I managed to swallow Chris Columbus's changes to the first two Harry Potter movies, but the travesty he created from Riordan's lively, likeable "quest" novel I just can't ignore or forgive. All the great conversations, the truly funny situations, the believable universe, and the contemporarizing (is that a word???) of Greek mythology that made Riordan's novel (and the complete series) such great fun were completely ignored. What this movie is instead is a retread of every stereotypical "fallback" character, plot line, and dialogue ever presented in a movie for preadolescents. Obviously, the choice of young stars was to introduce two more attractive youngsters who have some potential--whether as actors or teen idols remains to be seen. But what was the point of making Grover an over-sexed satyr? Of making Persephone a hot mama? Of making the Lotus Hotel an older teen's idea of free drinks, free sex, free gambling? Of making the gods SO stereotypical of every bad B movie from the 1930s through the 1990s? I mean, Riordan created a great new consistent universe, and Columbus turned into a tired old grade-B (even C or D!)
stereotype.
Don't bother with the movie--get the audio books instead! Jesse Bernstein does a good job with the tone and feeling that Riordan created. (And yes, I'm an adult who's been reading and enjoying "quest" novels for many years. Riordan respected his audience, and created well and true for them; Columbus, on the other hand, "disrespected" Riordan's intent, and it shows.)

My son talked me into reading these books with him, and we loved them.
When we went to see the new Harry Potter movie, scenes for it came on during the trailers.

He recognized the story the second the preview started. He was thrilled, and so was I. What potential this unique and fun series had for a movie--or movies...I mean, they advertised that it was being brought to us by the people who make the Harry Potter movies.

The Potter movies stay so true to the book--taking care to absolutely keep things in the screenplay that are necessary to the plot line.

I wish I could say the same for this movie.

When it finally came out, we went to a movie theater in NJ that was right across the river from NYC.
We could see the Empire State building from the theater parking lot, and took it as a sign that the movie was going to rock. We were so psyched to see it.

When we left the theater, I thought my son was going to cry, and I couldn't un-scrunch my eyebrows--huh?? I felt so bad for him, for me, for Rick Riordan...

We understand that it's impossible to make a movie exactly like a book-- but this was a travesty.
Every important aspect of the story was by-passed for the sake of special effects.

It's almost as if the screenwriter had been given a verbal summary of what the book was about, and took it from there. So many important plot points were left out or down right changed to the point that it would be impossible to even think about a sequel.

It's such a shame. These stories have the "book made to movie" potential of the Potter series, or dare I say, a kids "Lord of the Rings".

If someone with vision had just read the books, the money used to make it could have been so much better spent.

It could have been knocked out of the park, but, alas, the ball was dropped and we all lost.

First off let me just say that I have read all 5 books at least twice through. I am an avid fan of this series. I was looking forward to this movie for quite a while. Of course this takes the course that many book adaptions take. That is, it differs from the book in many ways. Personally, I went to the midnight showing of this film expecting the differences, and went with an open mind to the idea of differences. And you know what? I immensely enjoyed this film! First, let me run down some differences between the book and film.

Unless you've read the book and don't mind finding out what was cut and changed, consider this your SPOILER ALERT!

First and most obviously, the ages of the actors. They are all in their late teens, whereas the kids in the book are 12.

Second, no Ares, Clarisse, or Dionysus. The fight for the Lightning Bolt is with Luke instead of Ares. And Annabeth takes on the role of the warrior girl in the movie.

Third, instead of a quest, Percy Grover and Annabeth just ditch camp to get the lightning bolt and save Percy's mother.

Fourth, NO PROPHECY. No mention of Thalia or the Big Three pact. I hope they mention it in The Sea of Monsters if they make it.

Those are the 4 biggest changes I remember from the movie and biggest complaints from avid fans. Logan Lerman (Percy), Alexandra Daddario (Annabeth), Brandon T Jackson (Grover), and Jake Abel (Luke) are all great actors. I hadn't really heard of them until The Lightning Thief. But they are terrific actors! Brandon is hilarious as Grover, and makes tons of jokes as the comic relief. Some may find his constant cracking of joke irritating, but in the right mood he's hilarious.

Sean Bean, and Kevin Mckidd are great as Zeus and Poseidon respectively. They're not in it very much, but Mr. Mckidd's entrance in the beginning of the film is awesome. I won't reveal more, but he's the first we see in the film.

And lets not forget Uma Thurman as Medusa! She was brilliantly done, and was very spooky and awesome. If you've read the book you know she dies, but I wish they would find a way to bring back Medusa because Uma Thurman was brilliant!

All in all, this was an amazing film, and I look forward to the deleted scenes included with the Blu-Ray release, because only 5 out of 10 scenes are on the DVD release. Plus, the Blu-Ray comes with a DVD and a code for a free copy on iTunes, which is brilliant. So this is a great film for the whole family, and I know I will be headed to the store to get it after it's release. (or, I think I'll just buy from amazon, because they do have really good prices on Blu-Rays)