Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
 

Director: Chris Columbus
Cast: Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan, Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Runtime: 118 min
 

First of all, let's set things straight: this is not a Harry Potter movie, nor an episode from the Young Hercules series, this is the first movie from the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. As in the case of other fantastical teen movies (mentioned previously), Percy Jackson & (…) excites the teenage crowds with supernatural powers, magical weapons, and a fight between good and evil.

Although the idea of the plot doesn't differ much from other fantasy genre movies, Percy Jackson revives the mythical legend of demigods: half-god, half-human children born from a mortal and a God.

Based on Rick Riordan's novel “The Lightning Thief”, the movie tells the adventures of Percy Jackson, the illegitimate son of Poseidon, accused by Zeus to have stolen his bolt. This modern Olympian quest will take Percy on top of the Empire State Building (which is the entrance to Olympus, of course) where he'll confront the real thief of Zeus's bolt. I know it sounds a little intricate, but in the end it's just a movie about a teenage boy who discovers that he has supernatural powers, and in order to prove that he's worthy of them, he has to pass some challenges (think Jason and the Argonauts).

To make the movie even more attractive director Chris Columbus has casted Uma Thurman in the role of Medusa, and Pierce Brosnan as Mr. Brunner, the Latin teacher, the mythological centaur Chiron and the Camp Half-Blood trainer all at the same time (now, this is what I call multitasking).

If the above actors were casted to provide the "stardome" trait of the movie, other not-so-known actors were distributed as main characters, which is a common activity now among Hollywood producers. It seems that the financial crisis has struck star sprinkled studios from the magical city, who prefer to invest little money in talented young and unknown actors, and hope they catch on the public. As such, Logan Leman stars as the protagonist Percy Jackson, Brandon T. Jackson as Grover, Percy's best friend, and Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase, Athena's demigod daughter. The trio will embark in a mythical journey to find Persephone's pearls which are the key to the underworld, in order to save Percy's mother from the hands of a “rock star” Hades. In this journey they'll also get to confront Medusa, Percy will wear sneakers with wings, and a pen will transform into a dragon slayer sword. Pretty crafty, huh?

As other similar movies directed by Chris Columbus (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) , Percy Jackson & (...) abounds in special effects which make the film to be energetic and catchy. It's not Harry Potter, and it's not an ecstatic display of acting talent, but it's still a thoroughly enjoyable movie perfect for a Friday's night with friends (even if you are teenage or older).

Taking into account that this is the first movie of a series of five, chances are that we'll be hearing of Percy Jackson and his adventures very, very soon.

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