Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Rating: PG

Brought to you by OBS staff member Annabell Cadiz

Zeus’s lightning bolt is stolen and he believes there’s only one person who could have taken it: Poseidon’s son, Percy Jackson. Zeus gives Poseidon’s fourteen days to return the lightning bolt or he will initiate a war against his brother. Enter Percy Jackson: he’s dyslexic and has a major case of ADHD. Percy takes a field trip with his class to the Museum of Metropolitan of Art where he gets attacked by a Fury (ancient mythological creature) who was disguised as a teacher.

Grover, his crippled friend, who turns out to be a stayr, helps save him and reveals to Percy that he is a demigod, a child of a human and a Greek god, in his case he is the son of Poseidon. Mr. Brunner, his history teacher, gives him a pen which transforms into a powerful sword and reveals himself to be a centaur. After being attacked by the Fury, Percy and Grover return to Percy’s home and along with Percy’s mother, Sally, drive toward Camp Half-Blood where Percy will be safe. However, on the way to the camp, they are attacked by a Minotaur and Percy’s mother vanishes before Percy can even comprehend what’s happening. Once in the camp, Percy befriends Annabeth, daughter of Athena. Hades attacks them and demands Percy bring him the lightning bolt, if he does Hades will release his mother’s soul back to him. Percy along with Grover and Annabeth set out on a quest to retrieve the lightning bolt and save Percy’s mother.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief was based off the New York Times best selling series by Rick Riordan. I read the books after I saw the movie in theaters then rewatched the movie on DVD. I know a lot of people are disappointed the movie left many elements out from the book but I for one LOVE this movie!

The cast is basically filled with many unknowns who turned out to have pretty good acting skills. Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson, is perfect! I had no problem believing he was Percy. He covered the awkward, nerdy, hot headed character of Percy Jackson with ease. Brandon T. Jackson as Grover Underwood did a pretty good job but he managed to annoy me a couple of times throughout the movie. Some of his jokes just fell flat and were too cliché to be found funny. Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth was pretty damn fierce! She captured Annabeth’s strong-take-no-prisoners-beat-the-crap-outta-whoever- gets-in-her-way attitude right on point. I loved watching her kick Percy’s butt as much as I loved watching Percy turn around and kick her butt right back!

Four big name actors cast in the movie were: Rosario Dawson who plays Persephone (Hades wife), Pierce Brosnan who plays Mr. Brunner (Chiron), Uma Thurman as Medusa, and Steve Coogan who plays Hades. Rosario Dawson was fun to watch because she really loathes Hades and has so much fun annoying the hell out of him! Pierce Brosnan as always gives a splendid performance. Uma Thurman is spruced up by special effects to cause her head to be covered in snakes. The scenes with Uma were great! She can play a crazy, vengeance seeking, god, like it’s second nature. Steve Coogan as Hades was freakin hilarious! Hades thinks way too highly of himself and is the cliché bad boy but Coogan made him a lot of fun to watch.

The movie is full of great actions and awesome visual effects! There’s one scene in particular I really loved, when Percy is fighting Luke on top of a building and manages to finally harness his power as the son of Poseidon. AWESOME AWESOME SCENE!

If you haven’t seen Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, you are TOTALLY missing out!

Running Time: 118 minutes

Director: Chris Columbus

Rating: 10/10 stars (If I could give it more I would!)