M0vie

Review
 A film which was directed by a notable director for
all- time, Chris Columbus; written by Craig Titley, based
on the novel “The Lightning Thief,” in the Percy Jackson &
the Olympians series by Rick Riordan; director of
photography, Stephen Goldblatt; edited by Peter Honess;
music by Christophe Beck; production designer, Howard
Cummings; produced by Mr. Columbus, Karen Rosenfelt,
Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe; released by Fox
2000 Pictures. And even if the movie last for two hours
you will never feel the boredom because in every scene is
a must-watch.

With impressive cast that make the story more

pleasing Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson), Brandon T.
Jackson (Grover the Satyr), Alexandra Daddario
(Annabeth), Sean Bean (Zeus), Pierce Brosnan (Chiron the
Centaur/Mr. Brunner), Steve Coogan (Hades), Rosario
Dawson (Persephone), Catherine Keener (Sally Jackson),
Kevin McKidd (Poseidon), Joe Pantoliano (Gabe
Ugliano), Uma Thurman (Medusa) and Jake Abel (Luke).

So the verdict for Percy Jackson & the Lightning bolt

I dare say I was impressed by how engaging it was, so
much so that 2 hours just flew by, but that doesn't mean
that it didn't have its fair share of plot loopholes for you
to ridicule that make you chuckle that these are still
utilized in this day and age. Simply put, if the Greek gods
and goddesses were all powerful, especially that of Zeus,
well the first few minutes as played by Sean Bean, made
him out to be a clueless weakling who had his all powerful
lightning bolt being stolen from under his nose, like
taking candy from a kid, and now the kid's throwing a bad
tantrum, threatening the fate of the world and that of
Olympus unless his accused, the thief and demigod son
of Poseidon.

But that is only if Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is

guilty in the first place, given that he actually doesn't
know his half-god lineage no thanks to Poseidon being
horny enough to impregnate Sally Jackson (Catherine
Keener), and then Sally deciding to keep Percy safe from
jealous harm from other godly beings, because being the
son of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades (Steve Coogan) is a big
thing actually, the three being big daddies.
But of course in one fell swoop, all hell breaks loose,
Percy discovers that a Pen can indeed be a powerful
weapon, and allies himself with a Satyr Grover (Brandon
T. Jackson) his good friend and protector, the cute
demigod Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario) - note the
necessary trio of heroes they're demigods, but still need
to go to a camp to hone their special abilities, amongst
other Greek god off springs numbering in the hundreds,
in the middle of a nowhere forest, demarcated by a sign
board and a force field to keep them out.

Being an introductory film to the world of the

Olympians, we learn facts like why Percy's such a big
deal, and the little do's and don'ts they have to learn
from the likes of the centaur Chiron (Pierce Brosnan). But
kids being kids, and wanting to save his mom from the
clutches of Hell, Percy and his friends embark on an
American cross country road trip, and in the meantime
try to decipher just who could that Thief be, having 14
days as the deadline to meet, which forms the basis of
incidents and episodes that the trio come face to face
with in exhibiting their powers. The quest takes the three
teenagers to the lair of Medusa (Uma Thurman), a place
festooned with statues of those whom she has turned to
stone for daring to gaze into her eyes. Clad in black
leather and wearing dark glasses, Ms. Thurman’s Medusa
is chilly but by no means terrifying. Next stop is the
Parthenon in Nashville, where the security guards
metamorphose into a hydra with whom the teenagers do
battle. In Las Vegas, where a blue pearl is found lodged in
a roulette wheel, they linger for nearly a week in the
Lotus Hotel and Casino, where the hostesses dispense
memory-erasing lotus-flower canapés and showgirls
swarm over Grover. It’s the movie’s most fully realized
sequence.

Part of the fun is to see how other notable names

in the casting list get to play up their gods and demon
status. Uma Thurman stars as Medusa, spruced up by
special effects snakes adorned on her head, which at
certain points looked quite for its own good Joe Pantoliano
hams it up as Percy's smuggle, I mean human step dad,
and I was somewhat impressed by the extremely men
looking Hades, which can really strike fear with his
appearance. The final lap takes them to Olympus, which
is not a mountain in Greece but an imposing edifice
suspended above the Empire State Building. The
underworld, incidentally, isn’t very frightening, at least
until Hades (Steve Coogan), its seemingly genial host,
reveals his monstrous side. And even then, hell doesn’t
seem so horrific.

At first I thought the Percy Jackson movie series would

rival the Potter movie series. Both have are based on
novel series. Percy Jackson's director also directed the
first two Harry Potter movies. Both are on already
established genres - Harry Potter on wizards and witches,
and Percy Jackson on gods and goddesses of the Greek
mythology.

I should add that although there is no singing and

dancing in “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning
Thief,” the friendly scuffles at Camp Half-Blood, the lush,
lakeside training ground for adolescent demigods, are
staged like production numbers in a juvenile swords-and-
sandals pageant. For those who have forgotten,
demigods are the children of gods and goddesses who
procreated with humans.

Overall, I rate this movie 8 out of 10. Mind you, I had

very high expectations and I didn’t even expect I’d like it
this much. The feeling I had after seeing this reminds me
of the time when I first saw the first Harry Potter movie. It
was so surreal. A lot of things were different from the
book too but I was happy with what I saw and accepted it
as just a version of the story. People focus too much on
the negatives of every single thing in this world. I’d rather
look at the good side as doing otherwise won’t do me any
good anyway. The Percy Jackson movie is what it is – an
adaptation. Deal with it or if you can’t, take this as a clue
not to watch the next ones.
PROJECT
IN
MAPEH

Sumitted by:

Kristine Deomampo

Submitted to:

Maám Gladeys Cabello