they are still trying to get Zeus' master bolt but the way that it is accomplished is very different. I think that because the characters were older and the fact that they were trying to appeal to an older audience changed how they did things. 

Content 

It wasn't terrible but there were a few cuss words occasionally. That was mostly it profanity wise, but for some random reason Grover just had to really like random girls. There was romance added between Percy and Annabeth so that was disappointing, but it is a movie, so it makes sense. 

In the movies Percy's stepdad mistreated Percy's mom so that was in there a little bit. There is some violence, scary images for younger viewers so beware of that.

Also, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were given drugs in the form of flowers.

Accuracy to the Books 

The plot and characters were very different from the books. The movies themselves were decent but it isn't very accurate.

Favorite Character

My favorite character in the movie was Zeus who was portrayed by Sean Bean. And yes I have a very biased option because he is my favorite character because he is Boromir in The Lord of the Rings! He was not in the movie very much, only the beginning but it doesn't matter much. 

I also liked the character Luke because he has an interesting character arch. 

Percy Jackson & the Olympians (the show, 2023) 

Age Recommendation: 9+

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 

The Characters

The characters were pretty close to the books in terms of appearance, age, and on how they acted. The main characters seemed more like they were in middle school than the movies. 

One of the major changes of the show was that one of the main characters, Annabeth Chase, looked a lot different than her description in the book. Instead of having gray eyes, wavy blonde hair, and freckles she has dark brown eyes, and braided black hair. I know some people were upset about this and to be honest I wasn't sure what to expect. Then I watched the show, and it doesn't really matter that much. She acts like Annabeth and that is what really matters. 

The Actors 

The actors were younger and closer to the ages of the characters they were portraying. 

Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson) did a good job on portraying the character. Unlike Logan Lerman he was close to the age of Percy (which is 12 yrs old). Considering that he is still a kid, he did a great job.

Leah Jefferies (Annabeth Chase) did a good job on showing emotions through her character and she did well for her age. 

As for the rest of the cast they all did very well.

The Story Line

Because this adaption was a series the creators were able to go more in depth than a movie would. This is probably one reason why the characters are closer aligned with the books than the movies were. 

This series covers the entire first novel: The Lightning Thief. 

Content

There wasn't anything questionable that I can remember. 

There was a decent amount of violence considering the theme of the story. In addition to that there a few monsters throughout that could be scary to younger viewers. Percy and his friends were drugged in the form of flower perfume in the air, making them forget how long they'd been there and want to stay forever. 

Accuracy to the Books 

The plot was very similar to the books with the exception of a few changes including: 

    1. The character believed that Clarisse was the thief of the lightning bolt when they did not in the books.      

    2. The Lotus Cassino was an actual Cassino and other stuff rather than a giant kid arcade. 

I think that one reason that the show turned out so well was because the author of the books, Rick Riordan, was a producer and he helped oversee the production. 

Favorite Character

My favorite character was yet again, Luke. I don't really know why though... 

Favorite Parts

One of my favorite parts was probably the fight scene in which Percy fought against one of the gods, in one of the last episodes. 

And the other part I liked was when Percy finally met Zeus and Zeus tried to kill him. 

Conclusion

The story of Percy Jackson is an enjoyable story that is read a watched by millions of viewers. While you reflect on this story (or if you decide to watch it) make sure to remember that this is not real and that this is just a loosely based on a story written thousands of years ago. We need to remember and reflect that the one true God is much different and far better than any Greek god created by man and is ultimately the One True God.

If you have any questions, you can shoot me an email at hookedonmybook@gmail.com

You can click here to subscribe!