Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief review
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a series of books aimed at young adults that conforms neatly to the Harry Potter model: A put-upon teen with an unsatisfactory home life discovers that his lineage is much more impressive than he ever realized. He must accept the challenges placed before him and come to grips with his past and present in order to survive long enough to see the future. At the end of the day, things work out just fine, but not before setting up a sequel (or six). For another example in the genre, please consult the Cirque du Freak series.
Instead of the wild world of wizarding, Percy Jackson inhabits a world in which the gods of ancient Greece are, in fact, real. No big deal; they seem to be relatively content with letting us mortals sort things out on our own. Until, that is, Zeus’s lightning bolt goes missing. Knowing that none of his fellow Olympians would have been able to steal his thunder, Zeus (Sean Bean) decides (for reasons that go unexplained) that Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) had his son Percy (Logan Lerman) steal the bolt in order to tip the scales of power in his favor.
Realizing that Percy’s life is in danger but unable to directly interfere or contact his son, Poseidon must rely on the boy’s protectors to safeguard him from the odd Fury or Minotaur who comes chasing our hero down. That duty falls to Grover (Brandon Jackson), a satyr looking to earn a promotion from junior to senior protector. After the aforementioned Minotaur makes off with Percy’s mom (Catherine Keener), he, Grover, and Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), the half-daughter of Athena decide to make their way to the underworld to rescue her from Hades (Steve Coogan).
The ensuing adventure isn’t without its bright moments — a detour into Medusa’s (Uma Thurman) modern day lair where Percy is forced into the role of Perseus; a jaunt into the underworld where Percy and his merry band must confront a glam rock Hades — and I’m entirely in favor of anything that gets the young people interested in Greek mythology, a subject near and dear to my heart. Still, The Lightning Thief suffers from the same problem that every opening chapter in a long-running series struggles with: The need to introduce an entire stable of characters with maximum efficiency without bogging the story down entirely. I haven’t even mentioned Hades’ wife Persephone (Rosario Dawson), the centaur Chiron (Pierce Brosnan), or the abusive stepfather Gabe Ugliano (Joe Pantoliano).
Then there’s the fact that the story is centered around a trio of young actors who simply aren’t operating at the same skill level as their older costars. Logan Lerman isn’t terrible by any stretch, but he can’t hold a candle to a cast that includes Keener, Brosnan, Pantoliano, Thurman, Dawson and Coogan. Of course, Daniel Radcliffe’s various shortcomings weren’t glaring enough to sink the Harry Potter franchise, so perhaps Mr. Lerman has time enough to grow into the role.
One certainly hopes so; the idea behind the series is clever enough to ensure a multitude of sequels are in the offing if the audience shows up this weekend. A piece of unsolicited advice for the studio: Now that the series is underway you might want to look at moving director Chris Columbus more firmly into a producer role and procure a director with a better sense of visual style — The Lightning Thief, like most of Columbus’s work, is, shall we say, devoid of flair — and knows how to wring more impressive performances out of young actors. Just as the Harry Potter films didn’t take off until he relinquished helming duties, it’s hard to imagine Percy Jackson and the Olympians rising above mediocrity with him behind the camera.