An adaptation of a popular book series may be what's holding people's interests for this film but other than the exciting action and special effects, the story doesn't live up to its standards and is no match for the beloved Harry Potter films. The British may have something to do with that.
Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is a regular kid in high school but he has some rather peculiar abilities and disabilities. For one, he can hold his breath under water for over five minutes but on the other hand, he has a rather severe case of dyslexia. He is unable to read and understand English and becomes frustrated and depressed about why this is happening to him. One day, his class goes on a field trip to a museum where Percy realizes he can read Ancient Greek and is subsequently attacked by a creature called a Fury who was disguised as his teacher. After the attack, he is warned by his Latin teacher Mr. Brunner (Pierce Brosnan) who is in fact a centaur named Chiron, that his life is in great danger and he needs to get out-of-town as soon as possible in order to go to Camp Half-blood. Percy is perplexed at the chain of events that transpired and is still confused about his true identity and why everyone was hiding it from him. At the camp he discovers a large group of teens much like himself, who are demigods. Bit by bit he grasps the notion that his long gone father is in fact one of the three big gods ruling Mount Olympus. He is Poseidon's son. Soon after, he is plunged into a quest to find Zeus's (Sean Bean) lightning bolt which the other gods have accused him of stealing. He must also save his mother, who is being held captive by the God of the Underworld, Hades (Steve Coogan). If he is to get inside the underworld, he must first find Persephone's (Rosario Dawson) pearls which will secure his escape. He is joined on his quest by his life-long friend and protector, Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) who is a satyr and another demigod named Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), who is the daughter of the goddess Athena. They travel cross-country in a race against time to find the pearls, battling against villains such as Medusa and the Hydra but will they find the lightning bolt and the perpetrator who stole it in the midst of Percy's epic rescue attempt? The stakes are high considering if they fail, the gods will initiate a war between each other that threatens to destroy the world as we know it.
Promising as the plot may be, the story just didn't click together at all. From the beginning to the end everything seemed awkward and forced, from the acting to the special effects. The CGI just managed to bring the film out of complete oblivion but other than that, the characters and story had no depth to them at all. The only thing that kept me interested was basically wanting to find out who is the lightning thief. You obviously know everything is going to be alright in the end and don't really give much thought to the rescue attempt, only the mystery of the theft. I also wasn't in favor of the age change because in the original book he is twelve, whereas in this film they raised the age to about fifteen or sixteen. Just proves that they had to change one of the most obvious things about the novel in order to make the movie appeal to a more mature audience and bring in more money. Wickedly funny to see Hades aka the Devil in a get up that could have been worn by someone like Mick Jagger. Was it a deliberate attempt at comedy or just a mockery of the gods. A pure contrivance of the Hollywood fat cats that serves its purpose for the thrilled fans of the book series and the heedless teens that wanna see a fun movie on a night out.
I was somehow impressed by the various symbolism interspersed throughout the movie with the casino scenes and the numbing effects of the lotus flower implying the negative effects casinos have on visitors young and old because they turn them into addictive gambler's and blind them with the impressive prizes and treats that are offered to them. Definitely an interesting take on Los Angeles being the entrance to the underworld or in other words, hell. Some may think of it that way because of the endless traffic and smog although it is one of the country's biggest cities and cultural centers.
There was however a faint hint of a motive and moral in this chunk of a film. First of all, it was admirable to see Percy risking his life to save his mom even though I have no idea how he was able to do it without having at least a week of training at the camp he was in. I suppose he is the chosen one so he doesn't need any training like the rest of the flock, making himself invincible to any adversary. It was indeed very gallant of him to do what he did and in the end finally get to meet his father, but his father had no effect on him and he felt just as empty inside as he was in the beginning prompting us to think that the character of Percy has endured no state of transformation, rather the sense of belonging in life. It may not be much of a vehicle to interest many, but the teens and Percy fans are sure to enjoy it.
The Percy Jackson series doesn't make a winning start in its enigmatic endeavor, and is definitely not the new Harry Potter that we would want to see after the decade of adventure the young wizard has given us. These thieves definitely stole the lightning spark of this film and it doesn't look like Chris Columbus did himself justice, after being known for directing the first two films of the Harry Potter series.
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