Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Movie Review
By: Sandwichjohn
The Lightning Thief is loosely based on the book of the same title. It is the first book of the series by Rick Riordan. If this film does well, which it looks like it will, then we can expect more of the series to appear in the theaters. The film is directed by Chris Columbus who also directed the first two Harry Potter films. This has led to many comparisons by critics to the Harry Potter films with Harry Potter coming out on top. I did not draw these same comparisons. While both movies deal with magic and magical creatures, they are based on two entirely different magic worlds.
Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is a pretty normal kid with academic issues until he is attacked by a Fury disguised as a substitute teacher while on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is saved by one of his teachers, Mr. Brunner (Pierce Brosnan), and his best friend, Grover (Brandon T. Jackson). He soon discovers he is the son of Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), which explains his ability to stay under water for 7 minutes. Zeus’s thunder bolt has been stolen and accuses Percy of being the thief. He has 14 days to return the thunder bolt to Zeus (Sean Bean) or there will be a war between the Gods. In order to help keep Percy safe he is taken to the Half Blood training camp where all of the demigods (half human, half god) are trained. While at camp he learns that his best friend is really his protector, a satyr (half human, half goat) and Mr. Brunner is a centaur named Chiron, and the camp's trainer. He also meets Luke Castellan (Jake Abel), the son of Hermes, and Annabeth Chase (Alexandra Daddario), the demigod daughter of Athena. Percy soon leaves on a quest to save his mother, finding the lightning bolt along the way, with Grover and Annabeth helping.
I have always been fascinated by Greek mythology and really liked how many characters out of the mythology where incorporated into the film. Now were they accurately portrayed? I honestly don’t remember that much of my Greek Mythology class from college to be able to answer that but I suspect not. Also learned that in Nashville, Tennessee there is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. I will have to check that out when I go the Nashville this year.
I was thoroughly entertained throughout the movie as was my viewing companion, my 7 year old daughter Aurora. There were some good action scenes and a couple cameos of well known stars, Uma Thurman was Medusa and Rosario Dawson was Persephone.
7.5 Sandwiches out of 10
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