‘Percy Jackson’ is a fun movie (if you’re a kid)
I’m not the kind of person who thinks that traditional kid’s movies only have appeal to their target audiences. To me “The Princess and the Frog” was one of the most enjoyable movies I saw this year, and “Up” was just flat out terrific experience for everyone who saw it, so I usually don’t avoid kid’s movies just because they are made for kids. “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” was an exception to this. My nephew dragged me to it against my will. This was chiefly because I didn’t really feel the need to see another attempt at mimicking “Harry Potter”, and I hadn’t read the book for the same reason. Needless to say I wasn’t expecting anything great, and in this respect “Percy Jackson” delivered. It sure wasn’t great.
I spent the majority of the movie marveling at how ridiculous the dialogue was. It was like the characters were just stating the plot, instead of living it. The movie had a ton of big names and I spent the hour and a half mostly wondering what kind of a paycheck must have changed hands to get them on board with this poor a movie. Outside of some extremely stunning visual effects (which while awesome, were few and far between) there was almost nothing I found engaging about this movie. I did chuckle once in a while, chiefly at lines delivered by Grover, Percy’s protector, played by Brandon T. Jackson who is most recognized for his role in “Tropic Thunder”.
Having established that I really didn’t like much at all about this movie, I think it’s important to look at the person who dragged me there. Throughout the entire movie my nephew was on the edge of his seat. He laughed, he gasped, and he spilled his popcorn and didn’t notice because he was so entranced. He was not alone in this. A man who was sitting next to us with his young son spent most of the movie answering rapid fire questions from his young son who was absolutely intrigued by everything that happened in the movie, and this seemed to be going on throughout the theater.
From my perspective, “Percy Jackson” ranked among the worst movies that I have seen this year. What might be more important than my point of view on this were my nephews because it is a kid’s movie after all, and his response when I asked him what he liked about the movie was, “Everything!” In that right “Percy Jackson” was a hit.
Grade:
D+ (If you are an adult)
A (If you are a kid)
Troy Haines, 30, of Mapleton, graduated from the University of Maine at Presque Isle with a degree in outdoor leadership and natural resource protection. He also has a farm in Garfield Plantation where he grows “beyondorganic” produce, guides mountain and rock climbing, runs a butchering business, and works in grass-roots advocacy. The writer loves living and recreating in northern Maine, and is a huge fan of movies, music and books. He can be reached online at troy.haines@changethatworks.net.
