t seems that the Greek Mythology theme will rise to popularity once again in the beginning of 2010, cause before we see many of those Greek Gods returning to the big screen in “Clash of the Titans” remake, an adaptation flick from kid novel about son of Poseideon, “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief”, will also begin its journey in the cinema. Despite disappointing
returns for such kiddie fantasy flicks as “Eragon”, “The Golden Compass”, “City of Ember” and latest “Cirque Du Freak,” movie studios are still under the impression that any story that can get children to turn 1,000 pages is essentially going to be a blockbuster. There’s no different with “Percy”, the similarities between the set of novels and the Potter books, and more than a few glimpses in the trailer look as if Fox is really trying to build their own Potter-like franchise. Similarities to the Potter series are unavoidable while both are about ancient tropes about a youth with a shrouded past and a secret destiny. But rather than play out with another wizard, the story now try to make impact with a regular boy who finds out that he’s actually the son of a Greek God, and must then embark on an adventure which will help him earn his title as demigod. The film was based on the first book in the “Percy Jackson & The Olympians” series by Rick Riordan, that being listed at New York Times children’s Best Seller list, the adaptation film even has epic family film director like Chris Columbus behind the wheel. Columbus is certainly familiar enough with the genre, having helmed first two Harry Potter installments, “The Sorcerer’s Stone” and “The Chamber of Secrets”. Furthermore, his moneymaking track record with the younger set is long – aside from Harry, there’s that whole “Home Alone” thing. The books (five so far) theirself are reliable boys’ own adventures mashing up “Clash of the Titans” style Greek mythology and derring-do with a contemporary American setting, racing along and filling that Potter shaped hole in your reading habits. Portraying the eponymous Percy Jackson is young actor Logan Lerman who’s managed to stay under the radar despite impressive turns in “3:10 to Yuma” as Christian Bale’s son. Starring with him in the ensemble cast is who’s who in the industry, like Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Rosario Dawson, Sean Bean, Steve Coogan and Catherine Keener among others. Many have tried and failed to bring the so-called “next Harry Potter” to the big screen. So, do this Percy Jackson has the makings of a Potter-sized hit?
It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson’s Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they’re not happy: Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy’s mother. As Percy finds himself caught between angry and battling gods, he embarks on a journey across modern-day America with his friends Annabeth Chase, also a demigod, and Grover Underwood, a satyr, to catch the true lightning thief and save his mom. What he later learns is that the legendary beings of Greek mythology still exist in Mount Olympus which is located on the mythical 600th floor of the Empire State Building. But, being one of the “Big Three” children, he is frequently put under attack by monsters, including Medusa who uses the moniker of “Aunty Em”. To prevent a war between the gods, Percy unravels a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves.
FYI! The characters and their cast (Spoiler alert):
# Perseus “Percy” Jackson (Logan Lerman): The protagonist and narrator of the series and a son of Poseidon. Being a child of the “Big Three” (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades), Percy is possibly the half-blood referred to within the prophecy; the said prophecy foretells that the next half-blood child of the Big Three to reach the age of sixteen would make a decision that would either save or destroy Olympus.
# Grover Underwood (Brandon T. Jackson): He is a satyr and the best friend of Percy Jackson. He has found the four most powerful demigods of the century: Thalia Grace, Bianca di Angelo, Percy Jackson, and Nico di Angelo, all children of the big three. Grover is the only satyr that has found children of the Big Three.
# Annabeth Chase (Alexandra Daddario): The daughter of Athena, and one of Percy’s best friends. She is also the counselor of Athena’s cabin. She is shown to be somewhat pompous upon her first appearance, but quickly warms to Percy on their first quest together. Being a daughter of Athena, she is known to have a fascination with architecture.
# Luke Castellan (Jake Abel): One of Hermes’s children and a major antagonist of the series. Though initially the counselor of Cabin 11 and an ally to Percy, he revealed his true nature as a high-ranking member of Kronos’s army by attempting to kill Percy. He is shown to harbor a great bitterness towards the gods (and particularly his father, Hermes) for what he regards as abandonment.
# Persephone (Rosario Dawson): The goddess of springtime and queen of the Underworld. She is married to Hades. Her mother is Demeter, whom she is only allowed to visit in spring and summer.
