Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Pros: One or two redeeming acting performances, decent special effects. Cons: Bad casting, failure to bring the world to life, lack of creativity, complete failure to capture either the tone or the characters from the book. Percy Jackson and his friends are racing to the underworld, desperate to get the lightning bolt in time. As they reach Hades' residence, they are greeted by Persephone, wearing a ripped black lace, cleavage baring dress. They ask to see Hades, but Persephone makes a few suggestive remarks and then thrusts her breasts into Grover's face. "I've never had a satyr ...(long pause) ... visit before," she purrs in a Spanish accent. Grover (who has already been established as sex obsessed) is appreciative. If this sounds like a scene that would remotely fit in with your concept of the first Percy Jackson book, then you might enjoy this movie. If not, then stay away, because it's pretty well a snapshot of the movie as a whole. They went for a more mature feel for the movie - not just the characters' ages, but the content reflects this. The casting for this movie was completely wrong. It wasn't that the acting was bad, exactly, it was just that some of the actors were completely inappropriate for the parts they were playing. Grover is not a smooth talking, wise cracking, confident character. Sure, the guy playing him was funny, but he wasn't Grover. Annabeth was an even worse failure. They kept telling us that she was smart, the daughter of Athena, etc., but we don't actually get many instances of her acting smart. Instead, she seems like a generic tough, sexy action girl. In fact, every female character in this movie (with the exception of the mothers) is sexualized - Annabeth, the women at the Lotus Casino, the Aphrodite girls, Medusa (who is supposed to be ugly), Persephone. Female characters that could not be turned into sexy girls (like Clarisse) are cut from the movie altogether. It isn't that I have a problem with action movies that are about smashing heads and meeting beautiful women, it's just that this is so not what the Percy Jackson series is about. By making this movie about the action, the creators have really undersold the wonder and magic of this series. I'm not a person who believes that a movie must mimic a book exactly, but there are so many missed opportunities here dealing with setting alone. For example, in the books each of the Olympian gods has a unique throne - Poseidon's is a fishing chair. This is something that could have been a great visual for the movie and could have been played up even more - instead the movie opts for identical marble thrones. In Camp Halfblood, we get generic military setting instead of the unique cabins and campers. In the Underworld, we get a generic hell instead of great details like the EZ Death line and the burnt out fields of Asphodel. Generic is the best word to describe this movie. There were a few good points. The kid who played Percy Jackson really captured that character's impulsiveness and good heart despite being way too old for the role. The special effects were okay. Not great, but okay. You might be wondering if this movie would be good to someone who has never read the books. The answer is no. It might not be such a huge disappointment, but it is still nothing more than a below average action flick. I tried to decide if the few points of light were enough to give this movie two stars. I concluded that they weren't, because not only does this movie suck, but it completely ruins any chance for a decent series. If they make another Percy Jackson movie, then it will have to move away from this one completely to be any good. 1+ stars.