The Oregon Faith Report - Faith News from Oregon

February 20, 2010

Faith-Family Film Review: The Lightning Thief PG
By Catholic Office of Film and Broadcasting

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief—A mildly troubled New York high school student (Logan Lerman) discovers his true identity as a demigod — offspring of the Greek sea god Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) and a human mother (Catherine Keener) — and embarks on a quest to prevent a war among the deities of Mount Olympus, assisted by a semi-divine teen girl warrior (Alexandra Daddario) and a courageous but untested adolescent satyr (Brandon T. Jackson). Director Chris Columbus’ glossy but shallow screen version of the first in novelist Rick Riordan’s best-selling series of children’s novels relies on some slick special effects to keep the adventure moving forward, though the titular hero’s transformation from a 12- to a 17-year-old introduces elements unsuitable for some of the book’s younger fans, while parents who see the tale’s mythological premise as more than a literary device will hesitate to allow impressionable youngsters to view it. Pagan themes, brief domestic discord, a few instances of sexual innuendo, a couple of crass terms. A-II — adults and adolescents. (PG) 2010.  Full Review