Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Everything about Percy Jackson was poor apart from the general production standard and casting: the plot was the most terrible macguffin-driven clunker. The characters were all dull, and the choices of Greek figures to appear, from Medusa to Chiron, were the most obvious that could be imagined, and mostly it went unexplained how various dead figures returned to life for the story, and of course we ended up with a very Christian idea of Hades and his Underworld. There was lots of terrible dialogue, coincidence and bizarre morals: the hero is given dyslexia and ADHD, presumably in an attempt to appeal to kids who feel victimized and are not typically bookish types, yet it turns out that his conditions are in fact part of his divine nature – an escape those who genuinely struggle with them cannot share in, leading only to resent, I feel sure. There is a glorification of disobeying authority figures, womanizing and a depiction of gambling as extremely enjoyable, even if it is the lotophagi’s distraction. This gambling section also confuses ages, both of the characters themselves and of the target audience, as to be young enough to actually like the film, you would also have to be too young to have any idea about legal gambling, particularly in the States.