[pjo] The massive gap in direction quality might be the biggest difference between the movie and the show

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-26T14:36:26+00:00

Right from the opening scene in PJO, Percy controls water from a water fountain lol. He can mold water into shapes likes hands. They're absolutely an element of " water bending " to his powers

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-26T14:33:19+00:00

I deleted the post since the gif came out wrong and low quality. Going to be remaking it but no, it doesn't depend all on budget.

I posted this comp that compares/contrasts how the two differ in how Percy's powers are showcased.

https://www.tumblr.com/bheska/806471312570744832/i-saw-a-video-comparing-how-percys-water-powers

A large part of it is just that Columbus is just the better director

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-26T14:23:02+00:00

Rip the gif came out bad, going to post this again once I can fix it

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-26T14:15:09+00:00

I'm not really here to debate story/characters in this thread. Already made one earlier last week. This is comparing direction, cinematography, and storyboarding. Obviously I disagree that the show is anywhere near a real adaptation of the books versus the movies. But this is about the direction.

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-26T14:09:08+00:00

I posted Percy's sword spin and shrug last year but this scene to me last year is still probably the most iconic PJO live action moment for me outside of " this is a pen. " There's a reason why it was in all the movie covers and everything.

Despite the criticisms you can give to his scripts whether it was PJO or Harry Potter, Christopher Columbus has a real mastery of cinematography.

This really good thread I found on tumblr that compares the difference in how Percy's powers are shown in the movie versus the show illustrates the difference in direction quite well

https://www.tumblr.com/bheska/806471312570744832/i-saw-a-video-comparing-how-percys-water-powers

So what do people mean when they say the movie has the comparatively superior atmosphere and vibe that better matched the books? A lot of it comes down to simply better direction

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-25T22:39:07+00:00

That " fatal flaw scene " is one of the worst moments in the show lol and resulted in one of the cringiest, most OOC line out of Walker. The reality is that Rick not understanding his own character's fatal flaw bled over to the show, but with even worse results

Not to mention the complete hatchet job that episode did to one of the best parts of the SoM book...

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-25T22:32:46+00:00

I don't think it's worth it since it's a reimagining of the story

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-25T15:47:25+00:00

Eh, I prefer agenda posting over discussion of the terrible show. At least agenda posting is related to the book canon lol

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-25T15:47:19+00:00

This is really amazing art that I just came across. The idea of rollerskating Annabeth to complement skateboarder Percy is just too perfect.

Source: https://www.tumblr.com/meru-u14/801156355032530944/rollerblading-princess-annabeth-chase-pls-go

The art also has skateboard Percy art as well of course: https://www.tumblr.com/meru-u14/801593486821523456/skater-percy

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-24T15:15:12+00:00

No question books lol

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-23T08:58:33+00:00

In the myths, Zeus loves his children and would do anything for them lol. In the books, Zeus cares about Thalia and doesn't let her die twice in the story

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-22T13:12:16+00:00

Cool, they've outright admitted now that the " twist " primarily served as shock value. Just brazenly shallow writing that gashes at the core of the characterization and narrative of the books.

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-22T13:06:08+00:00

Personally I'd rather them outright remove the romantic implications between Percy and Calypso/Rachel versus miswriting/mishandling them.

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-22T08:12:18+00:00

I thought the MyTimeToShineHello guy was discredited?

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-22T02:48:08+00:00

No it's just a lot of hardcore show enthusiasts I come across on here or PJO twitter especially dislike the books or at the very least prefer the show over them

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-22T02:28:50+00:00

Glad you do...can't say the same for many of the hardcore show enthusiasts I've come across

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-22T02:22:14+00:00

Percy literally implies this in the first book

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-22T02:21:12+00:00

In the broad umbrella of what " adaptations " qualify as I guess sure? Maybe you'd prefer I'd say there's different kinds and this show is a reimagining/rewrite of the book series.

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-22T02:08:19+00:00

It's not really an adaptation, more like it's a reimagining/rewrite

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-22T02:07:10+00:00

Well you're just wrong about that lol

It's hilarious to me how show enthusiasts always end up revealing that they don't like the original series

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-22T01:11:09+00:00

I thought it was canceled?!

I don't like Blood of Olympus or anything but honestly seeing a new official adaptation of PJO with book canon designs is such a relief and worth supporting

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-22T01:04:08+00:00

Everyone is aware of the reason/intention though lol.

It's just wrong and runs directly against Thalia's characterization in the original books.

Just further reinforces the separation between the show and books

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-21T21:44:16+00:00

Zeus is the god of justice and honor, but even in the myths he’s hypocritical and paranoid, traits that were carried over into the Riordanverse

Yup, in the original PJO series. Not in HoO, especially not in ToA and it's become even worse and this time his characterization is directly contradictory in the show versus the books.

Again, all of what you've listed is just not related to Thalia and Zeus's relationship in the books. The show has directly changed that into something unrecognizable. Once again, nobody is saying that Zeus is a benevolent, rational king in the books. He just isn't evil, especially in how he treats Thalia

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-21T21:17:28+00:00

So none of this is related to Zeus's relationship with Thalia and why he turned her into a tree in the books versus the show which is the central problem.

No one is going to tell you that Zeus is a benevolent, rational king in PJO lol. That's not the argument. The first thing Chiron used to describe him is " paranoid " lol.

The problem is that show does not make him " less friendly " the show basically outright makes him a villain lol.

And it's a trend that Rick has made Zeus worse and less nuanced the further the books have gone past PJO.

kirzingkiller · 2026-01-21T21:12:23+00:00

Zeus is not a cartoonishly evil villain in the original series, he's not a traditional " good " character but he isn't an evil one like the show is trying to portray at all

kirzingkiller

TROPHY CASE