Review of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) by Cameron J — 16 Dec 2013

"Percy and the Olympians; long tails and ears for hat...ians... or something!" Jokes about "Josie and the Pussy Cats", and apparently Haitians aside, please don't tell me that there hasn't been a whole lot of people pointing out the fact that "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" sounds like a '60s pop-rock band, and that it doesn't help that Logan Lerman looks like a '60s pop-rock star. Well, trying to compare this film to rock music makes me either think of '60s pop-rock or, well, AC/DC, because Jackson is a schoolboy with a lightning bolt, and Chris Columbus appears to be taking on AC/DC's strategy during the big Bon Scott-Brian Johnson transition, in that he is working to make up for an iconic height in career success with something that is more-or-less the same. Actually, let me retract that comparison, because where Brian Johnson turned out to be just as awesome as the late, great Bon Scott, this film is far from "Harry Potter", though that might just be because Columbus wanted to rush this thing into the theaters before the 2010 "Harry Potter" installment, knowing that it would be too forgotten by the time "The Deathly Hallows Part 1" was released for people to think about the fact that they kicked Columbus out of the "Harry Potter" series because he was holding it back. Don't get me wrong, I like the first two "Harry Potter" films, but I don't get why so many people appreciated Columbus' effort so much, because by the time David Yates smacked me off of my feet with "The Half-Blood Prince", I quickly remembered that Columbus has never been that good of a filmmaker. This film hardly shows that Columbus is getting better, you know, unless you take into account that the last film he did was "I Love You, Beth Cooper", something that I am not doing, as I am one of the many people in the world who did not see "I Love You, Beth Cooper". I'm sure it was quite the misfire, as this film is sloppy enough, although it's far from the disaster that 2010 brought to the Haitians who ears featured in this film were apparently intended for (Look at the joke at the beginning of this article to get the joke, then look up the theme song for "Josie and the Pussycats" to get than joke, and then you can groan over my sense of humor), thanks to a couple of aspects.

Ostensibly attempting to take from the musical themes that John Williams applied to the first three "Harry Potter" films that Columbus is taking one too many beats from, Christophe Beck crafts a score for this film that is pretty conventional, but nevertheless kept going as one of the more commendable attributes by a certain colorful heart that proves to be an, if you will, "instrumental" driver for the entertainment value that proves to be an instrumental savior of the final product from contempt, sometimes to be joined by some pretty fun action sequences. Well, to tell the truth, the action within this adventure pseudo-blockbuster is often a tad underwhelming, thanks to anything from hiccups in effects to almost cheesily bland, or at least formulaic staging, yet dynamicity is reasonably lively, with a hint of intensity that is complimented by Beck's score and anchored by some tighter moments in consequence establishment, no matter how limited. Even in style, the film is hit-or-miss, with glaring misses and improvable hits, and yet, style is arguably stronger than substance, carrying a liveliness that actually compliments substance which is, if nothing else, colorfully fluffy. Even in concept, this reportedly very loose interpretation of a story originated by young adult fantasy novelist Rick Riordan is derivative and, in plenty of ways, questionable, with Craig Titley's scripted execution being even sloppier, yet on paper, the idea behind this adventure flick holds pretty colorful potential, often genuinely done justice, at least by direction. Granted, Chris Columbus' direction is almost hopelessly misguided when it really slips up, so it's about as instrumental in ruining the film as it is in saving the film, keeping pacing brisk with lively plays with score work and scene structuring, and sustaining a certain charm through sheer ambition. Well, ambition is rather limited, and what ambition there is reflects limitations in storytelling, but the fact of the matter is that there is a heart to this film that is almost endearing, especially when kept pumping by some inspired elements in style and storytelling that save the final product from a slip into downright bad. Still, make no mistake, the film comes too close to bad for comfort, being fun for the young and hopefully not too big of a challenge to the grown-ups, but one seriously mediocre mess that doesn't even carry that much meat on paper.

Simply a fluffy adventure idea that is mainly aimed at the young, this story concept is superficial, though not as much as it is derivative, or rather, trite, at least when Craig Titley's script gets to be hopelessly formulaic in its stereotypical characterization, as well as plotting that is, not heavy with tropes, but essentially comprised of tropes. This very modernist take on legendary Olympian mythologies holds the potential to be refreshing, but it ends up being hardly anything new at all, and such utter predictability deals an overwhelming blow to the engagement value of a somewhat superficial story concept which is riddled with natural shortcomings. Yeah, it's kind of hard to be all that inspired when working with material this light in bite, but quite frankly, there's no excusing Titley for being so messy with his scripting, offering a narrative structure that is hard to buy, even in the context of this mythology, while characterization proves to be lacking in compellingness, not at all helped by the portrayals of the thinly drawn characters. Now, there are more than a few decent performances here, such as young leading man Logan Lerman, the reasonably charming Brandon T. Jackson, and even the surprisingly effective Steve Coogan, but when it comes to the sizable supporting cast, most folks are either under-inspired or over-the-top, with a consistency in mediocrity, punctuated by embarrassingly campy moments. One too many performances are mighty cheesy, though in all fairness, it cannot be easy to make this material less than cheesy, as Titley's dialogue ranges from fall-flat to near-grating, - particularly when behind lame humor - while hammy plays with this mythology hamstring the bite of this story, which is limited enough in concept, without messy writing. I suppose Titley's script is a total mess, maybe even something of a disaster, with Chris Columbus' direction being more inspired, but still quite misguided, with underwhelming style and sloppy plays with technical value that keep liveliness watered down enough for you to feel the questionability of the works with plot structuring and performance that feel campy, only backed with too much ambition to be fun on a tongue-in-cheek level. Sure, Columbus' ambition has a charm about it that pretty decisively saves the film from plummeting into contempt, but at the same time, a desire to make, say, the next "Harry Potter", while not intense enough to keep Columbus from getting to be glaringly lazy, calls your attention toward the shortcomings, of which there are oh so very many, maybe not to where you get a bad film, but certainly to where you end up with a fall-flat film.

When the storm has cleared, decent score work and action stylize the lively, somewhat charmingly ambitious telling of a fluffy story that is colorful enough to keep the final product from frying as contemptible, but engagement value is thinned out enough by natural shortcomings, without the often fall-flat acting, trite, cheesy and all around lazy writing, and misguided direction that come close to driving "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" into disaster, and certainly craft a hopelessly mediocre "effort".

2/5 - Weak.