The Lightning Thief Lacks Spark
He’s a boy who discovers he’s got an unusual heritage. He’s the target of many villainous creatures. He becomes the newest recruit in a school for special kids like him. And he becomes the star in an extraordinary sport.
No, we’re not talking about Harry Potter. Meet Percy Jackson, the latest of many run-of-the-mill Potter wannabe’s. The one defining trait of The Lightning Thief and the rest of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series is it is steeped in Greek mythology.
Percy is a young man (high-schooler in the film, younger in the book) who is discovered to be the half-man, half-god – or demigod – son of Poseidon, god of all things aquatic. Percy is suspected by many in the Greek God posse to have stolen Zeus’s lightning bolt. Some want the bolt to satisfy their own control issues. Others want to help Percy return the bolt to its rightful owner and prevent war among the gods. Percy is quickly whisked away to Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven that trains young demigods to become better fighters and discover their potential in whatever abilities their bloodlines bestowed upon them. Percy discovers his best friend, Grover, is actually a satyr (half-human, half-goat) who is assigned to protect Percy no matter what. And Percy makes fast – if wary – friends with the camp hottie, Annabeth, who is a descendant of Athena, Goddess of wisdom and tactical strategy. Percy decides to leave camp to save someone close to him from the Underworld, home of Hades, and possibly clear up this lightning bolt business. Therefore, the trio assembles and is tasked with traveling across the United States in search of magic pearls that will allow them safe return.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is directed by Chris Columbus, who faithfully directed the first two Harry Potter films. In those films, Columbus took the time (some say injuriously so) to build the world of Hogwarts and the characters within the Potter universe, including Potter himself. One would think that would be promising for a property that is an inferior cousin to the Potter series, perhaps resulting in something superior than its source. Not so, it turns out. It’s as if Columbus heard the criticisms of his Potter films and decided to not only alter the story this time around, but also reduce character development to its most meager extent.
The script, written by Chris Titley (Cheaper by the Dozen, Scooby-Doo), trades in the episodic and coincidental plot of the novel for what feels like a video game quest. Percy must find X object and beat the boss creature in order to move on to the next environment. As a result, the villainous characters never really resonate. Uma Thurman plays Medusa and Steve Coogan is Hades. Rosario Dawson is having the most fun as the disgruntled wife of Hades, Persephone (who was not in the book). Rick Riordan’s novel, while transparent, takes the time with each of the villains. Titley’s script can’t be bothered with much rising tension and cuts to the chase. Thurman and Coogan try to bring presence to their roles, but fall short simply because their characters lack even the slightest bit of… well, character. Characters were either deleted or skimmed and key story points were altered. What little was good about, in truth, a mediocre book is changed and very little improvements are made to offset those changes.
Uma Thurman and Pierce Brosnan – as Chiron, a centaur that seems to head Camp Half-Blood – are the stand-out adult characters. However, they pale in comparison to Bellatrix and Dumbledore of the Harry Potter series. That said, the three leads – Logan Lerman (Gamer) as Percy, Brandon T. Jackson (Tooth Fairy) as Grover, and Alexandria Daddario (The Babysitters) as Annabeth – are impressive, but not given nearly the depth of those in that other fantasy film series. This is a shame, because they seem capable of pulling off something better if given the opportunity this film failed to present. In fact, Brandon T. Jackson’s Grover turned out to be one of the better improvements over the source’s groveling and whiny sidekick.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief’s biggest problem, however, is it tells the audience everything and shows nothing. It rushes through every character moment to get to the adventure. So, it tells the audience right off the bat what the story’s conflict is. It tells who Percy is, including what his challenges (or gifts) are, and who his father is. It tells the audience that Joe Pantoliano’s Gabe is a drunken louse of a step-father. And it tells us that Grover eats aluminum cans. But it never says why any of these things are the case or gradually introduces them. This is The Lightning Thief’s biggest crime and why it comes nowhere close to the quality of even one Harry Potter film.
What aims to be fantasy wish-fulfillment for every ADHD kid who feels different or freakish ends up being a trifling whim. The Lightning Thief introduces us to something that could’ve been different with its integration of Greek mythology and fantasy action. But thanks to weak direction and a script that failed to build upon its mediocre source, all the energy is stolen from a promising new franchise.
