Review: 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief'

From the ads for Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, you'd think that Chris Columbus was bent on ripping off his own Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This turns out not to be the case. In fact, the biggest influence on Percy Jackson is clearly High School Musical, since the movie's young star, Logan Lerman from Jack and Bobby, has been cast, coiffed, and coached with a view to making him as much like Zac Efron as humanly possible. Still, that roll-with-it energy works great for tearing through CGI landscapes trying to save the world, and Percy Jackson ends up being unexpectedly entertaining.

Aging up Percy (in the source material he starts out at 12, rather than the high-schooler played by the 18-year-old Lerman) and casting a teen-idol type in the role was a canny move on the producers' part in terms of firing up fan enthusiasm: the movie starts with several minutes of shirtless Percy smiling beatifically as he relaxes at the bottom of a pool, which at a morning opening-day screening provided the audience of mostly preteen girls ample opportunity to squeal with glee and call out endearments to the screen. (It took four movies for anyone to start squealing at Daniel Radcliffe.) The question is, is there anything in Percy Jackson to delight audiences besides the mere presence of its star?

Fortunately, yes. The most compelling aspects of Rick Riordan's series carry over into the film: a world of still-surviving Greek deities hidden from view of mortals, imperfectly aligned with modern civilization, moved by gods who carry on with their divine responsibilities millennia after humanity ceased to notice them. No wonder they're irascible: Sean Bean plays Zeus with a permanent glower, and Kevin McKidd's Poseidon wears thousands of years of thankless maritime stewardship on his shoulders.

There's deep appeal in this premise, and its execution is fleshed out on a grand scale, with literally outsize gods aware of how poorly they fit in with today's world. The CGI work is lavish, and mostly very successful, though for most of the film the unmeshed nature of the world of the Greek gods and modern America has the unavoidable side-effect of creating claustrophobic pockets of ancient magic rather than a sense that it exists among us everywhere. Though there are charming cross-overs between the worlds: there's the mighty pen-cum-sword featured in the trailers; and the winged, flying shoes Percy ends up with, courtesy of Hermes's son Luke (Jake Abel, from the Supernatural episode "Jump the Shark"), turn out to be basketball sneakers.

Percy is provided with two companions. Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) is the black sidekick who, while a glad-handing extrovert in the tradition of all cool heroes' sidekicks, by injecting some gravity into his loyalty to Percy miraculously manages to avoid being a wild-eyed Marlon Wayans-style stereotype. He's Percy's best friend, so our hero is understandably startled to discover that his buddy is really a goat-legged satyr who's been assigned to protect him all along. Also along for the ride is Annabeth, daughter of Athena (Alexandra Daddario, who had a nice turn in Life on Mars as Rocket Girl). Annabeth has dedicated her life so far to battle and tactics -- until she's out running around with Percy, that is, at which point she morphs into the standard-issue gal pal/potential love interest of all teen fantasy movies.

Every ordinary boy who suddenly discovers he's a hero-in-training needs a wise old sage to set him on his path. Here it's an urbane centaur named Chiron (Pierce Brosnan), who presides over a training camp for half-blood deities somewhere out in the forests of Herculesxenaland. Chiron's training technique is fascinating: he shoves Percy, newly arrived and just finding out he's a demigod, into a game of capture the flag with real swords, and then watches with interest from the sidelines to see if his new protégé gets sliced into a dozen pieces. As Percy says, "You guys take camp way too seriously!"

Chiron is also one of Percy's teachers, the wheelchair-bound Mr. Brunner: how he was able to transform his lower half is not explained. (The gods seem to have this self-transforming ability, but centaurs are not gods.) But there are a number of things that are not explained. The plot is set in motion by the theft of Zeus's master lightning bolt, a powerful weapon as well as a necessary tool for Zeus's work. Because we're never provided with any information whatsoever about the theft itself, we're left scratching our heads as to why Zeus suspects Poseidon's son, apart from general paranoia. Even though Poseidon reminds Zeus that his son knows nothing of their world, thanks to Zeus's own laws prohibiting contact with half-mortal offspring, Zeus churlishly lays the onus for preventing a war between the gods on Percy, decreeing that he must return the bolt before the summer solstice. The low-simmering contention between the two brother-gods is well played by Bean and McKidd.

The plot itself doesn't make a lot of sense. Percy has a deadline to prevent world destruction, but he quests in the opposite direction, collecting plot tokens to successfully visit the realm of Hades (Steve Coogan). (Along the way they hit Vegas, revealed as the demense of the lotus-eaters, and meet Medusa, played with delicious zeal by Uma Thurman.) Hades, the third of the rival brothers who dominate the other gods, abducted Percy's mother (a disappointing wet-rag performance by Catherine Keener) as collateral to get the bolt from Percy, serving mainly to make us wonder anew why everyone thinks he has it.

Old movie hands can guess that Percy will resolve both quests at once, but this is purely accidental. What they might not see coming is the attack of face-palm-inducing duh that hits the otherwise-perceptive Percy once it's time to leave hell. (This may be a consequence of the aging-up: the mistake would have been more believable of a 12-year old.)

Despite the plot not always adding up, the film holds together: the CGI is excellent and largely unobtrusive (The satyr and centaur walk naturally, the water effects are great), and the performances are carefully reined in. Lerman, crucially, brings energy and commitment to his role, and the film comes together around him. What matters is that Percy is believable, and his journey opens up a world that's got a lot to explore. Percy Jackson is smarter and more fun than a teen fantasy might expect to be.

Released: Feb. 12, 2010. Rated PG for action violence and peril, some scary images and suggestive material, and mild language.