Review: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, or as I’ve come to know if ‘The lil’ Odyssey’ or ‘Clash of the Titans, Jr.’ is the story of a young man who finds out not only that all the mythologies he has learned are true, but that he is the son of Poseidon, God of the sea. From Medusa to Minotaur’s its all true and he himself is a demi-God. The real story begins when Zeus’ lightning bolt is stolen, Zeus believes Percy to be the thief and promises Poseidon a war of the Gods should the bolt not be returned by midnight on the summer solstice. Percy is then whisked away from his everyday life by his best friend/protector to a kind of summer camp for the offspring of the God’s where he is to train to accomplish his future quests and more immediately his quest to find the lightning thief. On his way to the camp the adventure starts early when he, Grover his protector, and his mother are attacked by a Minotaur whom Percy defeats but not before it captures his mother and delivers her to Hades, God of the underworld. Now Percy’s quest is twofold, rescue his mother from Hades and find the lightning thief. Helping him along the way are Grover, his protector who was watching Percy his whole life under the guise of his best friend…he also happens to be a satyr (Half man Half Goat)which they cleverly explain in the “real” world, and daughter of Athena and possibly Percy’s first divine crush.

As with all epic children’s movies in the last decade this film has drawn the “Will this be the next Harry Potter?” question. No, I will say it is not. That doesn’t mean this is a bad movie, quite the contrary actually…it’s just missing that special bit of magic (no pun intended) that the Potter series consistently delivers. I do love the way they used ancient mythology to tell the story and were very faithful to the original tales. They did not shy away from the violence of disturbing imagery necessary to fully tell the story they needed too for the sake of drawing a younger audience. This does make the movie less sugary sweet and more enjoyable than most kids films but bear the content in mind when making the choice to bring a young child. There are decapitations, dismembering and plenty of horrifying visuals for the little ones. The journey itself is fairly entertaining and brings you from Nashville to Mt. Olympus and quite literally to hell and back. They manage to include most of the major characters you would know including all of the major Gods as well as legendary villains like Medusa and an amazing battle inside a Parthenon with a gigantic Hydra! The CGI is heavy in the film but is done well and really does not stand out at any point. With a great ending battle and lots of fun in between there are many things to love about this film, but it is not without its flaws.

With fantasy films I really feel they have to go all in. There’s no blending of the real world with the fantasy world…there must be a solid line drawn between the two like the train ride in the Potter series or the Wardrobe in Narnia. This flick shows mythical creatures hidden in normal society and doorways to other dimensions in the most conspicuous of places. To me, something about doing it this way keeps you from being fully vested in the fantasy side of the story. Percy’s protector, Grover, is also a problem. He’s a good character and the actor himself does a fine job, it’s just that his dialogue really sucks, for lack of a more sophisticated term. They try to make him cool but end up using just about every urban cliché possible, his dialogue seemed more fit for one of the horrible parody movies like ‘Epic Movie’ or ‘Disaster Movie’ than a movie of this caliber. The only other real problem I could find with this movie was in the base of its story. The crux of the tale is Zeus’s accusation that Percy stole his bolt, but they never even attempt to try and explain this. Keep in mind that at this point in the film Percy knows nothing of his divine lineage, or that any of that stuff even exists…so why would Zeus point the finger at him, why would he be even the most remote of suspect? It’s just a really weird hole in the story that I’m surprised they didn’t address.

I always feel odd summing up a good movie right after listing all of its problems; it’s like punching someone in the head and then asking “Hey, we can still be buds, right?” But it’s important to know the good and the bad going into these things so I will take that bullet for you. Past the problems I mentioned, which really end up as minor annoyances in the viewing experience this was a great movie. Visually stunning, thoroughly entertaining, and hell maybe even slightly educational! I am very much looking forward to a sequel and hopefully a full on series. It may not have been ‘Harry Potter’ good but it definitely beats out others in its field like ‘Narnia’ and ‘The Golden Compass’. See this one in theaters, and if they are not easily frightened bring the little ones with you!