Demigod Percy Jackson leads a quest across America to prevent a war among the Olympian gods.
Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) is a troubled, often bullied kid. He sees things that others cannot, but as he grows older, these creatures try more and more to attack him. The only people on his side are his friend, Grover (Aryan Simhadri), and his mom. Percy discovers he is a demigod and must be taken to Camp Half-Blood, a haven for demigods.
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is the latest IP-driven show based on the best-selling books to drop on Disney+. I only saw the series’ first two episodes, so this is not a complete review of the first season. I have read the first novel and seen the “Percy Jackson” movies. So far, this series is a more faithful adaptation of the first book than the first movie, likely thanks to the author’s involvement with the show.
I must say the show’s dialogue feels quite tiresome. It may be due to the ‘Marvel’ effect, where every other line is a quip. The jokes never landed for me. There is also a lot of exposition in these first two episodes, which makes sense given this is a whole new world the audience must be introduced to, but it is a lot. These first two episodes are also fast-paced and seem to gloss over the setting and some characters. The book is also fast-paced, but the show might have benefited from more episodes. This first season only has eight.
Another knock against this show is that it has a lot of child actors, most of whom are unknown and may have never been in anything before. It shows. Of course, the dialogue they are given isn’t doing them any favors either. These kids are supposed to be demigods, but they don’t feel like demigods. Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) is the only one who feels most like a demigod, but she only has a small part in the second episode.
The same critique goes for Jason Mantzoukas as Dionysus. Dionysus is one of the lesser gods but does not have a ‘godly’ presence. He is the only god we have seen so far, though, so hopefully, the others that show in later episodes feel more like gods.
I haven’t seen anything in the first two episodes that makes me want to check out the rest of the season. Adaptations are tricky; sometimes, leaving the story’s events to your imagination is better than seeing it translated on screen. The rest of the season could be way better than the first two episodes, which feel like exposition dumps. Hopefully, the story will get going after this point, and the dynamic between the three leads will feel more pronounced.
I will also say there were many kids at my screening, and they seemed to love the first two episodes. I didn’t realize just how big of a following the “Percy Jackson” series has. I’m not sure this show will become a cultural phenomenon of what Disney hopes is their “Harry Potter,” but I think kids and mega fans of the books will enjoy the show.
Available to stream on Disney+ December 20th
