Julie @ the Movies is a monthly feature in the Arcadia News.

by Julie Demetros

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Director: Chris Columbus
Actors: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, and Alexandra Daddario

Based off the book by Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief is a good movie if you like lots of fast-paced action and fighting. It’s full of fire, sword fights and witty banter.

Fans of the book, if you were hoping for a movie at least close to the book, get ready for disappointment. This movie was so far from the book that it borders on a new storyline. Even the “who” in this “whodunit” was different.

A few characters in the book were also missing (a couple of them rather important, in my opinion).
I could go on and list all the things that were wrong about the movie in comparison to the book, but that would be a completely different review.

The Lightning Thief is about a teenager, Percy, who’s living a rather normal life with his mom, Sally, and his smelly stepfather, Gabe.

Then he finds out that the Greek myths are real and his father is Poseidon, god of the seas. Percy’s a demigod ‑ half-human, half-god.

He also finds out that he’s been wrongly accused of stealing Zeus’ master lightning bolt and has only days to return it to Zeus to clear his name or risk starting a war among the gods.

On the way to Camp Half-Blood, where demigods are trained to use their powers, Percy, his satyr protector/best friend Grover, and his mom encounter a Minotaur.

The Minotaur kidnaps Percy’s mom for Hades, god of the Underworld. Percy is forced to enter Camp Half-Blood without his mother. There, he finds out his teacher, Mr. Brunner, is a centaur. He also quickly develops a crush on another camper, Annabeth, daughter of Athena.

Percy, Annabeth and Grover set off on an adventure to save Percy’s mom from the Underworld with the help of a rather convenient map handed over by another camper.

A charming adventure with plenty of action, The Lightning Thief is an okay movie that you should see if you want something to do over the weekend. It should be rated PG-13 for suggestive material and what most reviews call “mild language.” I wouldn’t call it mild. Just a warning to all parents who see it’s rated PG and think, “Oh, I’m going to bring my 6-year old.”

There were so many scenes with suggestive material that I can’t even say which was the worst. From the daughters of Aphrodite, to the waitresses at the Lotus Casino and even Persephone herself, I can’t help but point out that all these scenes also involve goat-boy Grover.

Of course, there were quite a few enjoyable scenes.

The fight scenes were plenty of fun with graphics as good as any Harry Potter movie. One of my favorite scenes is when the three encounter Medusa on their quest to find the pearls that will help them escape from the Underworld.

As for the comparisons between The Lightning Thief and Harry Potter, the two series do have quite a bit in common, but it’s The Lightning Thief movie that really makes it seem like a Harry Potter rip-off. The books are less obvious with their similarities.

Overall, I give The Lightning Thief 2 ½ stars out of 5, and those go to the graphics, action scenes and Medusa.

And this is the rating I give it without comparisons to the book.

To the viewers: Don’t leave before the credits.
To Smelly Gabe: Well … you should’ve left before the credits.

Julie is a 14-year-old homeschooler from Arcadia who writes about movies and books at http://kidmoviekritic.blogspot.com.