On the Silver Screens -- Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters

   In demigods we trust.   

Facing the wrath of Charybdis...

August 7, 2013 – the second installment of the film adaptation for the ever-famous Percy Jackson and the Olympian series is now showing on the theatres near you. For all the myth-o-maniacs out there, never miss this movie! You got to watch it or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. There’s more to expect from the sequel.

The sequel now talks about Percy’s second adventure: the search for the Golden Fleece and save his satyr best friend, Grover from the hand of the one-eyed menace named Polyphemus. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, together with Clarisse La Rue, Percy’s archrival in Camp Half-Blood goes through a journey to the perilous, horrifying Sea of Monsters in the midst of the ever-famous Bermuda triangle to fetch the Golden Fleece on the island of Polyphemus. The Golden Fleece is the only way to save Thalia Grace’s tree which is dying because of poison. The tree protects the whole camp from the terrifying monsters roaming around the woods. But the problem is they’re not the only side who wants to take the Golden Fleece. Luke Castellan, son of Hermes and Percy’s foe from the first book is now backing in the game. Luke wants the Golden Fleece to revive the evil Titan, Kronos. What will happen to their expedition? Whose side will win? Read the book series and find out.

While in 'Circeland'

Just like the first movie, they changed tons of details from the book. Grover was lost because he was searching for Pan, one of the Olympian gods who went AWOL. Right from the first chapter of the book, he was already gone and was lured by Polyphemus to his lair with the use of the Golden Fleece. Why was he kidnapped by Luke in the movie?! The scene with Polyphemus was also changed. They’re supposed to trick the Cyclops, not just run away from him. And why the heck was Luke trapped in Polyphemus’ cave? The worst thing that happened: Kronos has risen. He wasn’t supposed to rise until the fourth book! And why didn’t I see Circe and her island full of men turned into hamsters? But how they named Polyphemus’ island as Circeland was very clever. It was very clever, indeed. I also liked the last part. Just watch the movie to know what the last part is. Anyway, I’m glad they kept the humour and the child-friendly feel on the movie. I really enjoyed watching it. My co-movie watchers stared at me as if I’m mentally deranged because I laughed hilariously every time a character slipped in a punch line.

Aside from the effects and all, the cast and characters were very well chosen. Though, I expected Clarisse to be a bulky and rowdy gal. I was shocked when the one who portrayed was very pretty and slim. Annabeth’s already blonde in the movie too! I’m happy about that. I liked Dionysius both in the movie and in the novel. I’m also glad that the movie showed my exact expectation for Dionysius.  It’s just funny how he forgets Percy’s name. Come on, who’s Perry Johnson anyway? Oh the last but not the least: Tyson, Percy’s Cyclops half-brother is kind of cute in the movie. Who would’ve thought that a Cyclops can be cute?

Overall, the movie was great. Just don’t compare it to the novel if you don’t want to get disappointed. The movie was very entertaining. Not a part of it is a waste of time. It’s even better to watch the movie on 3D. What are you waiting for myth-o-maniacs? Run to the nearest theatres now and watch Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters now! I swear you’d enjoy it.

                 

From Bedtime to Bestseller

The book cover

"You shall go west and face the god who has turned
you shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned
you shall be betrayed by the one who calls you a friend
and fail to save what matters most in the end."

                Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief -- the bedtime story turned into bestselling children’s book talks about a misunderstood twelve-year old demigod living in modern-day New York who has dyslexia & ADHD.  He tries to fit in to the world of mad, mediocre people yet it seems that he just can’t. He has been admitted to various schools but no teacher can handle his impulsiveness. He can’t even learn how to read English because of his dyslexia. Good thing, he is still surviving in his boarding school in New York.
 
