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February 17, 2010

Fantasy film fun but doesn't match up to Harry Potter

By STEVE OUELLETTE, Movie Review

It's impossible to watch "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" and not compare it to Harry Potter.

In one, a young boy discovers he's the secret child of wizards; in the other, a young boy discovers he's the secret child of a Greek god. Both films are filled with magical and mystical creatures and happenings. Both are extremely popular pieces of juvenile fiction brought to the big screen by director Christopher Columbus.

Harry Potter, however, doesn't have anything to worry about. Not yet anyway.

"The Lightning Thief" is fast-moving, action-packed and reasonably entertaining, but ultimately it's also a little hollow and lacking in the wonder and imagination that the Harry Potter movies have been able to generate — at least the Harry Potter movies since Columbus stopped directing them.

Portrayed by Logan Lerman, Percy Jackson is a teenage misfit (about 5 years older than the character in the book) who soon discovers that the father he never met was actually the god Poseidon. That makes him a demigod, with abilities above and beyond the usual high-school junior. He also discovers that his best friend Grover is half-goat and his trusted teacher (Pierce Brosnan) is really a noble centaur and director of a whole summer camp full of demigods.

Percy, for some reason, is accused of stealing the lightning bolt of Zeus and is given a short time to return it or, well, all Hades is going to break out. We don't know why a nearly omnipotent god makes this rather blatant and stupid mistake, and we never find out. It's one of several unexplained moments in the movie that could leave non-readers of the book baffled.

Percy, Grover (played by Brandon T. Jackson of "Tropic Thunder") and the half-daughter of Athena, Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), then set out on a quest to make things right and rescue Percy's mom (Catherine Keener) at the same time.

Along the way, they have several effects-laden encounters, most notably Uma Thurman's excellent Medusa.

Lerman does a reasonably believable job as Percy, but the film has very little character development, particularly for the supporting characters. Annabeth gets to be pretty and wield a mean sword; Grover cracks jive jokes and becomes a little annoying. Joe Pantoliano does have a couple of good scenes as Percy's loathsome stepdad (wait until after the credits for one of them).

I haven't read the Percy Jackson series, but judging by the fact that my movie companion tugged on my sleeve every 15 seconds and whispered, "That definitely wasn't in the book," I'm fairly certain that "The Lightning Thief" isn't completely faithful to the source material.

Despite its lack of Harry Potter's charm and sense of wonder, "The Lightning Thief" is a fun movie with pretty good effects and it will appeal to plenty of children. Maybe the inevitable sequel will reach a little higher.

Rental Recommendation: Logan Lerman showed a lot of talent as Christian Bale's son in the violent (don't show the kids) Western "3:10 to Yuma." Grade: A-

E-mail Steve Ouellette at: ouellette1918@gmail.com

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