It's the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and some assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson's Greek mythology texts and into his life.
And they're not happy. Zeus' lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy's mother.
As Percy adapts to his newly-discovered status as a demigod (his father is
Poseidon), he finds himself caught between the battling titans of Mount Olympus.
He and his friends embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true
lightning thief, save Percy's mom and unravel a mystery more powerful than the
gods themselves.
The heroic demigods in "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,"
based on the fantasy books of Rick Riordan, look and act just like average
American teenagers. This serves as the source of both the movie's goofiness and
much of its considerable charm. Although much can be attributed to the Harry
Potter movie formula, including the title, "The Lightning Thief" does stand out.
The mixture of humor and action feels much better to me than in the Harry Potter
series.
I expected to be disappointed since this is somewhat of an middle road between
the first "Clash of the Titans" and the upcoming new version of the same title,
but wasn't.
As each demigod is introduced, I could only smile and remember what I learned
about Greek mythology in high school.
More interesting than the demigods were the other fantastic creatures of
mythology that played their own roles in the story development. Percy's humorous
protector, Grover the Satyr (half man half goat), played by Detroit native
Brandon T. Jackson, is hilarious as well as a believable sidekick. His
wheelchair-bound teacher is, in fact, a Centaur (half man half horse) played by
Pierce Brosnan, who helps train Percy for the inevitable battle that ensues.
Of the many beasts and obstacles Percy has to overcome, Medusa (Uma Thurman),
the cursed half-woman half-serpent, is one of them. Medusa's ability to turn
anyone who looks into her eyes to stone makes her a formidable adversary, and,
eventually, an unwilling ally.
It was a shame that Rosario Dawson as Persephone, the captive wife of Hades, had
such a small role. The same holds true for Pierce Brosnan and Joe Pantaliano,
who played Percy's pseudo-father figure.
Some aspects of this one may be a little too much for very young kids. However,
I found it quite fun to watch.
3 Buckets
