Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
February 15, 2010 by admin
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The much anticipated “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” was released this weekend and for most the movie was enjoyable but strayed away from the novel.
Rating: 
The movie is adapted from the first book in Rick Riordan‘s fantasy series about a troubled kid who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon.
Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) lives with his mom, Jessie (Catherine Keener), and step dad in a low income neighborhood. Percy also has a good friend, Grover (Brandon T. Jackson), who is his sidekick. It is during a trip at the museum that Percy discovers that he is a demi-god, half man and half god as his mother had an affair with a god, Poseidon (Kevin McKidd). Percy also finds out that Zeus (Sean Bean) suspects him of having stolen the Lightning Bolt and has set a deadline for Percy to return it.
Flanked with his pal Grover and a demi God, Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), daughter of Athena, whom he meets at a special camp for Demi-Gods, Percy sets out on a quest to free his mother who has been kidnapped by Hades (Steve Coogan) who also wants the lightning bolt and is holding her as a hostage in the Underworld.
The film strays from the books in ways that some may find annoying. It does, however, seem to be a the strongest candidate to takeover for Harry Potter when that book-to-film franchise ends in 2011. It was hard not to pick up on the similarities. Both Percy and Harry sense that they are a little different even before their hidden lineages are revealed. Both grow up with abusive relatives though Percy only has to deal with his slob of a stepfather (Joe Pantoliano) while Harry gets the full aggravation of his entire household. Both are whisked away to an enchanted place where they can hone their amazing skills with other specially powered youths like them. Harry is the son of a great wizard while Percy is the offspring of the God of Oceans so both are revered as “chosen ones” amongst their peers.
Other reviews for this film are as follows:
Chicago Tribune — Percy, who has dyslexia and attention-deficit challenges, has been bumped up in age from 12 to 17. That’s too bad, I think: This is an adolescent’s odyssey. The movie, which of course owes a lot to Harry Potter and company, won’t ruin anybody’s life. But even with all its computer-generated fireballs, it’s lukewarm medium-budget blockbustering.
Los Angeles Times — The problem, though 10-year-old boys might disagree, is not so much that the “Lightning Thief” team has eliminated or changed numerous key plot points and scenes, but that it has done it without any particular grace or skill. This is generic film making at its most banal, a simple-minded simplification of a not overwhelmingly complex book.
New York Times — The movie, in which virginal teenagers do battle with fire-belching monsters, belongs to the same family-friendly genre as the “National Treasure” films. Although the standard allegorical bases for mythical-quest movies are dutifully covered, the obvious similarity of “Percy Jackson” to the Harry Potter movies inevitably makes it feel somewhat secondhand.
Washington Post — Percy’s sense of humor, as realized by Riordan, was a sardonic delight. And Percy’s literary adventures, while they could at times be violent, were always tempered with narrative wit. … But the movie suffers by taking itself a little too seriously. It’s not just that it’s a lot less funny than the book. It’s also a lot less fun.
Variety — In the book, Riordan went to great lengths to imagine contempo roles for key figures of Greek mythology, though screenwriter Craig Titley largely avoids the notion that clues to the gods’ ongoing presence exist right under our noses. … Action movies of this scale often start off strong and wind down to forgettable finales, but “Percy Jackson” is the opposite, overcoming a clunky setup to deliver nearly all its thrills in the last half-hour.
Arizona Republic — “Percy Jackson” isn’t a great movie, but it’s a good one, trotting out kernels of Greek mythology like so many Disney Channel references. For the most part, it works. And [Logan] Lerman’s a likable-enough fellow as he goes from high-school nobody to world-saving demigod hero.
Associated Press — The trouble with this return to youth fantasy by director Chris Columbus, who made the first two “Harry Potter” flicks, is that it’s more a list of ingredients than a movie-magic potion to enjoy from start to finish. … For every worthwhile moment in this adventure about modern teen heroes bred by the Olympian gods, there’s a clunker that merely fills up time, or worse, wastes it.
Here is the trailer:
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