Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Where Greek Mythology Comes to Life

Last week, I finally made it to the movie theater to see Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. I don’t care what anyone says, I LOVED IT. I loved the film, I love the Percy Jackson franchise, I love the Rick Riordan books, and I cannot wait for the next book (The Titan’s Curse), to be made into a film!

For those who may be unfamiliar with Percy Jackson, allow me to briefly explain. Percy Jackson is essentially Harry Potter, but the magic has been swapped for ancient Greek mythology. The protagonist of the series, Percy Jackson, is a demi-god and son of Poseidon --- god of the Seas. Percy lives at Camp Half Blood and is often accompanied by his best friends, Grover (a satyr) and Annabeth Chase (daughter of Athena). These three, along with a variety of other characters, go on quests and do everything in their power to stop the return of the evil Titan, Kronos, who is trying to resurrect himself and overthrow Olympus. (He’s got a bit of a grudge against his sons --- Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades --- and wants vengeance). I’ll admit, the story itself isn’t really unique, I mean you can obviously see the parallels between Harry Potter (Percy/Grover/Annabeth = Harry/Ron/Hermione and Kronos = Voldemort), but you know what, I still think the books are really funny and clever and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them!

Grover, Percy, and Annabeth getting ready to fight a hydra

(taken from the first film, The Lightening Thief)

Like Hogwarts, demi-gods live at a special camp, located around the Long Island Sound, called “Camp Half-Blood”. Here, demi-gods are protected, since the camp has a magical enchantment that keeps out bad guys and non-gods, and they learn how to fight and how to be heroes. The camp is overseen by “Mr D” aka Dionysus, who is apathetic and doesn’t really want to be there. Apparently, Dionysus got a little too friendly with a nymph, who was one of Zeus’ many mistresses, and as punishment, Dionysus was banished to Camp Half Blood. Zeus also forbade Dionysus from drinking wine, so Mr. D. survives on Diet Coke --- every time he tries to drink wine, it turns into water.  Whilst Mr. D mopes, it is the centaur Chiron, who is really in control and takes care of all of the demi-gods. This is the same Chiron who taught the likes of Hercules, Asclepius, Achilles, Theseus, Perseus, and Jason. That is the basic gist of the series, of course each book has a specific event that steers the plot.

The entrance

Walking through Camp Half Blood

The demi-gods preparing for "capture the flag"

Alongside the overarching plot, regarding stopping the resurrection of Kronos, there is an important prophecy that links the books. According to the Oracle of Delphi, whose spirit lives at Camp Half Blood,

“A half blood of the eldest gods shall reach sixteen against all odds,

And see the world in endless sleep.

The hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap,

A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze.”

The back-story regarding this prophecy is that after World War II, the “Big Three” (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) made a pact to never have demi-god children again. As a side note, the book claims that WWII was a war between the sons of the Big Three. (America = Zeus, Great Britain = Poseidon, and Germany = Hades. As a WWII historian, I thought this was very funny). The prophecy is important because even though the three brothers agreed to have no children after WWII, ergo this prophecy would not be able to be fulfilled, none of them kept to the agreement, so the questions arises: who is the half blood that the prophecy speaks of? It’s a bit of mystery and you don’t find out until the last book. (It is very similar to the prophecy from Harry Potter.) This whole part of the Percy Jackson series is unfortunately altered a bit in the films, which I think is tragic, since I thought this was the most fascinating part of the series.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians is a pentology consisting of: The Lightening Thief (2005), The Sea of Monsters (2006), The Titan’s Curse (2007), The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008), and The Last Olympian (2009). Only the first two books have been made into films so far, but I’m hopeful that the rest will make it to the big screen too. Once the Percy Jackson series ended, Rick Riordan created a sequel pentology called The Heroes of Olympus. It features the same characters from the Percy Jackson series, whilst also introducing lots of new characters. I love this series too! So far, three (The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, and The Mark of Athena) out of the five books have been published, but I am eagerly awaiting the release of the fourth book (The House of Hades), which is due out in October 2013!

Sea of Monsters basically picks up where The Lightening Thief leaves off. Not giving too much away, basically, in The Lightening Thief, Zeus’ master thunderbolt goes missing, causing chaos on Olympus. Zeus accuses Percy of stealing his bolt, so it is up to Percy to prove his innocence. One thing leads to another and Percy finds out that the forces trying to resurrect Kronos in fact stole the lightening bolt in hopes of starting a war amongst the gods, ultimately leading to the destruction of Olympus and the Olympians.

In Sea of Monsters, the same group of Kronos worshippers attack Camp Half Blood and poison the magical tree that provides the camp with its magical barrier. The tree is of course important because it protects the camp, but the real significance is that it is the daughter of Zeus. At this point, if you are still reading, you may be thinking, “how does that work? How can a tree be a demi-god?” You learn in the book series that several years earlier, a group of demi-gods were chased and hunted by a group of Cyclopes, whilst trying to make their way to Camp Half Blood. Whilst the other demi-gods made it to camp, one demi-god attempted to fight and save the others. Tragically, she was killed. Her name was Thalia, daughter of Zeus. Rather than let his daughter die, Zeus took pity on Thalia and turned her into a tree. You also learn that one of the demi-gods who made it to camp because of Thalia’s sacrifice was Annabeth Chase.

