Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

I had the chance of watching this movie last Saturday in Gateway Mall with my brothers Jobo & Popo and nephew Dave.

But before that, allow me to rave about something lucky. In line with the celebration of  HVD, the Gateway Cinemas came up with some pick-a-prize promo. Two (2) tickets will entitle the ticket holder to pick a prize. Since we have four (4) tickets, we're entitled to pick two prizes. Popo, who proudly claimed that he's a lucky guy, volunteered to fish whatever prize in the bowl. (Fact: He was born on March 8, 1988, and "8" is said to be a lucky number in the Chinese domain.) It was also the eve of KHFC last Saturday, so after a unanimous vote, we let him pick the prize in bowl # 1. True enough, he was able to win two (2) Dairy Queen GCs for (cue suspense music) two Dilly Bars! He's a lucky guy indeed!

Okay, back to the main premise. The film completely reminds me of the famous Harry Potter. You know, a seemingly outcast kid who had an absentee father (HP, however, is orphaned on both sides.) got the biggest surprise when he learned he possessed magical powers. Fantasy stuff in the big screen. Plus, a great reference to Greek mythology was there, and it was enough to keep me wide awake all throughout. And Percy Jackson (PJ for brevity) lived in the Big Apple - a bonus  for me! PJ has Poseidon as his father, so that makes him a demi-god. He can control anything H20. Poor innocent PJ was tagged as the lightning thief by the great Zeus. Zeus told Poseidon that the lightning bolt must be returned to Mount Olympus before the summer solstice (10 days if I'm not mistaken), otherwise a great war will happen.

And boom! The next thing I saw, Pierce Brosnan (the handsomest James Bond I ever know) was on a wheelchair (posing as PJ's Latin teacher) and later a centaur* named Chiron (Camp Half-Blood's resident trainer). It got me thinking, "What have they done to my Pierce?" So PJ was sent to Camp Half-Blood after he witnessed his mother vanished in the hands of a minotaur** which, I think, was portrayed in a substandard animation. And a series of adventure ensued with his two companions Grover (PJ's protector/satyr***) and Annabeth (daughter of Athena). Goal: To get the three pearls which will be their return ticket from the scary underworld to reality. Said pearls are scattered in three states in the US of A.

The trio went on three major adventures for the, yes, pearls. Childhood adventure/ fantasy for y'all!

1. A trip to a statue (?!) garden somewhere in New Jersey. Here, they encountered the evil Medusa. Uma Thurman was so convincing with all the almost real snakes in her head. I love the part where PJ used his iPod as his rear view mirror to escape Medusa's spell. Yes, they got the first pearl.
2. Trip to Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee. The music capital of the world. I suddenly remember my Uncle Jimmy who is based there. The trio is supposed to get the pearl from the crown of the giant statue of Athena. After battling with some multiple-headed monster (I forgot the Greek name. Sorry.), they got the pearl.
3. Trip to a hotel casino in, where else but, Las Vegas, Nevada. After munching lotus flowers, the trio was left in a trance and were trapped in the casino for five days. A fatherly whisper from Poseidon brought PJ to reality and the trio successfully got the last pearl.

Then off to the underworld where Hades reigns supreme. The underworld was creepy, just like I had imagined in Greek mythology lessons in high school. PJ finally saw his mother. They used the three pearls as return tickets to reality. Grover, however, chose to stay in favor of PJ's mother. He had some flirty moments with Persephone who was being held captive as Hades' wife.

And so on and so forth. PJ battled with Luke, son of Hermes, who turned out to be the true lightning thief. Then PJ and Annabeth (she looks more like a goddess than her mom Athena) went to Mount Olympus. Here's the amusing part: So Mount Olympus is just way above the Empire State Building? PJ finally met his father and had a talk with the latter.

Then it's back to Camp Half-Blood where PJ and Annabeth will further undergo more training as demi-gods. PJ is now more confident to approach Annabeth. A hesitant loveteam at first.

The end.

And I better end this rambling. Despite some forgivable lapses, I'm looking forward to a sequel, actually.

*part human and part horse 

**a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man

***a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus that roamed the woods and mountains. In mythology they are often associated with sex drive and vase-painters often portrayed them with perpetual erections.