Percy Jackson & the Olympians- The Lightning Thief

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Didn't see a thread on this, saw this movie this weekend, loved the music and the concept but it was pretty lame, the CGI monsters were pretty bad, but loved Boromir as Zeus!

What'd you all think?

 

[OmahaStar]

The book was much better, but the movie wasn't bad. It suffered by having a director who thinks he's more talented than he really is.

 

[FordSVT]

Not up to the standards of most of the HP movies, but better than crap like Narnia.

 

[Basill]

It was cute, but simple; A nice get-out-of-the-house movie. I never read the book, but I guessed the thief plot the second they mentioned "daddy issues." Decent effects but not first rate and some of the creatures seemed a bit cartoonish. I though Mt. Olympus was pretty amazing though and I liked the Mr. Brunner and Grover characters. Great music and, of course, the people were pretty.

I have to say, I wasn't expecting the Parthenon to show up in there. Living and working in Nashville that came as quite a surprise. Afterward however, I seemed to vaguely recollect some mention of that portion being filmed here, but I wasn't that familiar with the book franchise at the time so I obviously didn't pay much attention. The theater I was in actually broke into laughter when that showed up. Yee Haw! (lame but cute)

I could see a kid enjoying it and my inner kid certainly did, especially because I love ancient Greek and Roman myth.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

That reminds me, I REALLY hated the wise cracking "THAT"S WACK" black character. I also cringed when he implied Obama's a demigod.

 

[OmahaStar]

That reminds me, I REALLY hated the wise cracking "THAT"S WACK" black character. I also cringed when he implied Obama's a demigod.

Potential spoilers from the book here ... It's not specifically Obama that he's referring to. In the book, there is a list of political leaders who are (in that universe) demigods, and names several of them. Obama is not among them. But then, the books were published before anyone had ever heard of him.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I saw the film. It was good, but not great. It's funny because the film doesn't nearly strive to be as good as some of the better Harry Potter films (that Chris Columbus didn't direct...) which I guess is fitting. I mean, honestly it flowed better and was more entertaining than the first HP film to an extent. It felt like Columbus wasn't trying to be overtly faithful to the source material like he was with the HP films, even though I've never read the Percy Jackson books.

I hope Chris Columbus doesn't become the "go-to" guy for these sort of adaptations because he's a very workmanlike director without much creativity, and these type of films are exactly the kinds that necessitate a wide range of creativity. However, if sequels are to follow, and I'm assuming that was the intention, he sets things up nicely: the characters are interesting and fun, and there's this great supporting cast that while underutilized in this film, could use more fleshing out in potential sequels.

That and he handled the action and the visuals far greater than he ever did with the Harry Potter films. The "capture the flag" segment was well-staged and well framed, and the last segment in New York was especially thrilling and visually captivating.

 

[Hoser]

That reminds me, I REALLY hated the wise cracking "THAT"S WACK" black character. I also cringed when he implied Obama's a demigod.

Potential spoilers from the book here ... It's not specifically Obama that he's referring to. In the book, there is a list of political leaders who are (in that universe) demigods, and names several of them. Obama is not among them. But then, the books were published before anyone had ever heard of him.

As well as superstars and historical figures, like the Beatles or Harriet Tubman.