Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (www.the-usher.com)

"This is a pen"

For this entire life, Percy Jackson (Lerman) thought he was destined to be just your average life. This all changes when he takes a school trip to the Ancient Greek exhibit at the museum in New York. Here he is confronted by a creature, telling him that he is the Lightening Thief and he has to give Zeus’ bolt to her. Not knowing what is going on, his teacher Mr. Brunner (Brosnan) and his best friend Grover (Walsh) reveal to him the truth behind his birthright. Percy is no ordinary boy but the son of a God and he is in mortal danger.

With the ‘Harry Potter’ series dominating the family, fantasy movie box office all over the world, Studios are frantically looking for the next franchise that can take on the boy wizard but can ‘Percy Jackson’ have the same impact?

The ‘Harry Potter’ franchise has become a powerhouse at the box office and J.K. Rowling’s creation has become a phenomenon all over the world. With the ‘Twilight’ saga doing the same for vampires and werewolves as ‘Potter’ did for wizards, all of the Hollywood studios are looking for that next possible franchise based on a best selling book. With ‘The Golden Compass’ and ‘Eragon’ failing at the box office and even ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ having to change studios to continue, the fantasy family picture is becoming a battleground. Now it is turn of the popular ‘Percy Jackson’ novels but can the reinvention of the classical Greek myths make a franchise?

Based on the first book of a series of five, ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief’ introduces us to a world where the ancient Greek Gods still exist and their children, the demigods, are trained to be heroes. Novelist Rick Riordan has moved the stories from Greece to modern America however and, for this story, Percy doesn’t know anything of his heritage or the powers he has building inside him. He is, in fact, the son of Poseidon, the God of the Sea who fell in love with his mother before having to return to Olympus and watch his son grow up from the heavens. Years later, when Percy is supposed to be enjoying his teenage years, he discovers his heritage when he is accused by a Fury of stealing Zeus’ most powerful weapon, his lightning bolt. From then he is taken into the care of his teacher Mr. Brunner and his best friend Grover, who have been watching over him all of his life. Now he has to know everything and begin the training he needs to fight off the forces who think he has the bolt and want to hurt his father. This, of course, makes for a classic boys-own adventure but there are far too many similarities to many other family fantasy movies.

For one, Percy Jackson, played by Logan Lerman, has a best friend who would love to be like him in Grover, played by Brandon T. Jackson and a female friend called Annabeth, played by Alexandra Daddario, who just happens to be the most intelligent and best ‘warrior’ at the training school. There is a mentor, Mr. Brunner played by Pierce Brosnan, who has been keeping things from Har…Percy and training him to fulfill his destiny. Percy has an awful stepfather who treats him like a second-class citizen and he has to solve the adventure himself while the grown ups argue amongst themselves. While he does have a mother and a father, there are many plot points are only slightly different than those of the boy wizard and the fact that the director of the first two Harry Potter films, Chris Columbus is at the helm will make you understand why.

Updating the Greek myths and transferring them to modern America isn’t the best idea but ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief’ still has some fun to offer. With the cast having fun with their roles and a plot that provides plenty of family adventure, the movie is entertaining enough but you will be comparing it to ‘Harry Potter’ throughout and it does not have the same magic.

PICTURE & SOUND

The Blu-Ray disc presents the movie in High Definition wide screen 1:85 up to 1080p, with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound. The Blu-Ray package also includes the DVD and Digital Copies of the movie, making it a great value package.

BONUS FEATURES

Deleted scenes
A collection of deleted or extended scenes that didn’t make the final edit of the film.

Featurettes
Entitled ‘Secrets of the Gods’, ‘Inside Camp Half-Blood’, ‘On Set with Brandon T. Jackson’, ‘Meet the Demigods’ and ‘Composing for the Gods: A Conversation with Christophe Beck’, the cast and crew of ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief’ come together to talk about the production of the movie.

Discover Your Powers quiz
An interactive quiz about the powers you have if you are a demigod.

BD Live extras
Place the disc into a internet connected Blu-Ray player or PlayStation 3 and gain access to even more bonus features

OVERALL

The Blu-Ray treatment for ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief’ is one that fans will enjoy. With the extra value Triple-Play, with the HD, DVD and digital copy of the film also adds to the value of this package.

BLU-RAY

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2010