“Percy Jackson and the Olympians ”review: TV series“ ”rights the wrongs of the movies

Rick Riordan’s beloved books get the lavish TV adaptation they deserve, a smart series that lets its preteen protagonist actually be a preteen.

Hollywood’s YA boom is over. Now, we’re in the era of YA second chances.

The late aughts and early 2010s were littered with lame young-adult adaptations, as studios churned out forgettable movies in an attempt to chase the next teen sensation. For every Twilight or Harry Potter-level hit, there was an Eragon or a Golden Compass — a pricey fantasy blockbuster that fell flat. Despite being based on popular books, these adaptations often failed to capture the same magic, and the resulting films disappointed both general audiences and the hardcore fans of the books. (If you have a few hours to kill, just ask a Christopher Paolini fan to tell you what they think of the Eragon movie.)

But in recent years, some of those ill-fated adaptations have been lucky enough to get a second chance. With companies desperate to pad streaming services with new content, many have gone back to that original IP, reimagining these stories not as feature films but as live-action TV series. The His Dark Materials TV show concluded last year, a vast improvement on the 2007 Golden Compass film. Meanwhile, Disney+ is reportedly developing a live-action Eragon series, hoping to erase the memory of the 2006 movie. Even Avatar: The Last Airbender is getting a second shot, and when the live-action show drops on Netflix in 2024, it’ll hopefully repent for the sins of the infamous 2010 M. Night Shyamalan version.

So, perhaps it was only a matter of time before the cyclical content machine got to Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rick Riordan’s middle-grade novels became bestsellers when they hit shelves in 2005, following 12-year-old hero Percy as he discovers that he’s the son of a Greek god. A film version debuted in 2010, followed by a 2013 sequel, and despite a charming enough lead performance by Logan Lerman, the lackluster films failed to make much of an impact. Many of the creative decisions outraged diehard fans, whether it was cutting large sequences from the books or aging Percy up to 16. Riordan himself still refuses to watch the movies, describing them as the equivalent of watching “my life’s work going through a meat grinder.”

Now, Percy Jackson is stepping into the spotlight once more, this time with a lavish TV series premiering Dec. 20 on Disney+. The eight-episode show attempts to right the wrongs of the films, and the result is a charming adventure that was well worth the wait.

The Adam Project star Walker Scobell takes over the role of Percy, a 12-year-old misfit grappling with dyslexia and ADHD who often daydreams of mythological creatures. But when he’s attacked by a winged fury disguised as his pre-algebra teacher (Megan Mullally), Percy discovers that those daydreams are very much rooted in reality, and he’s soon sucked into a magical world of minotaurs, satyrs, and destiny. After making his way to Camp Half-Blood, a training ground for half-human children, he discovers the truth: He’s a demigod, the son of a yet-to-be-revealed Greek god. Even worse, he’s been framed for stealing Zeus’s powerful lightning bolt. To clear his name, he and his allies — the hooved forest spirit Grover (Aryan Simhadri) and Athena’s warrior daughter Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) — set out on a harrowing quest, crisscrossing the country and facing off against all sorts of mythic monsters.

With Riordan himself contributing scripts and serving as a producer, it’s no surprise that Percy Jackson is a faithful adaptation to the books. The series restores fan-favorite sequences that were ditched from the films — like a thrilling action scene where Percy battles a monster at the top of the Gateway Arch. (As a St. Louis native, this writer would like to congratulate the production design team on perfectly recreating the Arch’s claustrophobic elevators and gray-carpeted observation deck.) With the first few episodes clocking in around 40 minutes apiece, the show takes time to delve into the joys and struggles of being half-human, as well as the perils of growing up: One early standout scene is set at Camp Half-Blood, where the many young demigods compete in a delightful, magic-infused version of Capture the Flag. There, Percy learns that words can cut just as deep as swords.

The show is especially smart in letting its preteen protagonist be a preteen: Where the films aged up Percy and his friends to their late teens and early 20s, the charm of Riordan’s original books is how his 12-year-old hero actually feels like a 12-year-old. Scobell brings a wide-eyed charisma to the role, grappling with the weight of Percy’s destiny while still cracking plenty of cynical jokes. Together, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover make a memorable trio, and the three have a crackling chemistry: Simhadri is warm and loyal as the protective Grover, while Jeffries’ Annabeth is a hardened warrior, a sword-wielding soldier who’s seeking glory of her own.

With such a delightful lead cast, Percy Jackson seems poised to be the next YA breakout. Indeed, it doesn’t have much competition on TV at the moment, especially when other series (like Stranger Things) tend to skew grittier and focus on older teens. There’s an old-fashioned adventure quality to Percy Jackson’s road trip plot, as Percy and his friends face off against minotaurs, furies, and even legendary Greek myths like Medusa, all cleverly transplanted to a modern American setting. But perhaps Percy Jackson’s biggest achievement is how it makes Percy’s coming-of-age story feel every bit as epic as the legends from Mount Olympus. Percy and Annabeth’s emotional conversations about living up to their parents’ legacies are treated with the same weight as grand fight scenes on top of American landmarks. The result is a winning adaptation that finally does justice to Riordan’s books — proof that even demigods deserve a second chance. B+

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