Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightening Thief (Review)

There are not so many fantastic movies out this time of the year. I usually rely on romantic comedies and children's fare. Sometimes you do find something that's unusual enough to make you really enjoy the experience. Now I haven't read the books, so I have no loyalty to the original material, though I'll probably check it out now.

Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is a high school student with serious reading disorders and attention problems. He's struggled, and his best friend Grover, helps him get by. He's always had an affinity for water, but is basically just trying to get by. However, all this goes awry when he's attacked in a museum by a monster-type creature who demands the lighting bolt back. It seems that Percy is the son of a mortal woman AND the Greek God of the Seas, Poseidon (Kevin McKidd). Poseidon's brother, Zeus (Sean Bean), wields a lightening bolt that has been stolen, and Zeus blames his half-mortal nephew. However, everyone in the god-like world would love to be able to steal the lightening bolt too, hence the museum monster known as a Fury. Percy escapes, learns the details of his conception and powers and is taken to a camp (pursued by a minotaur of course) for demi-gods and finds out his best friend Grover is actually his protector and a Satyr (half man/half goat) and his teacher (Pierce Brosnen) is actually a centaur (though how he crams his horse body into a wheelchair was only the first of an odd line of things you're forced to ignore). Percy's mother, who has known all along that her son is a demi-god, is captured by Hades, the third brother, and trapped her in the underworld. Percy, Grover, and another demi-god warrior Annabeth, decide to go get her back, and find the lightening bolt so Zeus won't start a war with his brothers (which I think means the humans would all be destroyed). Their adventures bring all kinds of Greek mythological creatures as well as creatures from the Iliad and the Odyssey to get in their way including a fairly bad-ass Uma Thurman as Medusa. Overall, it's a really fun story to watch, both for kids and adults who enjoy the Greek myths. I would definitely keep watching this series if they keep making them out of the many future books. My only complaint is that very little is unpredictable, particularly considering its a really imaginative story. But then again, it's a kids movie based on a kids book, so I shouldn't complain. 3.5 of 5 stars/lambs