Rating: * * *
Verdict: A fun, visual effects filled adventure for teens.
Director Chris Columbus, responsible for the first two Harry Potter films, returns to the world of teenage fantasy adventures with this adaptation of Rick Riordan's novel, the first from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
The visual effects are as impressive and the story as ambitious as that Potter kid's, but Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief has a lighter tone. There's more humour, more pop culture references, and the performances are intentionally hammed up and all the more memorable for it.
Though the story is filled with characters and creatures from Greek mythology, it largely takes place in the present day. It's a clever idea, juxtaposing ancient Greeks with contemporary American culture, although young Percy's world isn't quite as convincing as it needs to be to fully sell us on this rather outlandish adventure.
Columbus kicks into action pretty much straight away with Percy (Lerman), a teenager who lives with his human mum Sally (Keener) and her deadbeat boyfriend Gabe Ugliano (Joe Pantoliano) in New York, discovering, as you do, that his absent father is none other than Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), god of the sea.
As if this wasn't enough, he's soon off an adventure to stop the gods of Mount Olympus destroying the Earth - some business about Zeus misplacing his lightning bolt - as well as save his mother from the underworld while battling Uma Thurman's wonderfully wicked Medusa, multiheaded dragons, and Steve Coogan's leather-clad, hell-raising Hades.
As all that suggests, PJATLB is pacy and action-packed, while Lerman does a great job of going from a dyslexic troubled teen to a teenage demigod. It's clear that its target audience will be keen for more.
Cast: Logan Lerman, Sean Bean, Catherine Keener
Director: Chris Columbus
Running time: 119 mins
Rating: M (Fantasy Violence)
