Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Movie Review)
Over this past weekend I went to see this movie with some family members, and I must tell ya it was SO MUCH FUN!! It had action, Greek mythology, humor, hertiage, and the underlying theme of parents and their children. The film is by no means perfect, but it had a little piece of everything that I enjoy. No matter if your child, teen, or an adult at any age if you like a good family film this is it. I have never read the books, but after this weekend I'm definitely am. I'm the sure the movie took out and/or watered down a lot of things from the book, but it's a notion I'm used to. I do know somethings were things taken out just in case there wasn't going to be a sequel, but I feel after going beyond expectations this weekend that the movie might get it's sequel Sea of Monsters.
With this film I didn't expect to get a full lecture on Greek mythology, having a B.A. in history I had my fair share and I look back at those lectures with fond memories, but I think they presented the Greek mythology in a fun, modernized way. If an adult or viewer wants the intense or detailed version, then the Clash of the Titans remake is coming out in April (another film I plan on seeing).
Percy Jackson - Logan Lerman was just utterly adoreable in this role. He was quirky, did a lot of his own stunts, and had the right precense to be the lead character. In many scenes Logan looked like Kevin McKidd (Poseidon), or Logan carried himself in a same manner Kevin McKidd does in his scenes. Basically, you can feel and see that Percy is Poseidon's son. Percy had the stereotypical moments of learning about this mythological world, but I liked that they didn't make him too naive. He is a son of a God afterall, so he carries a lot of intincts within him. He just had to find his inner strength, but even before he knows of his hertiage he stands up to his mean step-father. I really thought Percy's powers were unique and interesting. Sadly, some people like to label younglings with ADD and other triple digit names because they can't sit still. What I love is that Percy is one of these younglings that were labeled. However, the reason why he can't sit still because it's his god-like tendencies coming out. His instinct for battle (he's a natural afterall lol). I love Percy's other powers, such as reading ancient Greek and he can be healed by the water!! Ah, how I love natural abilities in my heroes lol.
Grover - I'm sure Grover was altered to fit the cinema appeal, but I gotta tell you it worked. Brandon T. Jackson has a natural talent for comedy. The way he said his lines were downright funny, such as giving the Ferryman $75 dollars only to have it burn and Grover saying "burning money when there is a recession going on"..hehe. There is lines like all over the place. The CGI crew did a good job at his character's half goat body.
Annabeth - The daughter of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, was truly badass. Many people have been drawing parallels between Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and the similarities are there, but it's because they used the same heroic writing formulas. That said Annabeth isn't like Hermoine just as Grover isn't just like Ron or Percy isn't like Harry. They share traits, but they aren't exactly the same. Annabeth is shown with flaws right away. Annabeth has been trained since she has been a child and trained other demigods. She has the thirst for adventure, and she can just drive Percy crazy lol.
The Trio - I know in the books the series starts off with Percy as a twelve year old, but in the movie he is a good couple years older. So the flirting between Percy and Annabeth is evident early on, and throughout the movie especially at the end. Logan and Alexandra have some great chemistry together. As does Brandon and Logan because you can see that fun, brotherly, and loyal vibe between Percy and his protector Grover. Some of my favorite scenes with the Trio is when they are getting the pearls from Medusa, Hydra, and the Lotus Casino. The characters work so well together, and are utterly adoreable. When they were in the Lotus Casino you get to see this whole other side to Percy and Annabeth while Grover just goes goat-wild lol. Both Percy and Annabeth had the most cutest giggles when they were being succumb to the lotus intoxicating tastes lol. I could go on and on about this trio, but I shall stop there since there is more to this story besides these three.
Poseidon - The entrance of Poseidon in the first scene was just awesome. How he comes out of the water as a giant god, and later goes down to mortal level. Man, it was awesome, and Kevin McKidd never looked so good. Even though I stopped watching Grey's Anatomy this season (after five years of awesome I never seen a show go down this far so quickly -- alas, that's for another topic lol) Kevin McKidd was one of my favorite actors from the series. Kevin just carries so much emotion whether it be vulerablility, strength, sadness, or warmth he can deliver it. Poseidon has somewhat of a small role in the film, but it's a very strong, pivotal role because afterall he is the father of Percy and carries one of the major themes of this series. Which is trying to find and accept one's hertiage.
To find one's hertiage you have to look at your parents. What I really liked about this movie is that for once the father wasn't dead and he didn't want to be an absentee father. Due to the dialogue and great acting by Kevin Poseidon truly loves his boy, and tries his best to take care of him even though he can't see him do it. It's just Zeus takes God's roles in the universe quite seriously, and a rule was in place to make sure gods don't become too attached to their mortal offspring because they become.....more human. Man, the way Kevin delivered that line the theatre just went "awww" just as I did. Granted that doesn't make anything less awkward for Percy and Poseidon. Percy doesn't know his father and visa versa, but at least they made their first step in building somewhat of a relationship. I'm glad it was Logan's idea to alter the script a bit to take out the Poseidon/Percy hug and had the two characters do a hand shake. It fit perfectly with the storyline and the characters at this time. One last thing I have to say is I loved that they had Percy and Poseidon have the same blue eyes come through quite bright in many scenes. Since afterall it is said Poseidon's eyes are like looking into a ocean that one can get lost into, and Percy has his father's eyes. In other words those baby blue eyes are quite dreamy hehe. I went on this topic longer than I thought I would, but I just loved this parent and children theme in stories.
