Percy Jackson is Clash of the Titans for the Harry Potter crowd. The latest teen-lit property to make its way to the big screen, The Lightning Thief is the first of a proposed franchise based on the best-selling series by Rick Riordan.
The title character, Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman), is a high school student who lives with his mother (Catherine Keener) and abusive stepfather (Joe Pantoliano). He has dyslexia and finds some measure of calm hiding underwater. Turns out, Percy’s father is Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), the Greek god of the seas. His best friend, Grover (Brandon T. Jackson), is a satyr charged with his protection. Percy’s teacher (Pierce Brosnan) is really a centaur named Chiron who is the head instructor for a drill camp filled with other godlings.
Percy learns the truth about his life when he is accused of stealing Zeus’s (Sean Bean) lightning bolt. A civil war is brewing between the gods and Percy’s mother is kidnapped by Hades (Steve Coogan who looks like a burnt out rocker in his leather pants). Percy and Grover embark on a quest to rescue her accompanied by Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), the daughter of Athena (Melina Kankaredes). The trio must gather the pearls of Persephone (Rosario Dawson) and do battle mythological creatures such as the Hydra and Medusa (Uma Thurman).
To kick off their new film series, Fox made a smart choice in choosing Chris Columbus who directed the first two Harry Potter films. The problem is those opening installments were the most pedestrian movies of the series. It wasn’t until the brought in more accomplished directors like Alfonso Cuaron and Mike Newell that the Potter films improved by leaps and bounds.
Is Percy Jackson a terrible movie? No, but it’s not an exceptional one either. It’s perfectly acceptable filmmaking. There’s nothing particularly stylish about the direction or production design and the characters are painted in very broad strokes.
Rating: **
No comments:
Post a Comment