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Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief (Film)

by Andrew McMurty | February 09, 2010 15:33 | Edited February 09, 2010 15:36

With a top-notch cast and dazzling special effects, this will tide the teens over until the next Harry Potter instalment.

Under the bleak, dark sky of New York's Empire State Building, a war is brewing between the gods (of course America is home to the gods) after the world's most powerful weapon, Zeus' mighty lightning bolt, is stolen.

 

Teenager Percy (Logan Lerman), who lives in the city with his mother Sally (Catherine Keener), is unaware that he is a demi-god and the son of Poseidon but quickly finds out the hard way when Zeus suspects him as the thief. To save his mother from Hades the God of the underworld, Percy embarks on a wild odyssey, encountering fierce enemies including the snake-headed Medusa (Uma Thurman).

 

Directed by Chris Columbus, who brought us the first two of the Harry Potter films to life, there is unsurprisingly more than the odd similarity between Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief and the latter mentioned franchise. Both based on hit book series, each centre on a lonely boy who discovers he has magical gifts and embarks on an adventure to fulfill his destiny.

 

Armed with a toolkit of special effects and a massive budget from a Hollywood studio (probably seeking a new family franchise as the Harry Potter films near their end), Columbus has created an action packed fantasy adventure with impressive visuals. But like the Harry Potter series, it is the rich storytelling which ensures Percy Jackson is not merely a CGI extravaganza: there is something dark at its core in its fight of good against evil and something touching in its coming-of-age-story.

 

Logan Lerman plays Percy with impressive teenage charisma finding the right balance between his character's misfit loner demeanour and his spirited sense of adventure. Lerman proves he can hold his own against a cast which includes Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean and Rosario Dawson, who all make welcome appearances. And with at least four more books to turn into films, Lerman and the Percy Jackson franchise, look like they will be around for a while yet.