# Hades (Steve Coogan): The god of the Underworld. He is the husband of Persephone and is Nico and Bianca di Angelo’s father. Percy first encounters him in “The Lightning Thief” on his quest to find and return Zeus’s master bolt.
# Medusa (Uma Thurman): The gorgon monster who, under the moniker of “Aunty Em”, attempted to lull Percy, Annabeth, and Grover into a false sense of security and turn them into stone statues.
# Sally Jackson (Catherine Keener): She is the mother of Percy. In the beginning of the series, it is indicated that Sally works at a candy shop called “Sweet on America” and said that she wanted to be an author when she was young.
# Chiron (Pierce Brosnan): In the series, he plays the part of the mentor and activities director to the main protagonist Percy Jackson and the other demigods residing at Camp Half-Blood. In the first book, he appears under the pseudonym of Mr. Brunner.
# Poseidon (Kevin McKidd): The god of the ocean and earthquakes. He is Percy’s father and in the first book, he is suspected to have stolen the Zeus’s master bolt.
# Athena (Melina Kanakaredes): The goddess of wisdom and war strategy. Athena is described as being beautiful but also serious and foreboding. She has dark hair and intense grey eyes. Athena considers Percy to be very dangerous as he has the potential of fulfilling the Prophecy that a child of one of the Big Three will destroy Olympus.
# Hermes (Dylan Neal): Messenger of the Gods, God of Thieves and Travelers.
# Silena Beauregard (Chelan Simmons): A daughter of Aphrodite.
# Hera (Erica Cerra): The goddess of marriage.
# Zeus (Sean Bean): The King of the Gods and the god of the sky. He is one of the principal characters in the first episode of the series.
# Aphrodite (Serinda Swan): The goddess of love and beauty.
# Demeter (Stefanie von Pfetten): The goddess of the Earth and Harvest.
# Ares (Ray Winstone): The god of war. He drives a huge motorcycle decorated with flames and human skin. He wears red sunglasses that cover his eyes, which are flames. His face is covered with scars from many fights.
# Apollo (Dimitri Lekkos): The god of the Sun, Poetry, Prophecy, Sport and Virtue. He drives a flying red convertible, a Maserati Spyder, that glows brightly like the sun. He appears to be about 18 years old, has sandy colored hair and dazzling white teeth. Apollo wears Ray-Ban sunglasses and an iPod.
Lightning Thief Trivia:
# Portions of the film were shot at the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon inAthens.
# The character of Percy is supposed to be 12 years old in The Lightning Thief, and is only 16 during the fifth and final book. Lerman is already 17 years old (and will be 18 by the time this movie hits theaters on Feb. 12).
# Erica Cerra tells Sci-Fi Wire that it was precisely the similarity between Harry Potter and Percy Jackson that made her so enthusiastic about her role in the picture.
# Pierce Brosnan rescued Uma Thurman from a runaway van while shooting the film. “No one was aboard the runaway van as it barrelled towards a grassy area where Uma was relaxing with cast and crew,” a source told. Pierce raced after the van, wrenched open the driver’s side door, jumped in and slammed on the brakes. The vehicle hit a curb, crashed into several rubbish bins and sent the cast and crew scurrying in numerous directions before Brosnan brought it to a halt.
Theatrical release dates:
Feb 10, 2010: Belgium
Feb 11: Argentina, Australia, Germany, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Ukraine
Feb 12: Brazil, Finland, Italy, Norway, UK, USA
Feb 17: Egypt
Feb 19: Sweden
Mar 27: Japan
Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia – Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Michael Moore is a very controversial documentary film maker. The topics of his film certainly spark some protests and debates as people see his style as biased. You can be sure whenever a Michael Moore film comes out; people will talk about how the truth he is presenting is spun on a different light. We have had our fair share of Michael Moore films. We even reviewed “Sicko” (you can read our review of “Sicko” here) last year. You may not know this but a film two decades ago actually jumpstarted Michael Moore’s career – the film “Roger & Me”. It is a look into Moore’s hometown of Flint, Michigan and how it was drastically affected when General Motors decided to move out, leaving a large portion of the population unemployed.
Maggie Cheung
— reminded me in conversation, this will undoubtedly cause a media stir
