Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" novels earn something akin to a Harry Potter treatment in "The Lightning Thief," the first film in what Fox hopes will be the next big tween fantasy franchise.
Like the Potter films, it's a quest tale and a piece of a coming-of-age puzzle. Like Potter, it has splendid effects, young little-known actors in the leads and a colorful collection of character actors surrounding them.
Like the first Potter films, it was directed by Chris Columbus. And like them, it lacks much that one could call the spark of life. It's perfunctory, watchable but obvious. Impressive moments flail up against dull staging. Flippant, funny lines are too few and far between.
Percy, played by Logan Lerman, sort of Shia by way of (Christian) Slater, is a high school kid with ADHD and dyslexia, a kid who doesn't fit in, except when he's at in the bottom of the school pool. Then, his substitute teacher turns into a raging Fury, his best friend, Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) flings aside his crutches to defend him and his favorite teacher (Pierce Brosnan) rises from his wheelchair to reveal that he's a centaur. Yes, he jokes. "I have a real horse's ass."
Percy, it turns out, is the son of Poseidon. Now, Zeus (Sean Bean) has lost his lightning bolt, and the gods of Olympus are breaking into factions for a war. Percy's mortal mom (Catherine Keener) is snatched by Hades (Steve Coogan). Percy is pursued by Medusa (Uma Thurman), faces a hydra and a minotaur as he searches for the underworld, with the help of a magic map.
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Columbus trots us through the introductions, the "Half Bloods" camp where demi-gods like Percy and the cute Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), daughter of Athena, train like Spartans. The film plods between locations. But give Columbus his due. Once Percy, Grover and Annabeth reach those locations, funny and spectacular things occur.
For what it is and for whom it is intended, it's not a bad movie, just an indifferent one. Like too many "New Harry Potters" such as "The Golden Compass" and "The Seeker: The Dark is Rising," this one answers the question, "Why not see Percy this weekend" with "Why see Percy this weekend?" And that's no answer at all.
'Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief'
2 stars (out of 4)
Cast: Logan Lerman, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Catherine Keener
Director: Chris Columbus.
Running time: 1 hour, 59 minutes.
Industry rating: PG for action, violence and peril, some scary images and suggestive material, and mild language.
