I've always held a pretty geeky interest in Ancient Greek mythology, so when a film comes along that promises to combine that with a sturdy cast list, and a leading man who's smile could light up the midnight sky, it was always going to stir up a little excitement. Thankfully, the opening film of (what will hopefully be a full and complete cinematic collection of) the Percy Jackson book series lives up to the self-incited hype.
As the first of a pentalogy of stories goes, it's a pretty neat concept. Sons and daughters of the long-hidden Greek gods roam the Earth, often unaware of their demi-god status. Percy Jackson is one of those fabled offspring, born to Poseidon (Greek god of the sea, for those who chose to miss their Ancient Greek classes at school), and accused of stealing the master bolt of Zeus (brother of Poseidon, and king of the gods). Convoluted family trees aside, the movie deals with his coming to terms with his paternal heritage, and ultimately, his quest to clear his name and stop a war that will engulf all of mankind. Pretty standard stuff then.
Logan Lerman (who's face will be hauntingly familiar to anyone who happens to have seen The Butterfly Effect more than about 3 months before seeing this - yes, that's him...) plays the reluctant hero, and does a relatively admiral job. Assuming (as I did) you can forgive him the slightly wooden, and painfully obviously choreographed fight sequences (if I had a sword being swung in my face, I'd make sure I was leaning back just slightly before I needed to as well), he plays a pretty competent demi-god. The power of the casting however, lies in the supporting cast; Sean Bean plays a commanding (although slightly petulant) Zeus, and Pierce Brosnan dons a shoulder length wig and (perhaps more noteworthy) a horse's body to become the centaur Chiron. Besides them, Uma Thurman playing a creepy snake-haired Medusa seems pretty hard to resist. For me, the only weak link in the cast is the unfortunately placing of Steve Coogan, making for a particularly unconvincing Hades, and not exactly having the Brian Blessed-esque depth of bellow to make his voice sound remotely fearsome.
Aside from that, the film really does stand up strong. With impressive visual effects, the film maintains a good pace, rewarding the viewer with beguiling little Greek nuggets and plot twists all the way through. Worrying, then, as to why it took 20th Century Fox 18 months after the original release to commit to making the sequel. Currently pencilled for March 2013, I can only hope that the extra time focusses their minds to get the other three filmed soon after.
As the first of a pentalogy of stories goes, it's a pretty neat concept. Sons and daughters of the long-hidden Greek gods roam the Earth, often unaware of their demi-god status. Percy Jackson is one of those fabled offspring, born to Poseidon (Greek god of the sea, for those who chose to miss their Ancient Greek classes at school), and accused of stealing the master bolt of Zeus (brother of Poseidon, and king of the gods). Convoluted family trees aside, the movie deals with his coming to terms with his paternal heritage, and ultimately, his quest to clear his name and stop a war that will engulf all of mankind. Pretty standard stuff then.
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| Parting the Red Sea... Hang on, wrong religion. |
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| Some days you get out of bed, and your hair just seems to have a life of it's own... (Sorry... too easy) |
Aside from that, the film really does stand up strong. With impressive visual effects, the film maintains a good pace, rewarding the viewer with beguiling little Greek nuggets and plot twists all the way through. Worrying, then, as to why it took 20th Century Fox 18 months after the original release to commit to making the sequel. Currently pencilled for March 2013, I can only hope that the extra time focusses their minds to get the other three filmed soon after.
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