So, in The Sea of Monsters, Percy, Grover, Annabeth, Tyson (a young Cyclopes and Percy’s half-brother), and Clarisse (daughter of Ares) go on a quest to find the Golden Fleece, which is reputed to have magical healing powers. Of course, they aren’t the only ones after the Fleece. The worshippers of Kronos also want the Golden Fleece for themselves so they can resurrect Kronos. I love The Sea of Monsters because it is basically an updated version of The Odyssey, and I love The Odyssey! In The Sea of Monsters, Percy encounters: Polyphemus, Circe, the Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis, and more. (In the film he only encounters Polythemus and Charybdis).  

Tyson, Percy, Annabeth, and Clarisse on an old Confederate submarine, on their way to find the Golden Fleece. (The submarine, which was manned by dead Confederates, was given to Clarisse by her father --- Ares)

My explanation is super simplified, but that’s because I don’t want to give too much away. If you like Greek mythology, Harry Potter, and/or you want something fun to read, I recommend both Percy Jackson & the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus. The books are really fun and clever. For example, when Perseus slew Medusa, he had to use his shield as a mirror, since looking at her would turn him to stone. In The Lightening Thief, when Percy meets Medusa, he uses the reflective back surface of his iPod as a mirror. I think that is a brilliant update!

Anyway, I thought the film was really really fun --- a great summer flick. It has lots of action, comedy, a bit of romance….just a nonstop rollercoaster of fun. It's also super family friendly. The film deviates from the book, but I expected that. The first film did the same thing. Although I had moments of, “that didn’t happen in the book!” or “oh no! I can’t believe they cut that!”, overall I thought the film was pretty faithful. The things they changed and/or cut, where not central to the story, so I’m not too upset.

I also loved the casting. I think Logan Lerman is great at Percy. He is good looking and in my mind, he is what I imagined Percy looked like. Especially his deep blue eyes! I think Brandon T. Jackson as Grover and Alexandra Daddario were also perfectly cast. Jackson plays the part of the satyr so naturally and he is so funny! Daddario really captures the intenseness of Annabeth and she has the most striking eyes --- definitely a daughter of Athena.

At first, I was really skeptical over the casting of Leven Rambin as Clarisse because I thought Rambin was too pretty for the role. In the book, Clarisse is this really tough, macho, bitchy tomboy --- what you would imagine for a true daughter of Ares. She is super aggressive! Unlike Rambin, who is blonde and stunning, Clarisse isn’t very pretty AND she is a brunette. I was pleasantly surprised how well Rambin pulled off Clarisse. I feel a bit bad that Rambin was “uglified”, but she played Clarisse superbly. Perfectly arrogant and very athletic. Ares would have approved.

                                          Levin Rambin                             Rambin as Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares

Moving away from the young actors, Sea of Monsters also boasted some pretty awesome well known actors. My beloved Stanley Tucci was cast as Mr. D. and he was perfect. Mr. D. doesn’t really want to be at camp since this is a punishment for him, and Tucci really captured that apathetic nature. He played the character so naturally and he made me believe that he really was Mr. D. Stanley Tucci never disappoints! 

Stanley Tucci as "Mr. D" aka Dionysus, God of Wine, and director of Camp Half Blood

Nathan Fillion also joined that cast as Hermes. All I have to say is: PERFECT CASTING. Fillion was wonderfully funny as Hermes and he made subtle Firefly references, which were hilarious! I also loved the fact that the messenger god is the director of OPS, Olympus Postal Service. Very clever. I'd say thought, my favorite fact about Fillion's Hermes is that he wears Hermès!

Nathan Fillion as Hermes, the messenger God. 

Finally, Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) was cast as Chiron. As much as I like him, I had some issues. In the previous film, Pierce Brosnan, whom I love dearly, played Chiron. I preferred Brosnan as Chiron and frankly, I hate it when the same character is played by different actors, unless its James Bond or “The Doctor” (from Doctor Who). Also, I thought Anthony Stewart Head had too much eyeliner on, which is a pretty criticism, I know... but it really bothered me! 

Pierce Brosnan as Chiron (Lightening Thief) vs. Anthony Stewart Head as Chiron (Sea of Monsters)

Did I mention that in the previous film, they cast Sean Bean as Zeus and Kevin McKidd as Poseidon? I love those actors too --- especially Sean Bean! Not too shabby Percy Jackson.

In The Lightening Thief, you meet Zeus (Sean Bean) and Poseidon (Kevin McKidd)

The other night, I rewatched The Lightening Thief, and you know what? it was just as satisfying as the first time I watched the film. In fact, I think I love it more each time I watch it. My only issue? I didn’t have Sea of Monsters with me to watch next! The Percy Jackson & The Olympians books are easy to read and they are page turners. I couldn’t put them down when I was reading them. 

Growing up, my dad always read Greek myths to me and at one point, I was like a walking encyclopedia of Greek mythology. For me, that’s one of the reasons why I love this serial so much. To me, it’s so nostalgic and it brings me back to my youth. I highly recommend that everyone give it a shot. Seriously, if you liked Harry Potter, and you are looking for something similar, this is the perfect choice! Also, the movies are great! Sure, the books are better, but the movies are just as good. Overall, I can’t wait to watch this movie again and I have already pre-ordered it! 

NOTE: ALL IMAGES TAKEN FROM GOOGLE AND/OR SCREENSHOTS! 
I DO NOT OWN THEM!