Percy Jackson creator Rick Riordan has more or less disowned the 2010 big-screen retelling of his bestselling YA (Young Adult) series of fantasy novels. That is a shame, as it also means washing his hands of Pierce Brosnan camping it up as a centaur from Greek mythology going about his business disguised as a teacher.
Disney’s television adaptation, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, while more faithful to the books, lacks comparable thrills and is ultimately too slick and lightweight to leave much of an impression.
As series two (Disney+ from Thursday) comes around, Walker Scobell’s Percy – secret son of the god Poseidon – is back living in New York, where he has acquired a Cyclops stepbrother (Daniel Diemer). Magic ensures that the one-eyed goliath looks perfectly normal to the rest of the world.
But, still, there is trouble ahead. Evil Titan Kronos wants to wipe away Camp Halfblood – a sort of classic mythology Hogwarts, without the Quidditch or the novelty Irish characters who like to blow things up.
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The only way to stop him is to retrieve the legendary golden fleece. Sadly, problems arise when Percy’s old mentor, Chiron (Brosnan in the film and here played by Glynn Turman), instructs our hero’s friend, Annabeth (Leah Jeffries), to undertake the mission on her own.
But as she mulls over whether to let Percy in on her big secret, there is time for an expensive set piece. This takes the form of a chariot race around Camp Halfblood featuring lashings of computer-generated effects and zero tension.
Much like the Harry Potter movies, each season of Percy Jackson (Disney has greenlit three to date) is based on one of Riordan’s novels. In this case, it is the second in the series, Sea of Monsters.
Riordan is also an executive producer. Not surprisingly, the story closely follows the book’s plot – though this obsessive faithfulness arguably contributes to the stilted pace. You are never not aware that you are watching the adaptation of a cherished novel.
YA was all the rage in publishing when the first Percy Jackson novel was released 20 years ago. But the zeitgeist has moved on, and the hot new genre of Romantasy has lately eclipsed YA. Perhaps that is why this latest portion of Percy feels so behind the times.
The characters are unengaging, with Scobell coming across less like a potential saviour of humanity than an understudy for Malcolm in the Middle. The special effects are uninspired. And the attempts to repackage Greek mythology for Gen Z are forced and unengaging.
Two decades ago, all of this was no doubt zippy and new. But in 2025, it feels like Harry Potter for bored Marvel fans. You wonder whether Disney’s $15 million (€12.8 million) per episode gamble on the property is even close to paying off.
