More Myths

Watching Clash of the Titans got us psyched for more Classical mythology, so we queued up Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. We we kind of expecting a Motown or gospel group, but that turns out to be Percy Sledge.

So, young Percy (Logan Lerman) is a disturbed high-schooler who likes to sit on the bottom of the school pool. He lives with his mother and stinky stepfather in Hell's Kitchen and has ADD and dyslexia. But one day in a museum he discovers that he is a demigod - his absent father is Poseidon, and there is a War in Heaven, because someone stole Zeus' (Sean Bean) lightning.

So - first he goes to demigod summer camp. This looks like a nice place in the Saugerties, with log temples and archery, spear and shield practice. His best friend Brandon T. Jackson, a satyr, is with him, and he meets another nice demigod, Annabelle, daughter of Athena.

Soon, they are off on a random series of quests through mythical America:

• Uma Thurman as Medusa
• Nashville's Parthenon
• The Lotus Eater Casino in Las Vegas 
• And finally, Hades by way of Hollywood - Hades played by Steve Coogan as a rock'n'roller, with Rosario Dawson as slutty Persephone

Just a note - this makes 2 films from 2010 with a Medusa and Charon the ferryman. And neither one used the  obvious Chris de Burgh song.

Directed by Chris Columbus, this movie came across as sort of sub-Harry Potter. We rather enjoyed it, although I would have liked to see the same style (special effects, etc) applied to a story with a little more hef, or at least coherence. I guess fans of the books agree, considering the movie to be a desecration. We were thinking that a light-weight version of something by Gaiman, like "American Gods".

Actually, "American Gods" is being made into a movie, and I don't really want Chris Columbus to make it.

In conclusion, don't pay the ferryman. Don't even name the price.