Greek Mythology has given Hollywood filmmakers some great ideas to build exciting films. Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, (the 1981 and soon to be the 2010 remake) The Odyssey. The list of course goes on and on. So a film based on the novel, Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief takes an idea of Greek Mythology and attempts to capture a younger audience. The film is directed by Chris Columbus and the screenplay is by Craig Titley. The cast includes Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Jake Abel, Pierce Brosnan, and Uma Thurman.
The plot of the film involves king of the Greek gods, Zeus (Bean) accusing the son of Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) of stealing is most powerful weapon, his lightning bolt. Now Poseidon son has 14 days to return the bolt before the summer solstice or there will be a war between the gods that would spill onto the earth. Cut to teenager Percy Jackson, (Lerman) who is living a typical life of high school and putting up with a deadbeat step father, Gabe (Joe Pantoliano) He hangs out with his best friend, Grover (Jackson). One day while on a field trip, he discover that he can be able to read the Greek letters on an exhibit. His discovery is cut short when he is attacked by a monster from ancient mythology, accusing him of stealing the lightning bolt.
Grover and his teacher pulls him out of the museum and leads him to a secret camp for demigods, half human, half gods where they trained to hone in their powers; but this is not without Percy's mother being capture by one of the hades minions and is held prisoner in hell. Now it is a race against time as Percy hurries to find the lightning bolt of Zeus, clear his name, and rescue his mother before the summer solstice or the earth is be destroyed by war.
While the idea of a Greek mythology film for kids sounds like a great concept, after viewing this movie, I have to say that this one failed in execution. One thing that I did dislike was the fact that within the first half hour, you will know who actually stole the lightning bolt (not spoiling the ending, but for avid movie goers, the plot is very easy to see through). Plus, throughout the film, Jackson faces many monsters of the film who are searching for the bolt, including Medusa (Thurman) a hydra, and various minions of Hades. Each time, there encounter him, there sound off the same thing, "Where is the lightning bolt?" I may be digressing on this one, but on what grounds do they have that Percy really did steal the thing? I mean for all we may know, Hades could have taken it, but know one is saying that he did it. Even Zeus in the beginning of the film is labeling Percy Jackson as guilty, but know one seems to be challenging the king of the gods on what grounds that Percy really did do it.
The acting throughout the film is mediocre at best. This one was intended as a family film, so it succeeds by having a balance amount of action and suspense, with more than enough one liner's inserted throughout the film, and an occasional fact of Greek mythology inserted to keep the film educational. I wouldn't be surprise seeing this one on ABC family one is theatrical and DVD releases are over. Bottom line, if you haven't seen it yet and are curious on what it may be like, you may be better off waiting to see it on DVD as a rental or even at a dollar theater if it's already on it's second run.
Final Verdict: 2 out of 5 stars.
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