The Gods - They really don't show much of the Gods except for Hades, Zeus, and great short scene from Athena. When they show Athena you can tell off the bat before her name is called that Annabeth is her daughter lol. I wonder if the older and younger actors watched each other because there is some obivious traits or mannerisms they do share between one another. Even though the scene where Annabeth and Athena meet is short there is so much in it. Just like Percy Annabeth is bitter about her absentee mother, note all demigod children know of this law Zeus put into place, you know before they meet Annabeth always wanted to see her mother. She has this yearning to see her, but knows her mother is there when she is in trouble. Just as my heart ached for Percy and Poseidon my heart ached for Athena and Annabeth especially when Athena's eyes started to get teary *sniff*. Melina Kanakaredes had a short scene, but she did so much with it. You can just feel that Athena would love to know and bond with her daughter, but she cannot due to Zeus' law.
You can see what Poseidon says that gods can become more human, and in Athena and Poseidon's case that is quite true. If gods ever became human, then who knows what would happen to the world. I can understand Zeus point because it's their job to keep things going, but I would love to hear Zeus' thoughts about his famous children Hercules and Perseus and the law he put in place. Even though Zeus was shown in a minor-minor role Sean Bean did a good job at this role. He carried himself with the high majesity of Zeus and was distant due to the decisions he made. You can tell Zeus and Poseidon are brothers, but are complete opposites in many ways. That Poseidon is a bit more quiet, but carries a good amount emotion for a god. Though you don't want to make Poseidon mad since after all he is the God of the Seas and Earthquakes. Meanwhile, I thought, next to Poseidon and Zeus of course, Hades would be hard to do because so many people have a different idea of how Hades should be. Personally, I was fond at Steve Coogan's Hades because for one he was funny and he was a bit sinister in certain lines he would say.
The Lightning Thief - I will not say who he is, but I thought the actor did a great job at the role. I know there is more to this character besides being the thief, and I really hope this movie becomes a series to see his role flourish and develop. The fight scene between Percy and the Lightning Thief was awesome.
Medusa, The Hydra, & CGI - I was actually surprised that the budget for this film was less than $100 million dollars. The CGI was quite awesome except for a few minor frames, but overall it was something that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story. Medusa is another character that is hard to please viewers. I remember the first time I saw Medusa, and it was in the original Clash of the Titans and I thought that movie did a great job at it. I am looking forward to see the remake's take on it, but I thought Percy modernized take was excellent.
Uma Thurman did a great job at being the right kind of scary for this role, and I liked how they did the snakes on her head. You know when you have those small strands of hair that you put behind your ear well on Medusa those small strands are small snakes. Each snake on Medusa had their own way of trying to get the victim to open their eyes, and the snakes came in different sizes. When Medusa is trying to get Annabeth and Percy to open their eyes, afterall it was Athena's fault why Medusa was cursed this way and Poseidon was quite friendly with Medusa pre-snakes, you see the snakes go around Annabeth's neck or snip at Percy's nose. Oh it was awesome because it had the right amount of scare and modernization from the resources the Trio used (i.e. back of a cellphone and a truck), great CGI, and acting. I loved the sound the sound department used when Medusa turns things into stone.
The Hydra is one of my favorite mythological creatures, and this Hydra just blew me away. It was large, big, and boy did he drool lol. The scene will remind some a bit on how the Harry Potter trio ran into Fluffy, but it's more action and less screaming out through a door (I take that back there is screaming to a door but it's not completely like in HP). I'm not going to give away how the Trio does it because it was just so entertaining to watch. The effects department did a great job at showing the Underworld, Mount Olympus, minotaurs, Percy's powers, and etc. It was quite cool and fun. Like I said earlier there are some moments where the CGI gets iffy, but for my family and I it didn't ruin the fun.
Music - I really loved the music in this feature film. It had AC/DC's "Highway To Hell", the King of Rock n' Roll Elvis Presley, and one of my favorite composers Christophe Beck. This man has been one of my favorite composers since his days working on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and he is the man behind one of my comedies last year The Hangover. I really loved Beck's work in the Greek mythological elements.
Guest Stars & Greek mythology nods - Since I didn't follow this movie too closely in the production process I didn't know lot of the guest stars on board. So I was surprised to see Dylan Neal as Hermes the God of Travelers. I've been a fan of Neal since his work on Dawson's Creek, and he was recently on an episode of Smallville. Speaking of my comic book show Smallville Zatanna herself, Serinda Swan, played Aphrodite the Godess of Love. However, both Neal and Swan didn't have speaking parts in the film. They were only in one scene. I would love to see them in a deleted scene though lol. Rosario Dawson was a great Persephone, and man was she fun to watch in the Underworld scenes. I thought they casted Percy's stepfather and mother quite well because they had the right amount of chemistry with Logan's Percy. I was really surprised to see a former Kyle XY castmate Chelan Simmons (Hillary) as one of the Lotus girls in the casino. Pierce Bronsan is surprisely not used as much, but his scenes were great and he had this great chemistry with the younger castmates. To cut this topic short the movie had a great main and supporting cast that fit well with each other.
The Greek mythology nods are seriously ALL OVER THE PLACE from nymphs to the dialogue of ancient Greece. This film is great to introduce younglings to Greek mythology, and once they get older they can watch the movies that are in far more intense, detailed, and less watered down.
The movie was enjoyable, great pace, and it's a movie I honestly wouldn't mind seeing again in theatres before Alice in Wonderland comes out in March lol. My younger sister and I plan on reading the whole series once we get finished with our current reading books. We do expect some obivious alterations and things left out, but that's why we went into this movie from a general audience viewer. Once we read the books we tend to call ourselves Half & Half because we are half book fans, but we can also still see the movie(s) from a general audience viewer. It was an enjoyable movie, and I'm glad after the four day weekend the movie exceeded expectations. The expectation was that the movie would land at the number four spot, and get about 20 million. Cut to today the film is at the number 2 spot, and made $38 million dollars domestically (though you can add about $28 million intentionally to that now). Now my youngest sister and I are crossing our fingers and toes for sequel news...