Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief is a new film from director Chris Columbus (first 2 Harry Potter movies, RENT, Adventures In Babysitting) and writer Craig Titley (Cheaper by the Dozen) based on the bookby Rick Riordan. It is the first part of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

 

The film is about a teenager who discovers he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon and that he himself is half-god.  His entire life is changed by this discovery, also Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen and Zeus thinks Percy is to blame.  If the bolt is not recovered in a few days the gods will all go to war and it will change everyone’s life as they know it.  He’s brought to a camp for demi-gods and sets out to find his mother, who has been taken by Hades, and clear his name.  He’s joined by his protector (Brandon T. Jackson) and Athena’s daughter Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario).  Along the way to the underworld they run into some other Greek figures like Medusa.

 

I sort of watched this movie because I really didn’t have anything better to do and it didn’t look horrible.  I wound up pleasantly surprised.  I’m still mad at Chris Columbus for ruining RENT so I will just skip by him.  I hadn’t read this book, which looking at Amazon descriptions seems to be aimed at children/young adults, generally the Harry Potter crowd (although I’d say some of those books went way out of any “young adult” range).  The movie to me seemed suitable for any age, there’s some mild violence but no gore.  Probably the first thing that struck me though was the opening credits.  Particularly the names contained within.  This movie is filled wall to wall with great actors with familiar faces.  Let me run down a quick list:

 

• Catherine Keener as Percy’s mom
• Joe Pantoliano as Percy’s stepfather
• Pierce Brosnan as a teacher
• Steve Coogan as Hades
• Rosario Dawson as Persephone
• Melina Kanakaredes as Athena
• Kevin McKidd as Poseidon
• Uma Thurman as Medusa

 

There’s more too.  But that’s some list of talent, and all unadvertised.  I’m sure most of them did it for a quick, easy paycheck (most of these parts probably required more than no more than a day or two of work) or for their children, but damn I was shocked.  As for the rest of the cast, the most recognizable is the very adult (so your thoughts aren’t that dirty) Alexandra Daddario, who plays Annabeth, Athena’s daughter and Percy’s love interest.  You’ve probably seen her in the show White Collar or in The Babysitters.  She is also one of the highlights of the main cast with some impressive acting chops.  As for Percy himself, he’s played by Logan Lerman who does a pretty good job handling a titular character.

 

Even without the massive load of talented actors (Steve Coogan & Rosario Dawson really stand out in their scene together which is pretty hilarious), the plot is interesting and keeps you watching.  I was very quickly drawn into the story and I didn’t even care that they weren’t looking for the actual lightning thief (the thought passed through my mind many times however).  In fact the reveal of the thief actually surprised me, although this may have been due to me watching this while half asleep.

 

 

There’s also some really great effects work.  A lot of fire and water effects, some great stuff with Medusa turning people to stone, and my favorite was the way Hades was rendered in one particular scene as a massive fiery version of an almost classic devil.  Clearly a lot of care was taken to make this movie and obviously it is meant to be a series, since there are 4 more books and the did include “The Lightning Thief” in the title, indicating there would be more than one “Percy Jackson & The Olympians”.  I am actually very shocked this was dumped with a Presidents Day release and not held as a big summer event movie, it could have easily done well there.  I actually do hope they make at least one more of these as this one was so enjoyable.  Also even though it is meant to be part of a series the movie had a definite end to it.  There were no cliffhangers or strings left dangling.  You felt like you had a complete experience.

 

Although it does carry a bit of a hefty running time for a movie aimed at a primarily younger audience at 2 hours, I highly recommend this as a film to take the whole family to.  Adults and children of all ages will find something to like, and if you’re just aching for the next Harry Potter installation this will more than tide you over.  So click the Fandango link above or below and buy your tickets now.

 

You can also pick up the audiobook over at Audible:

 

Or pick the regular book up over at Amazon