Movie review ? Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
Movie review ? Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
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Percy Jackson has the unfortunate pleasure of being compared to Harry Potter. The coincidences are many. They are both different takes of the monomyth or the hero’s journey that takes place in so many other stories such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and The Matrix. Complicating matters for the new Percy Jackson films is the fact that the director of the first two Harry Potter films, Chris Columbus, serves as the director of this latest film. The film may not reach the emotional heights of the Potter series, but it provides ample enough escapism for the average theater going young man.
When we first meet Percy Jackson, he is a bored young man in a New York City high school with a best friend, Grover, and a mother who has a boyfriend who treats her like trash. He has the ability to stay underwater for inhuman lengths of time. On a trip to a history museum he learns about the Greek gods, and in the middle of learning is dragged away by another teacher. Through a quick series of events we learn that Percy is a demigod who is the son of one of the “big three” Greek gods, Poseidon. Unfortunately for Percy, there is a war brewing at Mount Olympus, and many think him responsible for the event that caused it. Zeus’ master bolt, a devastating weapon only wielded by the king of the gods, is missing, and the gods believe Percy responsible. Percy must go to Camp Half Blood and learn how to survive on a quest to get Zeus’ bolt back, and avoid a war of the gods.
Many fans might be disappointed by the changes in the series. Percy has been moved from a 12 year old to a 17 year old boy to garner favor with a wider audience. Much of the story has been streamlined to present the minimum amount of exposition, and the maximum amount of action. The film barrels along at a break neck pace, and really doesn’t let up til very close to the end. Normally this might unnerve me a bit; I enjoy exposition and seeing character’s motives. In a film like Percy Jackson, almost every character is an archetype of what you’ve seen before, so you’ve seen these motives before, and so much isn’t wasted on intensifying the relations to characters.
This is a film that is very much solicited to a target audience. It is aimed at pre-teen and teen boys. Sure, they’ve ramped up some of the action and changed the characters ages a bit to provide a wider range, but much of the main story is still intact. You have the reluctant hero (albeit slight less reluctant than his book counterpart), the goofy sidekick, and the love interest who also happens to be the hero’s equal. The film might be a bit derivative, but the action scenes more than make up for the basic, and sometimes banal plotline.
Logan Lerman proves to be a solid newcomer, playing the character of Percy with plenty of wide eyed wonder that a teenager would have of finding out he is a god. Lerman adds just enough ego to his character make him a somewhat believable teenage hero. Alexandra Daddario plays the love interest, Annabeth daughter of Athena, and comes off strongly as a bull headed leader. Brandon T. Jackson plays for the comic relief as the saytr Grover who plays Percy’s best friend and would be protector. There is a solid cast of supporting actors including Kevin McKidd, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Catherine Keener, Uma Thurman, Steve Coogan, and Rosario Dawson. Most of them play entertaining characters, but people who were hoping for a faithful adaptation of the books might be a little put off.
Director Chris Columbus once again shows he knows broad appeal, but misses many of the tiny details. None of it is enough to be off putting, but this is a series that might serve him handing off the reins again much like he did with Harry Potter. Once you see a couple of the more cringe worthy moments, and stilted dialogue you’ll probably agree with me. It isn’t enough to make anyone hate the film, but it isn’t going to win anyone over as well.
In the end, if you are looking for a bit of escapism, and want to imagine what it would be like to put yourself in the shoes of a demigod, go see Percy Jackson. If you are a Greek mythology buff you might enjoy a lot of what is in the film, and it might be your remedy to a normal superhero film. After watching it I went and started reading the novels just to see how much had changed. It doesn’t stay really true to the books, but it keeps the overall arc. Of the films I’ve seen this week, Percy Jackson is the one I would most likely see again.
For more reviews and watch free : CLICK HERE
http://istarmovie.com/percy-jackson-the-olympians-the-lightning-thief-2010/
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