The Lightning Thief flops out of water

So, I got back from my trip today...or yesterday...whatever. Anyways, I decided to watch Percy Jackson and the Olympians The Lightning Thief on Direct TV Cinema paper view. I finished the book not too long ago, so it was still fresh in my mind (I am currently on the fourth book...just FYI). I looked at the actors and actresses who would be playing the characters, and I recognized a lot of them. I didn't think from the previews that the movie would stray to far from the book. Well, I was hugely disappointed. The movie excluded some key characters that play important parts later in the series and some pivotal scenes were contorted to measures that weren't in any way described in Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief. And, yes, I am listing them.

I was fine with the opening of Zeus and Poseidon talking about the missing lightning bolt. Kind of puts the audience a step ahead in describing the problem. The movie moved along until they got to the museum. Percy was supposed to hit the girl bully with some cool water action, but that got cut out apparently. I wasn't real upset about it; however, not killing the Mrs. Dobbs Fury, I found annoying. Book: Chiron throws Percy the pen Riptide to kill Mrs. Dobbs then gives it back to Chiron. I can understand cutting out the three Fates part and shortening the chase scene to Half-Blood Hill. I really looked forward to the fighting on the hill, but that got cut way short, too.

When Percy wakes from his unconscious state, Annabeth is there looking at him. She believes he is the one. We don't get to meet Mr. D, and we don't ever see Clarisse, the daughter of Ares. Percy is first taken to cabin 11 where he meets Luke. Percy's god parent doesn't claim Percy until the game of capture the flag. In capture the flag, Percy is told to defend by the creek. Clarisse and several other Ares offspring attack Percy. He falls into the water and gains power through the water. Luke takes the Ares flag, and Annabeth takes off her invisibility cap (she was near Percy the whole time). Then, a hellhound appears out of nowhere and attacks Percy. I think Chiron kills the beast, and when Percy stands, everyone gasps at the trident symbol above Percy's head.

Eventually, we get to when Percy is given the quest to go to the Underworld in order to bring Zeus's lightning bolt back before summer solstice. Percy goes up to the attic to the Oracle to get the quest through a rhyming prophecy. Annabeth volunteers for the quest because she has always wanted to go on one, and Percy chooses Grover as his second companion. Never once does Hades personally call out for Percy. Also, the group is not given a map, and prior to their departure, they know where the Underworld is located.

Their first encounter with monsters is on the bus. Three Furies. They evade them by destroying the bus and finding Medusa's shop. The scene with Medusa is more or less accurate except Percy mails the head of Medusa to the gods when he kills her. Next, the Nashville scene. That NEVER happens. The Hydra is even introduced until second book, and Percy doesn't get a shield until the end of the second book. Oh, the pearls do not play as big of a part as the movie makes them be. Although the pearls are very important in escaping the Underworld, they are not the focus of the book. THE BOLT IS!! That's why it's called The Lightning Thief. Geez. The group's next stop is the Gateway Arch on the way to Denver. The monster Percy fights there is a Chimera and its owner Echidna. In order to escape, Percy must dive off the peak of the arch into the Mississippi River. His dive into the river unveils some other perks of his powers. A messenger from Poseidon tells Percy some things and that end that.

Next. They meet the god of war, Ares. Percy doesn't like this god though he gives them some food to eat. Ares wants Percy to fetch his sword from the Tunnel of Love ride. What he doesn't tell them is that the ride is rigged by Hephaestus, Aphrodite's husband. Percy and Annabeth have to survive the ride of death in order to retrieve the shield and get the assistance from Ares. After that the hotel scene comes (the hotel scene would come after the Nashville scene in the movie), I don't really have to describe it. The main point is emphasised.

The group go to Santa Monica Pier so Percy can get some advice from the messenger from before and the three pearls. Then, they go to a water bed store and encounter yet another monster before they find the place that holds the entrance to the Underworld. I would cut that in the movie because its not THAT important. I would extend the Underworld scene. Hades does not want the bolt nor does he even have it. He tells Percy that he has had it in his backpack the whole time, and Hades demands Percy to give back his Helm of Darkness (Ares put the bolt in a pack he gave Percy, but technically Luke did steal both). Percy must fight the god Ares to get the Helm back. He succeeds by injuring Ares in the heel.

Throughout the quest, Percy gets some strange dreams, and when the group is in the Underworld the pit of Tartarus tries to pull Grover in (Percy gave Grover Luke's winged boots because Zeus would kill Percy if he tried to fly, but Luke bewitched the boots). In the pit of Tartarus, the Titan Kronos lies waiting for a opportunity to rise again. When Ares is defeated, Kronos roars in outrage which probably saves Percy from being killed by Ares.

Percy flies in an airplane to make the deadline for the return of the lightning bolt. He goes to the Empire State Building alone and faces Zeus and Poseidon. Alone. Zeus isn't as nice as the movie makes him, and I liked the way Poseidon was much more caring about Percy than I thought him to be. Hades returns Percy's mother. Percy gets to come home for a little bit. He gets the package back, but he gives Medusa's head to his mother who uses it to turn Gabe into stone. Gabe is sold to an art exhibit. The movie shows Luke plummeting into the sea, but Luke reveals his treachery at the end of the book when Percy is almost killed again. Poison by a scorpion this time, and then the end of the book.

So, to me this movie was butchered as bad as if not worse than Eragon. I liked that book as well. But, it's sad that movie makers don't follow the book sometimes. The Harry Potter movies and Twilight saga movies acknowledge the general flow of the book very well. I know not all specific details can be obtained, but come on at least get the general stuff right. If the next book, The Sea of Monsters, is made, I hope a better movie comes out of it. Twilight was rocky at first, but the new director made New Moon a whole lot better. Maybe if a new director came in or the current one (if they decide to make the next book that is) sticks to the book a lot more, the fans of the novels would enjoy the movies more rather than hope the movie will be good, fear it will SUCK, or know it will not be worth the while at all. The authors take great pride in their written work. Producers and directors should realize that and do their absolute best and beyond to NOT tarnish the authors' work because this damages their pride, too.