Book to Movie

Let me begin the post by saying I love the idea of taking books and turning them into movies. In theory it would give extended life to the story, plot and characters. The problem lies when Hollywood's reproduction does not follow the storyline of the book.

A few months ago I viewed a movie tailor for the motion picture Percy Jackson and the Olympians The Lightning Thief. It looked like an exciting adventure. When I discovered that it was first a book, I decided to read the book prior to watching the movie. I like to read the book first, because, obviously, the author's tale was the inspiration behind the movie to begin with. I purchased the book, thinking my future students might enjoy it as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mr Riordan's masterpiece. The book was unpredictable and held twists and turns in the plot that kept me up one night long past the time I normally retire. I liked how I got to grow with Percy and learn things about the half-bloods as he did. I will not give away the plot line to anyone who has not read it, but it is certainly worth reading.

The movie, in itself, was a good movie. The problem was when it did not follow the storyline of the novel. The basic idea of the book was present in the movie, but the plotline and events that led to the ending were scarce. A couple of funny parts that were present in the novel were left out, and multiple fights were left out. Some characters (important ones at that) were left out of the movie. It almost appears as if the filmmakers asked a forgetful person who had read the book what it was about, and wrote the script on that, rather than the novel. Needless to say, I was disappointed with the movie.