Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Based on Rick Riordan's teen series of the same name, the plot of Percy Jackson is simple. Once it manifests itself. There are several parts of the story, however, that need to be set up and since this is the first chapter in what should be intended as a franchise, Percy's story needs to be established before we decide whether or not we like the characters that are placed before us.

I suppose we should start form the beginning: Zeus's lightning bolt has been stolen and Zeus accuses Poseidon's son of making off with it. Poseidon is appalled that his own brother would even think of pointing fingers at his nephew, but we'll later learn that there is a code between humans and gods that will take some mental power to follow.

Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman, who I'm sure we'll seeing more of in the coming years) is a high-school student whose greatest weakness is self-prescribed dyslexia. Percy sees English as Greek and vice versa, which isn't so much dyslexia as it is subconscious transference. He lives with his mother (Catherine Keener) and her boyfriend (Joe Pantoliano) who is the epitome of all things slimy. On a field trip to a museum containing Greek history, his English teacher pulls him aside and demands he return Zeus's lightning bolt, lest the gods wage war on each other. Percy, of course, understands nothing about what is going on and is rushed by his mother and his best friend, Grover, who also happens to be his protector, to a camp for demi-gods (half-god, half-human, in case you were wondering) hidden deep within a forest located conveniently next to a lake. Along the way, his mother is taken captive by a minotaur sent by Hades.

As Percy begins to adjust to this new life, Chiron the centaur (Pierce Brosnan) explains to him that Poseidon is his father and that he is the one accused of stealing Zeus's bolt. In fact, all the kids at Camp Half-Blood are offspring of Greek gods.

So after a well-paced, not-your-average capture-the-flag battle, Percy decides to leave the camp on his own to find the entrance to Hell, get his mother back, and find and return Zeus's bolt. All in a day's work, right? Grover, and a fellow demi-god AnnaBelle (Alexandria Daddario) also decide that they are going to accompany Percy on this treacherous journey. But as one of their fellow demi-god warriors explains: getting into Hell is easy, getting out is the hard part. So they must begin a cross-country journey finding three pearls that will allow them exit out of Hades. A journey that will cross paths with Medusa, the Hydra, and the Sirens. I'll leave it you to guess where the entrance to Hell might be.

With a cast that reeks of acting talent (Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Uma Thurman to name a few), not one actor is able to stand out among the rest because of the amount of screen time they're given. After all, the movie is called Percy Jackson and the Olympians, not the other way around.

Even though the screenplay still needed some work in the dialogue area, the special effects and action sequences make up for it. Chris Columbus has experience in filming scenes with several components (see the first two Harry Potter's) and that experience pays off here. Despite the plot being full of minor details and silly holes, Percy Jackson is a fun adventure that takes Greek mythology and turns it into something updated and modernized for younger viewers. Yes, history can be fun! C+