I feel like it was just Harry Potter with half the magic and originality. I never read the books but they were huge sellers when I worked at B&N, so they must've been pretty good. I thought it had it's funny parts but the monsters were a little on the scary side. I was worried about my nephew (he's a fraidy cat) but that fury scared the crap out of me. He was fine.
My dad wanted to come along as well.
The reviews mostly say that the cast was great, it was just the movie itself that wasn't great. Uma Thurman did a great job, it's hard to make people pay attention to you and not all the snakes around your head, so she was able to command a lot of attention. The mom was meh, but Persephone was funny. My dad giggled like a freakin' schoolboy at every joke she made, but I think it was that black bustier that had him smiling more than anything.
After the movie, I showed my mom a YT clip of her part (I like Rosario Dawson) and my dad walked in, looked at the screen, and IMMEDIATELY started giggling. Not laughing like a grown man, but seriously giggling. At least somebody enjoyed the movie.
HOWEVER, why was Persephone with Hades at the summer solstice? The myth reads that she stays there during winter; it doesn't make sense for her to be there in June. That peeved me more than the other missteps because it was the most obvious.