Movie Monday - Children of Gods: The Movie

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

First Released: February 2, 2010

Written by: Craig Titley and Joe Stillman, based on the novel by Rick Riordan

Directed by: Chris Columbus

Rating: PG


Summary: It's the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson's Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they're not happy: Zeus' lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy's mother.
As Percy finds himself caught between angry and battling gods, he and his friends embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true lightning thief, save Percy's mom, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves.





Well, it wasn’t the book, that’s for sure. Then again, almost no movie can surpass the phenomenal story of the book anyways, so all things considered this was a fairly good rendition.

I have to admit that I liked that the ages of Percy, Grover and Annabeth were changed to 16 but there were so many elements left out of the book that play an integral part in any up-coming sequels (The Sea of Monsters is due out some time in 2012, supposedly in 3D) that it makes me wonder if they were looking at the bigger picture when writing the script. I mean, come on; Clarisse, Thalia and the Oracle are all missing and they come to play such large roles later on in the books. They messed up the look of the characters that were there too. Annabeth is supposed to have fair hair and grey eyes, not be a brunette with blue ones. And when did I miss that Grover was black? However, his change I didn’t mind; it went well with his personality. Plus, what the hell is up with Persephone? Granted the take on her relationship with Hades was intriguing, I just didn’t see it as meshing well with that scene in the book.

Plot wise, it followed the same idea as the book. They go to Auntie Em’s Garden Emporium, they go to the Lotus Hotel and Casino, but suddenly the Hydra from the second book (at least I’m pretty sure that it was in the second book and not the third) is in the movie and they defeat it with Medusa’s head which was not shipped to Olympus and they’re able to drive.

I liked the ending – the one after a few of the credits ran. While it stuck to the book in many ways, it was a nice interpretation and change within the movie.

Overall, I did enjoy the movie but only when I wasn’t comparing it too critically to the book. It was better than Twilight, though, and that’s a major compliment. I’m really excited for when this comes out on DVD too so that I can see the extra features and see how they made the special effects and how they created the camp. As a movie separate from the book, I give this film an 8/10, but in comparison it ranks a little lower on the scale. Still, a good movie.