Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief (2010)

Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief tells the story of Percy Jackson (Lerman), a regular kid struggling with dyslexia and ADHD. Soon enough, though, Percy discovers that his “disabilities” are really because he isn’t a regular kid – he is a demigod, borne of Poseidon, Greek god of the sea, and a mortal woman. And never mind that he just found out that he is the son of a god – Percy is also being hunted, accused of stealing Zeus’ lightning, the most powerful weapon in the world. If not returned, this could lead to a war between the Greek gods and the end of the world as we know it.

In the tradition of the old Greek stories, Percy is accompanied by his guardian satyr/best friend Grover (Jackson), and the demigoddess Annabeth (Daddario) in his quest to not only save the world by appeasing the angry Zeus and finding “the lightning thief,” but also to save his human mother from the clutches of Hades, god of the underworld.

Percy Jackson is a fun, modern take on the myths of old. I’m a sucker for Greek mythology, and it was fun to see how the filmmakers transplanted some of the tales into modern day America, including some lesser known myths. Of course, it’s not only the gods that are present – creatures and other characters of the myths make appearances, including a harpy, a minotaur, the wise centaur Chiron, and the gorgon Medusa (played splendidly by Uma Thurman, channeling her inner Poison Ivy), among others.

Director Chris Columbus, the director of various kids’ classics such as Gremlins and Home Alone, brings his experience in directing the first two Harry Potter films into this new book-based fantasy franchise. Unfortunately, Percy Jackson also suffers a bit from his pacing, which, like on his work in Potters 1 and 2, can be a little off. The transitions between scenes could have used some better fine-tuning too.

The movie is saved because aside from excellent visual effects, it sports decent acting from the young leads, despite the direction and sometimes-forced script. Most impressive were Logan Lerman (who also impressed me as Christian Bale’s son in the 2007 remake of 3:10 To Yuma) and Brandon T. Jackson, as Percy and Grover, whose onscreen chemistry is great. Jake Abel and Alexandra Daddario, as the other main demigods, were decent, but not “wow.” The adult actors, on the other hand, seemed to have a ton of fun with their roles and scripts (sometimes a little too much fun – “I dated your daddy!” – Medusa), and while there were some initial shocks regarding the casting (in a good way), they played out nicely enough.

Percy Jackson is far from perfect, but is an enjoyable film for kids, and will probably make enough to merit a sequel (and yes, I’m looking forward to it). It’s not as good as the Potter films (and those aren’t even the best fantasy sagas), but will certainly get some more people to brush up on their Greek mythology in anticipation for the sequel, and most probably in anticipation to read the novels. A lot of other franchises could certainly do worse.