Percy Jackson and the Olympians the Lightning Theif - Dispelling Myths  
| Stop me if you've heard this one before.
This is the story of a young man who discovers he has magical origins, is being hunted by a great and powerful evil, is taken to a place where he can learn to use his powers and discovers his ability to be a hero.
Deja vu?
There is another thing that Percy Jackson shares with Harry Potter, the director that started off the series. Chris Columbus, who is known for making very pedestrian, characterless films, made the first 2 Harry Potter films and has now made the first Percy Jackson film. Jackson suffers from what the first couple Potter films did, a lack of imagination and sense of wonder. Something isn't "magical" just because you are told it is. You need more than special effects to create movie magic. A film like this needs a world built around it for these characters and their magic to live in, a place for the audience to get lost in so that we believe.
I believe the Potter films found their way there once Columbus left the series. Plus, Rowling did not release her hold on the creative control which allowed for much of her mythology to survive and not be stamped out by Columbus' vanilla-ization of her product. This Jackson series doesn't seem to have the same strength. I wonder if it will survive Columbus' touch.
Still, there was a lot to enjoy in The Lightning Thief. As a child I would have loved these books. I was a voracious reader of books about Greek mythology and seeing a world of modern demi-gods come to life would have fascinated me. As a child I may not have been as bothered by the lack of imagination that this film shows and simply enjoyed seeing this world come to life. I think there is potential here for a great story. And Logan Lerman has great star quality. Maybe if this series can ditch Columbus it can have a chance of being something special too.
But maybe not. I am not familiar with the books so I don't know if it's the adaptation or the source. But much of the story feels like a rip off. The Medusa scene is ripped right out of Clash of the Titans. The thing already feels like a pale Potter imitation it isn't helped by stealing from other sources.
There is a great idea here and if this series can find some originality and some "magic" I think it could be an entertaining series. Or maybe it will just fall into the pile of uninspired film adaptations trying to jump on the Narnia and Lord of Rings bandwagon s like The Golden Compass and Eragon.
| |
