Hello, my name’s Luca and I’m a 12-year-old boy. I went to see Darren Shan: Cirque du Freak The Vampire’s Assistant last year and I saw the preview of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief last week. Because I read both the books and thought they were very good I thought I would like the movies.
Originally I liked Darren Shan more than Percy Jackson, but then I saw the movie. In the Darren Shan movie they completely changed the plot and made it much worse than the book. Originally Darren Shan was 12, like me, but in the movie they made him a snot-nosed 16-year-old boy. And what was even more annoying was that in the movie he was an AMERICAN!! And another really silly thing about Darren Shan was that they cast John C Reilly as a really serious vampire, which was idiotic because when I see John C Reilly in a movie I expect him to make me laugh, like in Stepbrothers. And he didn’t.
In Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief they also changed the plot a bit, but they changed it for the best. They had amazing fight scenes with all the original myth monsters like the Hydra and Medusa – and they kept his nationality right. And they also kept his best friend and protector Grover disabled and Percy still had ADHD and dyslexia which was really important to the story. They did make Percy a bit older than he was in the book, but it was more believable and you’ll understand why he had to be older when you see the film.
So what I’m trying to say is if you want to go and see Darren Shan, read the book instead. But if you want to see Percy Jackson do both, because the book AND the film are both amazing.
And if you want to see an exciting movie with monsters, mayhem and good acting (unlike Darren Shan!) this half-term I’d suggest you go and see Percy Jackson.
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, based on the novel by Rick Riordan, goes on general release from Friday 12th February.
i totally agree about darren shan i have read all 12 of them im a 12 yr old girl but i was disapointed by the film and agree with luca the books are AMAZING THOUGH!! XOXOXOX im reading all 12 again and i too wish it was an english film
x
I liked the darren shan movie, but i don’t like how much they changed it so i must also agree with luca, but what i really want to see is Darren Shan meets Percy Jackson, that would be the best
and i’m happy they made Darren american, not as happy as i would have been if he was canadian, but whatever
the movie to me it seems that it goes almost nothing like the books. i wish the movies were more like the books. i also agree with luca.