Young Percy Jackson discovers his father is Poseidon and is enlisted to recover Zeus’ lightning bolt. Writer Craig Titley adapted the script from the first book of Rick Riordan’s Greek myth-inspired series for younger readers. (No relation that I’m aware of, but I mention it to counter speculation once levelled at me by a commenter on thecoast.ca: What TWO people would make up a name like Titley?) The film does sacrifice character depth—Percy’s learning disability is mentioned only because it serves the plot later—and faithfulness to Greek mythology, but director Chris Columbus has skillfully made a smooth young-adult adventure.
This article appears in Feb 18-24, 2010.