                One day, the class goes to a field trip in a museum where he is attacked by a substitute-teacher-turned-into-a-fury because he is suspected as the one who stole Zeus’ lightning bolt. He is the one accused because he is Poseidon’s son. And it is known that the children of the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades fight over each other to prove who’s who.  He then discovers that his ‘disabled’ best friend, Grover Underwood is actually his guardian satyr and that he is a demigod. Grover sends Percy to a Greek demigod camp called Camp Half-Blood in the Long Island Sound after the attack to keep him safe and to train his demigod skills. There he learns that his ADHD and dyslexia are actually the results of being a demigod. Before he even arrives at the camp, they are attacked by a huge Minotaur but they survive. Later in the story, he is claimed by his father who is Poseidon only because he thought Percy was the one who stole Zeus’ lightning bolt. Percy explains that he isn’t the one who stole it but Zeus does not believe him. And if Percy can’t prove him wrong, there will be another war of the gods at hand. He suspects that Hades stole it because of the usual big three squabbles.  So he set off on a race against time to search for the missing lightning bolt. He goes to the entrance of the Underworld in Los Angeles to retrieve Zeus’ master bolt. Throughout their journey, there are several mythical monsters who try to get in their way including the famous snake-haired Medusa, the weaver-turned-into-a-humongous-spider Echidna and many more. Percy and his friends arrive at Hades’ lair and finds out that his Helm of Darkness was also stolen. It is later revealed that Luke Castellan, Hermes’ son who was the one who welcomed Percy on camp, is the one who stole the master bolt. Luke plans to give it to Kronos to let him reign in power again but he fails.

                 "The book has sold over 1.2 million copies in the subsequent four year, appearing on the New York Times children's Best Seller list and being listed as one of the Young Adult Library Services Association's Best Books for Young Adults, among other awards." -Wikipedia

                On February 12, 2010, a film adaptation directed by Chris Columbus invaded the silver screens worldwide. According to Wikipedia, the film ranked number two at the North America box office with $83 million on its first week. . The movie earned $226, 497, 209 worldwide. The cast includes Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson), Alexandra Daddario (Annabeth Chase), Brandon T. Jackson (Grover Underwood) and Jake Abel Luke Castellan. The big stars, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman and Rosario Dawson took part in the movies as Chiron, Medusa and Persephone respectively.

Myth-o-mania: Where it All Began

It all started with a bedtime story.           

Rick Riordan, an award-winning, bestselling author of the famous Percy Jackson & the Olympians series was an English and Social Studies teacher back then. He taught Greek mythology to middle schoolers, particularly.  He never thought that it will lead him to a new booming career. He wrote adult novels at that time but writing children’s book series was never part of the plan. Until one day…

His oldest son, Haley, asked him to tell some great Greek myths as bedtime stories. So he did. The time came when he ran out of myths to tell. So Haley asked if Riordan could make up some new characters instead. And in a snap, Percy Jackson came into existence.

Percy was a demigod who had a quest to get back Zeus’ lightning bolt which was stolen by another demigod. Riordan based this main character to his son, who at that time was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. Just like his son, this Percy guy also has ADHD and dyslexia, which to the Greek world are so-called signs and symptoms of being a demigod. Riordan added this detail to the story to sink into Haley’s mind that being different will not affect what talents, potentials and dreams he has.

 After Riordan told Percy’s story to him, Haley liked it and suggested that he should write it as a novel. Fuelled by his son’s request despite his hectic schedule, he was motivated to finish the book for him. Before he submitted his manuscript to the publisher, he let his middle-school students critique it. They even helped him in naming the book and how Percy’s sword works. Then his first modern-day Greek mythology book entitled The Lightning Thief was out in the market. His work caught the public’s interest for creatively making mythology light and child-friendly.

                The humorous and adventure-filled novel was succeeded by four more installments to make up the whole series. After the Percy Jackson series, Riordan released a trilogy based on Egyptian mythology and named it The Kane Chronicles. The story revolves around the siblings, Carter and Sadie Kane who try to awake the Sun God Ra to fight against Apophis, the God of Chaos. At the same time that he was making The Kane Chronicles, he also made other installments for the Percy Jackson series in which Roman and Greek Mythology were fused into one. The latest series was entitled Heroes of Olympus where the story revolves around seven teenage demigods who were prophesied to save the world from destruction by defeating the earth deity, Gaea. The series already have four published books and the final installment is still in the making.  Just because of a bedtime story…

                All these fast-paced, humorous, modern-day mythologies surely grabbed the kids’ attention. Even adults enjoy his book series. Riordan’s works made mythology fascinating and child-friendly by writing it in a witty, light mood. The mythology fans out there will surely drool over these novels. Even the lazy readers will love to read them.