4/10
Should you see it? Skip
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief is out now in theaters.
No, we’re not talking about Harry Potter. Meet Percy Jackson, the latest of many run-of-the-mill Potter wannabe’s. The one defining trait of The Lightning Thief and the rest of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series is it is steeped in Greek mythology.
Percy is a young man (high-schooler in the film, younger in the book) who is discovered to be the half-man, half-god – or demigod – son of Poseidon, god of all things aquatic. Percy is suspected by many in the Greek God posse to have stolen Zeus’s lightning bolt. Some want the bolt to satisfy their own control issues. Others want to help Percy return the bolt to its rightful owner and prevent war among the gods. Percy is quickly whisked away to Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven that trains young demigods to become better fighters and discover their potential in whatever abilities their bloodlines bestowed upon them. Percy discovers his best friend, Grover, is actually a satyr (half-human, half-goat) who is assigned to protect Percy no matter what. And Percy makes fast – if wary – friends with the camp hottie, Annabeth, who is a descendant of Athena, Goddess of wisdom and tactical strategy. Percy decides to leave camp to save someone close to him from the Underworld, home of Hades, and possibly clear up this lightning bolt business. Therefore, the trio assembles and is tasked with traveling across the United States in search of magic pearls that will allow them safe return.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is directed by Chris Columbus, who faithfully directed the first two Harry Potter films. In those films, Columbus took the time (some say injuriously so) to build the world of Hogwarts and the characters within the Potter universe, including Potter himself. One would think that would be promising for a property that is an inferior cousin to the Potter series, perhaps resulting in something superior than its source. Not so, it turns out. It’s as if Columbus heard the criticisms of his Potter films and decided to not only alter the story this time around, but also reduce character development to its most meager extent.
The script, written by Chris Titley (Cheaper by the Dozen, Scooby-Doo), trades in the episodic and coincidental plot of the novel for what feels like a video game quest. Percy must find X object and beat the boss creature in order to move on to the next environment. As a result, the villainous characters never really resonate. Uma Thurman plays Medusa and Steve Coogan is Hades. Rosario Dawson is having the most fun as the disgruntled wife of Hades, Persephone (who was not in the book). Rick Riordan’s novel, while transparent, takes the time with each of the villains. Titley’s script can’t be bothered with much rising tension and cuts to the chase. Thurman and Coogan try to bring presence to their roles, but fall short simply because their characters lack even the slightest bit of… well, character. Characters were either deleted or skimmed and key story points were altered. What little was good about, in truth, a mediocre book is changed and very little improvements are made to offset those changes.
Uma Thurman and Pierce Brosnan – as Chiron, a centaur that seems to head Camp Half-Blood – are the stand-out adult characters. However, they pale in comparison to Bellatrix and Dumbledore of the Harry Potter series. That said, the three leads – Logan Lerman (Gamer) as Percy, Brandon T. Jackson (Tooth Fairy) as Grover, and Alexandria Daddario (The Babysitters) as Annabeth – are impressive, but not given nearly the depth of those in that other fantasy film series. This is a shame, because they seem capable of pulling off something better if given the opportunity this film failed to present. In fact, Brandon T. Jackson’s Grover turned out to be one of the better improvements over the source’s groveling and whiny sidekick.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief’s biggest problem, however, is it tells the audience everything and shows nothing. It rushes through every character moment to get to the adventure. So, it tells the audience right off the bat what the story’s conflict is. It tells who Percy is, including what his challenges (or gifts) are, and who his father is. It tells the audience that Joe Pantoliano’s Gabe is a drunken louse of a step-father. And it tells us that Grover eats aluminum cans. But it never says why any of these things are the case or gradually introduces them. This is The Lightning Thief’s biggest crime and why it comes nowhere close to the quality of even one Harry Potter film.
What aims to be fantasy wish-fulfillment for every ADHD kid who feels different or freakish ends up being a trifling whim. The Lightning Thief introduces us to something that could’ve been different with its integration of Greek mythology and fantasy action. But thanks to weak direction and a script that failed to build upon its mediocre source, all the energy is stolen from a promising new franchise.
4/10
Should you see it? Skip
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief is out now in theaters.