Review: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

The Greek and Roman mythologies were a favorite subject of mine back in school. I took quickly to the stories of mythic heroes and the gods who manipulated them. Even though the bulk of my reading material nowadays involves guys 'n gals in tight spandex, I still take time to read the adventures of Hercules, Perseus, and others on occasion. Despite it's insufferably long title, Percy Jackson is a quick, fun romp through Greek myth transported into the modern age. While it may look like just another Harry Potter ripoff, Percy Jackson makes a strong bid to stand on it's own, out shining the first two Potter films by leaps and bounds.

Dig a little too deeply into the plot and you might start to notice a few cracks in the shield. Percy Jackson(Logan Lerman) is a regular teenager, or so he thinks. He doesn't know that his mom(Catherine Keener) had a fling with a god. No, not some strapping young Brazilian supermodel. An actual god. Poseidon, in this case, Greek god of water. That makes Percy a demigod. Half human, half god. This is all kept a mystery from him, until he starts getting attacked monsters. Percy discovers that his teacher(Pierce Brosnan) is a centaur warrior. His best friend, Grover(Brandon T. Jackson), is actually a satyr and Percy's protector.

The question is why is Percy suddenly ducking from flying harpies and being run down by minotaurs? Someone has gone and stolen Zeus's(Sean Bean) thunder...or should I say his lightning bolt. For some ungodly reason, he thinks Percy did it. This part of the plot makes about as much sense as teets on a bull. Percy is whisked off to a camp for demigods to learn to become a warrior. There's an awful lot of demigods hanging around there, too. I wonder if they all think their parents are awesome. They can't all  have been Zeus..or Hermes...or Poseidon. I'm sure there's a Pan mixed in there somewhere. Percy and his newfound companions, including the daughter of Athena, venture off to prove his innocence by venturing to hell to confront Hades(Steve Coogan).

Director Chris Columbus helmed the first two Harry Potter films. The two least acclaimed, least interesting, least magical of the bunch. Columbus does a decent job playing with the premise, and making the idea of gods walking around among us somewhat plausible and enjoyable. However he lacks any sortof visual flair. It's the same thing that hamstrung Potter. I'd kill to see what this film could've looked like under the guidance of a more imaginative director.

Despite him, I was completely engrossed by every facet of the story. The warriors' quest has them running into classic Greek creatures, such as Medusa and her reptilian locks. Uma Thurman plays her, hiding her stoney gaze behind a pair of cool sunglasses. The three run into a Hydra, located at the Parthenon replica in Nashville, TN. Las Vegas turns out to be one big hallucinogenic trap created by Lotus Eaters. It's clever stuff, and a lot of fun to play around with. In particular, I like the natural rivalry that's set up between the neglectful older gods and their youthful, disenchanted offspring. It's similar to when Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon overthrew their own parent gods. There's a wealth of potential in that idea.

Kids might get spooked by some of the monsters, in particular Medusa, but the violence isn't too bad. If they can handle all the Killing Curses thrown around in Harry Potter, they can handle this.

It might take some time for Percy Jackson to claim the crown in the ever growing field of young adult fantasy films, if it even happens at all, but at this stage of the game I'll take the half god over the half-blood prince.