Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief – When Percy Jackson finds out his father is actually Poseidon, the Greek God of the Sea, he begins to realise that he has his own God-like powers. However war is brewing amongst the Gods of Olympus. Someone has stolen the bolt of lightning from the mighty god Zeus and Percy has been framed. The race is on to find the bolt and return it to Zeus before war ensues, threatening the existence of mankind itself.

Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief (2010) – Director: Chris Columbus

Rating: PG

Running Length: 118 mins

Starring: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario

Genre: Fantasy, Action / Adventure

REVIEW: – PERCY JACKSON & THE LIGHTNING THIEF

‘Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief’ is a movie that throws a whole bunch of things at the screen. Some things stick. Some don’t. Based on the successful ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ series of books by Rick Riordan, ‘Lightning Thief’ is set in a world where Greek mythology is still current and demi-gods roam the Earth. Percy is the son of Poseidon and a human mother, making him half-god, half-human, and the movie plays out partly like an exploration of his identity and partly like a roller coaster through all the famous elements of Greek mythology. Medusa? Check! Minotaur? Check! The Hydra? Check! Do we go to the Underworld and meet Hades? Yup! What with all the events and creatures thrown at the screen, the actual characterisation is somewhat buried in the mix. ‘Lightning Thief’ takes itself rather seriously and is lacking the ‘fun’ factor that helps round out franchises like Harry Potter, but despite a bit of a charm deficit, what director Columbus delivers is a spectacle of special effects and action packed sequences.

The plot hurtles along at breakneck speed and barely is a concept introduced before it is passed by and the next set piece reached. However such pacing means that character development is sorely lacking and the characters themselves seem almost secondary to the quest for the majority of the time. When something tragic happens to Percy, Columbus barely allows any time for emotional gravity to set in. Similarly Lerman’s portrayal of Percy is that of a sullen teen and lacks any real connection with the events or people around him; but then when said characters are the token love interest going through the old clichés; and the token comedy side-kick, perhaps a lack of connection isn’t entirely Lerman’s fault. Despite a lack of depth or gravity to the film, ‘Lightning Thief’ succeeds in being a high energy chunk of entertainment that should quite enjoyably fritter away an evening for both parents and children. The constantly shifting plot may confuse younger kids but when the film is more spectacle than substance, this may not prove to be so much of a problem.

CONTENT: IS ‘PERCY JACKSON & THE LIGHTNING THIEF’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

When Percy goes to his home it is clear that his mother is in a disrespectful relationship. The boyfriend slaps his mother’s bottom and rudely insists she bring him beer. Percy attempts to chastise his mother’s boyfriend but is physically and verbally threatened. This happens again a little later.

Before Percy realises who he is, he is framed for the theft of Zeus’ lightning bolt, which means he is the target for all manner of powers who want to possess it. Whilst on a library trip he is attacked by someone who, at first, appears to be human but quickly transforms into a winged shrieking creature referred to as ‘The Fury’. This is a big surprise when it happens and may scare younger children. The Fury attacks Percy and screams loudly. It shrieks, “I’ll bite your heart out!” and it lifts Percy by the throat. Percy is scared and does not know what to do in this scene, which lasts around 2 minutes. This is the first ‘scary’ scene of the movie and so if you are unsure how your children will deal with the content we describe then we recommend that you ensure they are alright with this scene.

Whilst Percy and his friend Grover are driving, an adult cow suddenly lands in front of the car, making them swerve and crash. The cow is clearly dead and may upset children sensitive to animal death. At around this point, Percy is attacked by a Minotaur. This is a very large and aggressive cross between a bull and a human and it is very threatening. It grabs a character and this character dissolves into a cloud of yellow whilst screaming. This scene is likely to upset small children as there is no recourse and Percy is upset (although as we mentioned in our review, his upset is very brief and not really lingered on). Also, whilst training, Percy gets into a sword fight with Annabeth, demi-goddess and daughter of Athena. He receive several sword slash injuries which cause blood, one of which is to the face. This is generally the strongest that the violence gets throughout the movie although one scene includes a ‘bad’ character being decapitated (off camera). The character’s head is then lifted up several times throughout the movie directly on camera but this is not gory.

When the party meet Medusa she is at first shown with a turban like cloth over her hair and dark sunglasses. When she removes the cloth, her hair is revealed to be many writhing snakes which hiss at the camera aggressively. We see her turn one terrified character to stone in a close up effects shot that lasts around 10 seconds. The gang later come across Hydra which is a huge multi-headed snake-like creature. It blasts fire over our heroes in a sequence that is more action-packed than frightening but young children who are upset by very loud noises and large aggressive creatures may not like this part. Several of Hydra’s heads are chopped off by sword and we see this directly on camera although there is minimal blood.

When our heroes get to the Underworld there are a couple of scary moments. Hades himself appears like a normal human at first but at one point reveals his true image as a huge fire addled demon-like being. He returns to human form after around 30 seconds. The Underworld has several skulls in the walls and is depicted much like Hell, with a lake of fire and screams heard in the background. At one point a fireplace in Hades’ house opens and our heroes are to be “fed to the souls.” Several charred bodies lunge out of the fireplace and try to grab the characters. They struggle to break free for around 2 minutes. Also, there are very large aggressive ‘hellhounds’ that snarl at our heroes several times here.

There are quite a few mild sexual references throughout the movie. Grover is somewhat of a womaniser and regularly leers over female characters. He walks past some bikini wearing girls who are described as daughters of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Grover says, “you know what that means” very suggestively. When our heroes are in Vegas he is also keen to be surrounded by beautiful women as much as possible. The character of Persephone is described as someone who invites lovers to the Underworld and, when they are finished, sends them away again using one of her pearls (which guarantees safe passage out of the Underworld). When we meet her, she is very flirtatious and dressed provocatively but this isn’t too explicit and is treated more suggestively than sexually. She also shows a particular interest in Grover.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘PERCY JACKSON & THE LIGHTNING THIEF’ FOR KIDS?

‘Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief’ may have been hoped to be a successor to the Harry Potter franchise, indeed ‘Percy Jackson & the Sea of Monsters’ is due for release in August 2013, but this initial instalment lacks the charm and relatability that helped make Harry Potter so successful. Despite being somewhat shallow and more concerned with throwing every special effect in the book at the camera, ‘Lightning Thief’ is effective at providing a large slab of entertainment to see you or your children through the day. Whilst it may appear that we have mentioned a lot of potentially unsuitable content above, for the most part the balance is well-kept between making the movie interesting for adults but not too strong so as to exclude children. Due to the loud and aggressive enemies we would suggest that this film is appropriate for children aged 7 and up, but we recommend parental supervision if you are unsure due to the content we have described.

• Violence:  2/5
• Emotional Distress: 2/5
• Fear Factor: 3/5
• Sexual Content: 1/5       
• Bad Language: 1/5 (one or two mild uses)
• Dialogue: 2/5 (much of the dialogue involving Percy’s mother can be upsetting. Medusa is also quite unsettling in her dialogue) 
• Other notes: Deals with themes of destiny, parental responsibility, finding out your identity and fighting for the right thing to do.

Words by Mike Record

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