At roughly 2 hours, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (PJOTLT) is an overwrought inconsistently-paced ridiculous exercise of a flashy attempt at box-office magic that sputtered, fizzled, and barely crackled.

 

I read the novel 5 years ago and was underwhelmed by its ludicrously unimaginative vapid story and I refrained from reading the entire series. I share the same exact sentiment with this movie-adaptation of the novel authored by Rick Riordan.

 

A rehashed rip-off of Harry Potter's coming-of-age predicaments (the Harry Potter series shone with creativity and imagination), PJOTLT floundered like a naiad out of water and utterly devoid of story-telling magic. Even this movie's CGI is a dismal second to the CGI in the Harry Potter movies.

 

Director Chris Columbus who scored big hits with Mrs. Doubtfire and the first two movie-adaptations of the Harry Potter novels completely missed the mark with this movie mishap.

 

The cast exhibited bland and campy acting that was painful to watch as they attempted to convey a plot that made no sense while playing characters that lacked depth and development.

 

This movie might be too scary for the intended audience of pre-teens while barely amusing the pantheon of other movie-goers.

 

VERDICT:

Greek mythology murdered!

Grade: C-minus