Director: Chris Columbus
Genre: Fantasy /Adventure
Synopsis: (20th Century Fox)
It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson’s Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they’re not happy: Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy’s mother. As Percy finds himself caught between angry and battling gods, he and his friends embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true lightning thief, save Percy’s mom, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves.
Movie Review:
I had high expectations for this film adaptation of The Lightning Thief, the first book in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series written by one of my favorite authors, Rick Riordan. I’ve already read all five novels in the series before I was able to watch this. Because of that, comparisons between the film and the book are inevitable for me.
The direction was good. Chris Columbus has always been one of my favorite directors. I liked the way he works ever since the first three Harry Potter film adaptations. Since then, whenever I see a movie trailer or read information about a film and see his name as the director, I always have the impression that the film would be good. Other movies he directed include the two Fantastic Four films and the two Night at the Museum films.
First of all, the acting was good. Breakthrough actor Logan Lerman did a great performance playing the titular character, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. His humorous scenes with co-actor Brandon T. Jackson, who plays Grover Underwood, a satyr and Percy’s protector, were pretty convincing and enjoyable. I could say Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean were perfect for their roles as Chiron, trainer of Camp Half Blood, and Zeus, god of the sky, respectively. Jake Abel performed well as the villain, Luke Castellan, son of Hermes.
However, I was actually worried about Alexandra Daddario portraying Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. One reason is because in the book, the character is seen with blonde and curly hair while Alexandra had brown and straight hair. In my opinion, she was way too far from the Annabeth I had imagined while I was reading the book. After watching the movie, I was proved wrong. Alexandra did very well and justified the role and I was able to overlook the deviation.
The flow of the story was basically similar to the book although there were several scenes altered. I found some modified scenes were good while some were so-so. I liked the idea of beginning the film with the information that Zeus’ master bolt was stolen. With that, people had an idea where the story would go. However, I didn’t like that they altered the way Percy discovered he was a son of Poseidon. In the film, he learned about it through Chiron while in the book, Poseidon claimed him as his son during the Capture the Flag activity at Camp Half Blood. There could have been more suspense to the viewers if they stuck to the book at that part.
Several subplots and characters in the book were left out in the film adaptation. A fellow demigod, Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, was left out although it was understandable since I thought the character didn’t have much power or impact to be included in the film. They also left out the part where Percy, Annabeth, and Grover approached the pit of Tartarus. It could have added more suspense and humor as well. But I was really waiting for Ares until the end of the film because the fight between him and Percy in the book was epic. However, they altered it and replaced Luke Castellan as the main villain of the film.
It’s also inevitable for the whole story to be compared with the phenomenal Harry Potter series. Both involved a trio: Percy Jackson was the version of Harry Potter, Annabeth Chase was Hermione Granger, and Grover Underwood was Ron Weasley. However, the characters still had differences. Harry had a dark past because he was The Boy Who Lived, who survived a death curse, while Percy was just a typical cool teenage guy, who went through his childhood without knowing his father. Hermione and Annabeth were both smart, while Ron and Grover were the characters that always lightens the mood. However, there was no romantic intimacy between Annabeth and Grover unlike Hermione and Ron. Hogwarts and Camp Half Blood were very similar since they’re both a place where special people were trained.
For me, the strongest scene of this movie was the fight between Percy and Annabeth during the Capture the Flag activity, especially the part when Percy touched the water of the lake and healed. On the other hand, I couldn’t find a weak part because despite the alterations, I loved this film the same way I loved the book, but if I have to choose one scene that slightly lacked impact, it would be the Persephone part. She wasn’t even in the first book in the series, yet the writers found a way to squeeze her into this film so I was quite surprised when she suddenly entered the scene. The best thing I liked about this movie is that there were no gaps, or should I say, boring moments. Every scene had its own charm that wouldn’t let you get out of your seat.
Overall, I’d give this a rating of four point five out of five stars. I’m crossing my fingers that they’ll continue to bring the whole great novel series to the big screen. If you liked and enjoyed watching Harry Potter films, you’ll definitely have fun watching this one. Whether you’re a kid, teenager, or an adult, this film wouldn’t fail to entertain you.