Movie review: 'Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief'
As in most of the magical adolescent movie stars go, the teenage deuce-ace forming the core of the film "Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief" fails to match up with the gang from Gryffindor.

What matters the most is the casting! The movie is the translation of the first book from a five volume series about a lad who finds him to be the half-human, half-divine son of Poseidon, the Greek God written by Rick Rordan to the screen. The writer’s fans will be disheartened to see that the main character in the movie has gone from a flippant oddity that wakes up with superpowers to, well, a failure. In the book, Rordan has characterized him as a superhero such as Holden Caulfield with a sword. Furies and hydras are the ones who have been transformed from people called "phonies."

Logan Lerman has been cast as Percy, who is a sweet young man with lovely hairs but doesn’t have any recognizable interior life. The director has used the special effects which have more going on at the back of their eyes.Alexandra Daddario, who plays the smart gal role of the Goddess Athena's daughter Annabeth fails to make a mark with her performance. Both Daddario and her co-star turn the characters of Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens appear like Tracy and Hepburn. The actor who has left an impression on the audiences is Brandon T. Jackson. He portrays the character of Percy's best friend Grover who is goofy, jive-talking satyr.

Most of the movie is able to carry on the adaptation by director Chris Columbus and screenwriting by Craig Titley. As the story progresses the lead character Percy is accused of stealing a lightning bolt which is the dearest possession of Zeus played by Sean Bean. The young lad and comrade are all set to put the things back into their right place that means they just not have to bring out the real thief but also have to save Percy's mortal mother played by Sean Bean, who has been kidnapped by Hades played by Steve Coogan. 

In the process of transforming Riordan's book into a movie, the directors have actually eliminated all the characters. The casting team has missed on the characters like the God Ares along with his half-blood daughter Clarisse. The script has been rewritten in order to make it cinematic.

This is what show business is all about. Whereas the book had sooooooo much going on in it. Anyways !!! Luckily, the director has kept two great story parts largely intact: one is when the kids run into Medusa played by Uma Thurman, who is dressed in a coif of wriggling, computer-generated snakes and the other one when Percy, Annabeth and Grover get ambush in a Las Vegas casino with a group of drugged-out lotus eaters.

What is going to hurt the fans the most is that the movie is missing the true voice of the book. The way Riordan has realized Percy's sense of humor has given readers a sardonic delight. Literary adventures of Percy's though being violent at times but have always tempered with narrative wit. The movie lacks a magical effect as it has been taken little more seriously. It's not just less funny as compared to the book but also has less fun.
The movie runs for 119 minutes. Releases on February 19.