Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief – Review

Movies adapted from young adult and children’s books are nothing new. Over the last few years Hollywood has snatched up as many options as it could in hopes of recapturing the rabid fandom that came with franchises like Harry Potter and Twilight (vampires don’t sparkle). Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief might not draw the crowds that of the previously mentioned flicks, but it offers up something that a lot of flicks don’t, a good time at the movies.

Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) finds out that he’s a half breed child of the God Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) or demi-God if you’r one of those politically correct types, after Zeus (Sean Bean) accuses him of stealing his lightning bolt. The awesome weapon wielded by the God of Gods. Knowing that he didn’t steal the bolt and feeling a little cheated that his pops never hung around to play catch with him, Percy sets out on a quest to find the real lightning thief, and plead his case to Zeus himself.

I’m a sucker for Greek Mythology. I love all the different Gods with all their different personalities and character flaws. I find it interesting that these Gods got jealous, angry, and even horny. I also enjoy a good quest movie (when said movies doesn’t focus on walking the entire time). Percy Jackson has everything I mentioned above, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Of course no one can embark on a quest alone, well you can embark alone, but sooner or later you must be joined by others that support your cause or just want in on some action (I’m pretty sure this is a rule in the quest handbook). So, because director Chris Columbus knows the rules he waved his director’s wand and added a few friends to help Percy achieve his goals. Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) a guy that’s half man and half goat and is also Percy’s protector (junior protector) goes along for the ride as does uber-hottie Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario).

I enjoyed the fun pacing, along with the new twists on old mythology. All of the actors are solid and Alexandra is yummy. There’s also a host of amazing actors that round out the cast including, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Joe Pantoliano, and Uma Thurman. In fact one of my only complaints is that many of these stellar actors were underutilized.

If you watched the trailer and you decided that you’d be cool and hate it because it isn’t artsy enough, or because it was based on a children’s book, then this flick isn’t for you. On the other hand if your open enough to just enjoy a flick for what it is and let your self have a great time at the movies, then this flick is definitely for you, because Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is positively a killer film.

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