Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

After finishing watching the movie, I have quite mixed feelings over it. I was excited to go see it in theatres but never got the chance, so when I had the chance to see it today, I jumped on the opportunity.

The Lightning Thief deals a lot with Greek gods and mythology. The story is about Percy Jackson, played by Logan Lerman (Gamer, The Number 23). At the beginning of the movie, Zeus, the lightning god, and Poseidon, the god of the sea, are seen talking and Zeus demands his lightning bolt back, as someone has stolen it. Both gods come to the realization that it was Poseidon’s son, Percy, so Zeus gives Poseidon two weeks to get the bolt back to him or there will be a huge war amongst the gods.

This is where Percy' character dominates the movie. He isn't aware of his power to control water, nor is he aware that his best friend, Grover, played by Brandon T Jackson (Tropic Thunder) is sent to protect him because he is the son of a god. Fearing Percy's life is in danger, Grover forces Percy and his mom to a special camp. Along the way, Percy's mom is kidnapped by a Hades (brother of Poseidon and Zeus, ruler of the underworld), and is told that Percy will only get his mom back unless he gets the powerful lightning bolt.
In the camp are all the human children that the gods had on earth. Each has its own power. Percy Befriends Annabeth, daughter of Athena, played by Alexandra Daddario ( All My Children). What follows is a journey set out with Percy, Grover and Annabeth to get his mom back.

There are a few problems I have with this movie. The first is the dialogue. Pretty much every word uttered by Percy is a cliché. You've heard it all a thousand times. Everything that you would expect him to say, he says. This doesn’t make for an interesting movie. The second is the casting of Percy and Annabeth. Grover was casted right but acted poorly. I kept waiting for Brandon T Jackson to be as funny as he was in Tropic Thunder but he wasn’t. Percy and Annabeth were horribly casted. Maybe it was the lines they had, I don’t know but I didn’t think they were that great. I don’t know how they messed that up considering the supporting cast was great. (Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Uma Thurman, Joe Pantoliano)

All this being said, I would slightly recommend this movie. The story is completely original. It’s based on a series of books. Ever since Harry Potter hit the big screen, movies have been trying to capture the same audience. First it was Chronicles of Narnia, and now this. This movie is definitely not better then Harry Potter. It’s about on the same level as Narnia. This has a more original story but poor script and Narnia is the opposite. Ironically it has the same director as a few of the Potter movies and as the Home Alone series. See this movie in case of a sequel. It will keep you interested but won't dazzle.