As a long time fan of the books, I think I am willing to forgive more than a casual viewer, however I will try to be as objective as I can be. That being said, based on episode 1-4 I will first list some things that have to improve, and then things that are well done or (at least in my opinion) unfairly criticised.
What's bad:
What's great:
Unfair criticism:
Honestly, I get the feeling some people are criticising just for the sake of it. The child actors are doing a great job considering their age while filming. Especially Percy's actor is really good with emotions. It's nice to see their acting and chemnistry get better with each episode. Yes, in some scenes the performances are still a little wooden, but again, that's perfectly fine for the beginning (like in Harry Potter 1). Some reviews blamed the directing and dialogue for this, so maybe that's part of it. But personally I think maybe we are so used to having adult actors play teenagers that we can't cut actors who actually fit their roles agewise a little slack.
As for the characterizations, I'm not sure where the problem is. All 3 main characters are very close to the books. Percy is a little more angry, which goes along with the tone being darker than in the books (which makes it more realistic in my opinion). He's still sassy and funny though. I'm surpised that people find Annabeth too standoffish, when in the first part of the book, she's just the same. The show accurately depicts her as having trouble with coming across as warm and friendly although she is a good person (a little like Hermione in HP 1). She needs some time to warm up to others, which is already happening. I can't wait for episode 5 which will be somewhat of a turning point where Percy and Annabeth will grow closer and learn to trust each other more.
All in all, this adaptation is not perfect but made with a lot of love. It's a good start and I can't wait for the following seasons to build up on it. So @Disney: please renew PJO and give more runtime and budget. For the 2nd season we really need longer or more episodes and better action. Some book readers who are emotionally attached might forgive lack of action because of the characters' relationships and growth, but the casual viewers probably won't.
What's bad:
- Disney needs to allow the makers of the show to either make more episodes, or make the episodes longer. It's ridiculous to have some episodes lasting only 30 minutes but then cut out some scenes in other episodes because there was not enough time for them. I get that the company would not put too much money in a first season not knowing whether the project is going to take off, but on the other hand, for the project to take off you have to invest enough to make it good.
- more time and budget for longer and better action sequences. Often there is a good build-up to the fight, but then the actual fight is won (or lost) in 1 minute, which feels anticlimactic
- overall the editing and/or directing needs to be better. The black screens inbetween scenes are weird and disrupt the experience, and generally the flow of the show just feels a little awkward, not that smooth
What's great:
- the content is very close to what's in the book. Sure, some things are changed up a little, and some things are added, but mostly these changes enrich the story. The show puts more emphasis than the books on how egotistical and how neglectful the gods are of their children, and the effects this has on their children and generally their victims. The show uses the monsters we have seen so far to add more layers to this, and it's simply beautiful to discover parallels between different characters and see how much thought was put into this (for example, how both Medusa and Sally are victims of the same careless god, how Annabeth defends Athena from Medusa's accusations, only to become a victim of Athena's misogyny herself later on, or Echidna's and Sally's commentary on how a good parent helps their child to grow). I think the show does a good job at describing the unfairness of the gods actions, while not being too explicit for young children (for example, when Medusa calls herself a "survivor")
- the tone is a little darker and less silly than in the books, but personally I enjoy that. In fact, it doesn't surpise me too much, since this is a different medium, and when we see things acted out, the graveness of the situation is often perceived as more "grave" than when you read about it. Percy's mom "dies", the kids are all the time in danger, and their godly parents neglect them. If we would see that on screen through a silly sarcastic lense, the modern viewer would wonder why it's not taken as seriously.
Unfair criticism:
Honestly, I get the feeling some people are criticising just for the sake of it. The child actors are doing a great job considering their age while filming. Especially Percy's actor is really good with emotions. It's nice to see their acting and chemnistry get better with each episode. Yes, in some scenes the performances are still a little wooden, but again, that's perfectly fine for the beginning (like in Harry Potter 1). Some reviews blamed the directing and dialogue for this, so maybe that's part of it. But personally I think maybe we are so used to having adult actors play teenagers that we can't cut actors who actually fit their roles agewise a little slack.
As for the characterizations, I'm not sure where the problem is. All 3 main characters are very close to the books. Percy is a little more angry, which goes along with the tone being darker than in the books (which makes it more realistic in my opinion). He's still sassy and funny though. I'm surpised that people find Annabeth too standoffish, when in the first part of the book, she's just the same. The show accurately depicts her as having trouble with coming across as warm and friendly although she is a good person (a little like Hermione in HP 1). She needs some time to warm up to others, which is already happening. I can't wait for episode 5 which will be somewhat of a turning point where Percy and Annabeth will grow closer and learn to trust each other more.
All in all, this adaptation is not perfect but made with a lot of love. It's a good start and I can't wait for the following seasons to build up on it. So @Disney: please renew PJO and give more runtime and budget. For the 2nd season we really need longer or more episodes and better action. Some book readers who are emotionally attached might forgive lack of action because of the characters' relationships and growth, but the casual viewers probably won't.