REVIEW: ‘Percy Jackson And The Olympians: The Lightning Thief’

Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series will suffer comparisons to the 800-pound gorilla in youth fiction, the “Harry Potter” series. The content isn’t all that similar – where Potter is a tale of wizards and witches in training, Percy Jackson and his friends are demigods, the result of Olympian gods “hooking up” with humans. Still, both book series have a legion of devout followers, and now both have a movie series. The first book in Percy’s saga, “The Lightning Thief” has a solid first movie to accompany it, directed by Chris Columbus, who knows a thing or two about directing these sorts of movies.

In “The Lightning Thief,” Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) discovers that the reason he feels he doesn’t fit in with the other kids in school is his heritage: his mother (Catherine Keener) had a torrid affair with Poseidon, and he’s one of the few sons of “the Big Three” Olympians. Percy is framed for the theft of Zeus’ prized weapon, The Lightning Bolt, and must recover the weapon to clear his name. His mother is kidnapped by Hades (Steve Coogan) and demanding the Bolt in return for her life. Zeus (Sean Bean) sets a deadline of the Summer Solstice for the return of the Bolt, or war will break out between the gods that will decimate the Earth.

Columbus’ work directing the first two movies for the Harry Potter series have prepared him for the arduous task of introducing a pantheon of characters, establishing their traits and conflicts, and making room for a solid introductory conflict. The Percy Jackson world is a little bit easier to digest than that of Hogwarts: it’s a contemporary take on the Greek mythologies, keeping the rivalries and powers intact for a modern audience. When Percy and his friends have to face off against Medusa (Uma Thurman), he uses the metal back of an iPod to look at her without getting turned to stone.

Though it holds up better than “The Sorcerer’s Stone,” “The Lightning Thief” has some problems with pacing through the middle acts of the movie. It seems like bits of scenes are missing throughout the movie, likely hacked as much as possible to make room for a theatrical run of two hours (and setting the expectation for a beefier DVD release.)

The cast is all likable, especially the trio of heroes. Logan Lerman has a great future ahead of him in Hollywood, and he has a great female foil with Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth (a daughter of Athena). Brandon T. Jackson is a gas as Percy’s protector, a satyr named Grover.

Since the movie is aimed at the same youth market that made Harry Potter a billion-dollar property at Warner Brothers, the main concern is getting kids to like, and understand, the movie. No concerns there: the plot moves fast, but has easily-digestible parts to it. At the same time, parents shouldn’t worry about being dragged to the movie (it’s entertaining enough for all ages) or what their kids will see on the screen (the action is tame enough as not to be offensive for delicate sensibilities).

Even though it has its flaws, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” is a solid series debut, and a fun movie for most age groups.