'Percy Jackson' is run-of-the-mill tween fantasy
Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" novels earn something akin to a Harry Potter treatment in "The Lightning Thief," the first film in what Fox hopes will be the next big tween fantasy franchise.
Like the Potter films, it's a quest tale and a piece of a coming-of-age puzzle. Like Potter, it has splendid effects, young little-known actors in the leads and a colorful collection of character actors surrounding them.
Like the first Potter films, it was directed by Chris Columbus. And like them, it lacks much one could call the spark of life.
Percy, played by Logan Lerman, is a high school kid with ADHD and dyslexia, a "special" kid who isn't fitting in, except when he's at the bottom of the school pool. Then, his substitute teacher turns into a raging Fury, his best friend, Grover (Brandon T. Jackson), flings aside his crutches to defend him and his favorite teacher (Pierce Brosnan) rises from his wheelchair to reveal he's a centaur.
Percy, it turns out, is the son of Poseidon. Now Zeus (Sean Bean) has lost his lightning bolt and the gods of Olympus are breaking into factions for a war. Percy's mortal mom (Catherine Keener) is snatched by Hades (Steve Coogan). Percy is pursued by Medusa (Uma Thurman), faces a Hydra and a Minotaur as he searches for the underworld, with the help of a magic map.
Columbus trots us through the introductions and plods between locations. But give Columbus his due. Once Percy and friends reach those locations, funny and spectacular things occur. Watch the way Thurman oh-so-carefully tosses Medusa's hair when she hisses "I used to date your daddy" at Percy. Check out Coogan's seen-it-all, done-it-all — stole Jim Morrison's rock god costume — take on Hades. Relish the too-sexy Rosario Dawson's riff on Hades' unhappy mate, Persephone.
For what it is and for whom it is intended, it's not a bad movie, just an indifferent one. Like too many "New Harry Potters," this one answers the question, "Why not see Percy this weekend" with "Why see Percy this weekend?" And that's no answer at all.
TITLE: “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightnight Thief”CAST: Logan Lerman, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Catherine KeenerDIRECTOR: Chris ColumbusRATED: PG for action, violence and peril, some scary images and suggestive material, and mild languageGRADE: * * ½ (out of 5)
