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Reviews
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023)
Hope the next season gets better
Honestly speaking, I feel kind of disappointed, even a little bitter, because I feel like my expectations are not reciprocated. I had been full of expectations since I learned that there's going to be a TV adaptation of Percy Jackson, and Rick Riordan's going to be heavily involved.
I watched the two infamous movie adaptations before reading the book series. I'm not going to lie. I quite enjoyed the movies, and that's why I read the novels.
When the TV adaptations premiered, I watched the first two episodes. It's not too bad, so I decided to see it through. After watching the whole season, I can tell that there's something off with the pacing of the show and the depictions of the characters. I understand that it's not possible that the adaptations can be exactly the same as the novels. They have to cut off or alter some plots and characters, but sadly, the essence is not retained.
The Percy Jackson series is supposed to be action-packed adventures. Our protagonist, Percy, is full of witty and wry (sometimes even sarcastic) remarks when he faces the gods and monsters. He is determined and brave, and he can be a little silly sometimes. He truly cares about his friends, and they care about him too. However, I didn't see that in the TV adaptation. Percy is dull and boring. Percy and Grover don't seem like each other's best friends but rather mere acquaintances. As for Annabeth and Percy at the end, it seems that they rarely know each other, even though they have gone through a quest of life and death. There's no chemistry at all.
The book series is written in the first-person narration of the protagonist. It creates suspense as we readers follow Percy on the journey. We don't exactly know what gods or monsters lie ahead or how much effort it's going to take to get through. That suspense urges us to read on. But in the TV series, they took that away. The TV characters tell us what obstacles they're going to deal with too early, and they overcome them so easily. It lacks build-up. Maybe it's because the show's run time is short, or because it's made for kids.
At last, the visual effects are scarce. For example, we barely see how Percy's ballpoint pen turns into his sword, Riptide, throughout the eight episodes. As I recall, the depiction of this transformation only occurred in episodes one and eight. And for the rest of the time, it's just glanced over. Details matter. All of these problems make this Greek mythological world unrealistic, along with the characters rendered unconvincing. I doubt that the actors and actresses themselves even believe in the characters they portrayed.
I hope they can fix all these problems and get better in season two. I really like this book series and don't want to see its adaptation fail again.
Warrior (2019)
Love this show, and really hope for season 3 !
This is really an underappreciated show.
All those fighting scenes are great, the punching, the kicking and the dicing, so real. The story is interesting, too. You can see the logic of characters' motives. Besides, the cinematography is great. Looking forward to season 3 !!!