The following review contains spoilers for the two-episode premiere of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, “I “Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher,” and “I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom”
From the first frame, Disney’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians lets the audience know that this time around, accuracy to the books is paramount. Striking visuals coupled with a warning – the first lines of the book read verbatim by our main character, played by Walker Scobell – creates immediate intrigue for new audiences and shows long-time fans there’s no reason to be afraid of this second attempt at bringing Rick Riordan’s Greek mythology-inspired novels to the screen (except maybe finding out that you yourself are a demigod – or a Half-Blood, in Percy Jackson parlance. It’s reminiscent of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, whose first line of dialogue is “This will begin to make things right.” There, it was a little more on the nose, but the same message rings loud and clear throughout the first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, to mostly successful results.
The first two episodes waste no time introducing us to Percy, his life up until this point, and the life he’s about to be thrust into. A lot of this preamble is handled with voiceover narration; it’s an efficient method of getting viewers up to speed that lends itself well to the source material (which is written in the first person), but ultimately feels out of place – through the first four episodes, this is the only time we hear Scobell in v.o. Fidelity to the books can have its downsides: Episode 2 speed-runs the Camp Half-Blood chapters of Riordan’s first Percy novel, The Lightning Thief, in order to keep up with the series’ frenetic pacing. It’s almost hard to keep up with; small details are revealed in every line of dialogue. Even as someone who read the books and watched the previous movie adaptation, it was hard not to miss certain small details.
Throughout both halves of this two-episode premiere, though, one thing is certain – Percy Jackson is a mama’s boy. That’s a crude way of saying that at the emotional center of these first two episodes is a mother, Sally Jackson (Virginia Kull) who will do anything to protect her son, and a son who will do anything to get her back. A hero taking on a quest for personal reasons only to realize it’s destiny later on might feel like old hat to more seasoned members of the audience, but for young readers (and now viewers), it grounds the story in something relatable. (I know I’d do anything for my mom!) So when Sally heroically sacrifices herself at the end of episode 1, it hits hard, and Percy’s retaliation and victory over the Minotaur is awesomely satisfying, especially when the CG and action choreography look as good as they do.
Performances also help sell the mother-son relationship, as Scobell and Kull create a believable sense of love between their characters. The moment where Sally reveals everything to Percy is well done; it avoids the potentially awkward and unconvincing pitfalls of a scene where a character has to explain that all the wild and unbelievable elements of the magical world are actually real. The writing coupled with the strong performances give the conversation a satisfying weight that’s authentic to how a kid would actually react to such an earth-shattering moment. The scene also conveys pertinent information exceptionally well, leading us directly into the next phase of the story. That’s not always the case: The dialogue in episode 2 is one exposition dump after another, and important characters like Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) have their backstories told to us through Camp Half-Blood counselor Luke (Charlie Bushnell). Bushnell is a standout among the series’ young actors, but Luke is relegated to “deliverer of information” – though I guess that makes sense for a son of Hermes. Fellow authority figures Chiron (Glynn Truman) and Dionysus (Jason Matzoukas) suffer the same fate, unfortunately – they’re there to push Percy on to his real quest and little else.
At least the casting for all of these characters is spot-on. Truman is convincingly wise and noble as Chiron, and Matzoukas gives a truly inspired take on the Greek god of wine and merry-making, though the comedic actor falters in some of the more serious scenes. One of my favorite charactersin the premiere is Percy’s ill-fated stepdad, Gabe (Timm Sharp). Sharp is pitch perfect as the deadbeat online poker player, and delivers some of the funniest lines of the show so far. (Sharp effectively uses every moment he hasto say “peppers” in the most Long Island accent to ever accent.)
And of course there are the main three, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover (Aryan Simhadri), whom we don’t get a chance to see act as a trio in these first two episodes, but who were separately able to charm their way into my heart almost immediately. As young actors, they can often struggle to come off as genuine, but I’ll gladly take that over these preteens being played by actors pushing 30. Their natural likability and updated, modern dialogue gives the characters everything they need to come across like children, which is refreshing, especially in the world of young adult book adaptations.
There are a few too many details crammed into Percy Jackson’s introductory episodes, but the cinematography, casting, and character moments give life to The Lightning Thief like never before. If the rest of the series is able to capture that same magic, fans of the franchise will have little to worry about.
Verdict
The first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians efficiently and effectively introduce new audiences to this modern twist on Greek mythology, while packing every frame full with details from the book that will have longtime fans pointing and whistling at their screens – which only sometimes makes things feel overstuffed.
