Hollywood is always in a rush to find the next big thing. The studios, rather than placing their bets on original properties, would rather take a comic book, book, or video game franchise with a rabid following and transform that into a movie. Ever since stuff like Harry Potter and the X-Men hit the screens over ten years ago, this has been the trend in Hollywood, and now the studios might have found their next Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
The first of the Percy Jackson books, The Lightning Thief has been made into a film and is set to be released in theaters tomorrow. The story has many similarities with Harry Potter, which is probably why the studio behind the film, 20th Century Fox, is so eager to see it succeed. Not to mention, Chris Columbus, the director of the first two Harry Potter films directed this first installment of the five-part Percy Jackson series, so obviously the studios aren't very coy about their hopes for this franchise.
The story follows a teen boy named Percy Jackson who discovers in our modern 21st century world that he is the half-god, half-human son of Poseidon, the ancient Greek god of the sea. By being Poseidon's son Percy has the power to manipulate water, not only that, Percy is taken to a summer camp for fellow half-bloods, where these heroes in training all hone their sword-fighting and archery skills, to become this generations mythological heroes like Hercules and Jason from Jason and the Argonauts. But when Percy is accused of stealing Zeus's lightning bolt, Percy must go on a mission to the Underworld to prove his innocence and rescue his human mother from Hades. Joining Percy's side are his best friends, get this, a geeky kid named Grover (who is a satyr), and a really smart and plucky girl named Annabeth. Sounds like Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but I let that pass.
So far I've only read the first two books in the five-part series, but I love these characters and their world. It's like X-Men meets Greek mythology and Harry Potter. While the world of Percy Jackson is not as rich or as thought-provoking as Harry Potter, the story is so filled with action and adventure how can you really care. The books are a masterpiece of children's literature in my opinion, being way more action-packed than just about any other book I've ever read. Not only that, but the book itself lends itself perfectly to a potential cinematic adaptation, being obviously inspired by stuff like the film, Jason and the Argonauts. For this reason alone, I want to see this film, so I'm here just wondering what to expect.
Whenever any book such as this is brought to the screen, obviously there is going to be a lot of things cut or changed in order to make the film more intriguing, but from what I can tell from the trailers and whatnot, the movie seems to be faithful enough to The Lightning Thief book to where I'm not too terribly worried at the moment. Some small changes have been made in the form of the filmmakers moving certain sequences from later books in the series to the first film, like the Hydra fight from book two. The biggest change that has been made was changing the age of Percy and his friends from 12 to about 16, which actually makes more sense than having a bunch of 12-year-old's running around trying to take on Greek gods and goddesses in battle. Another big change from book to screen that I know of already is that in order to get to the Underworld, Percy must find three small orbs to gain entrance, but in the book he simply had to reach the gate and enter, but this difference creates more tension and allows for the film to have some classic adventure film signposts, so I don't mind that. One other thing though, it seems as if the filmmakers decided to have the final confrontation between Percy and his half-blood enemy, Luke, be a full-fledged hero battle in New York City rather than a suspense-filled scene of dialogue where Percy is barely hanging on for his life, but hey, it makes the film all the more action-packed. Other than that, the spirit of the book seems to be in tact, and from my diagnosis at the moment, if you liked the book, then you'll most likely like the film, which has me excited.
I'm excited to see Percy and the gang venture to Vegas and get trapped in the Lotus Hotel, I also can't wait to see the sequence involving Medussa (played by Uma Thurman), and I really want to see how they visualize the Underworld in this film. All in all I'm excited and plan on seeing the film soon, posting my review as soon as I see the film. Here's hoping it delivers.
No comments:
Post a Comment