Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, or simply Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, is a 2010 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and written by Craig Titley, based on the book of the same name by Rick Riordan. The film features an ensemble cast with Logan Lerman as the titular character, along with Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Kevin McKidd, Joe Pantoliano, and Uma Thurman.
Synopsis[]
Based on the best-selling book, Percy Jackson is a young teenager that discovers that he is a demigod and the son of Poseidon. He is tasked with finding and locating Zeus's lightning bolt before a war among the gods breaks out.
Plot[]
Zeus, the God of Lightning, and Poseidon, God of the Sea, meet with each other atop the Empire State Building. Zeus reveals that his Master Bolt has been stolen and immediately accuses, not Poseidon, but his son Percy Jackson as the thief. Poseidon vehemently denies this, but Zeus threatens war should the Bolt not be returned to him by the next solstice.
Percy Jackson goes to high school with his crippled friend Grover Underwood. Percy spends his time trying to avoid trouble while also looking after Grover who claims that he can take care of himself. Percy's home life is bittersweet. While he lives with his kind and caring mother Sally, his step-father, Gabe Ugliano, is a short-tempered, controlling man who smells awful. Percy must also contend with the fact that he suffers from ADHD and Dyslexia, making reading and focusing in school very difficult for him.
Percy's school takes a field trip to the museum where they attend the Greek mythology exhibit. Lead by the wise, wheelchaired Mr. Brunner, Percy begins to notice some things such as the fact that the Greek writings on the exhibits come out clearly for him. He is lead away by the off-putting English substitute Mrs. Dodds who demands from Percy that he return the Bolt. When he doesn't comply, she transforms into her true form, Alecto the Fury, and attacks him. Mr. Brunner and Grover arrive and scare Alecto away, much to Percy's shock and confusion. Realizing that his life is in danger now, Mr. Brunner gives Percy a pen and demands that Grover take him home.
Percy and Grover arrive at the apartment to tell Sally that they need to leave. When Gabe attempts to intervene, Grover beats him up and knocks him out and the three flee to "camp". Sally attempts to explain to Percy that he is more special than he realizes, but before she can explain, their car is attacked by a Minotaur. Grover takes off his pants to reveal that he is a satyr and Percy's "protector". The three flee on foot towards Camp Half-Blood, but Sally is unable to enter due to being human. She distracts the Minotaur, but suddenly disappears in a puff of smoke. Percy learns that his pen is a sword and battles the Minotaur, killing the creature with its own horn. Afterwards, Percy passes out.
Percy awakens in Camp Half-Blood's infirmary and learns that everything that happened was real. Grover explains that he is a demigod and that his ADHD is his mind prepping him for fighting while his dyslexia is his brain translating Greek rather than English. Percy also meets Annabeth Chase, a girl who is the daughter of Athena, and discovers that Mr. Brunner is the centaur Chiron. He takes him to his personal cabin and reveals that he is actually the son of Poseidon. Percy is upset that his father never entered his life, but Chiron tells him that he had no choice.
Chiron has Percy join the campers in a game of capture the flag. He meets Luke Castellan, son of Hermes, who takes him under his wing and has him fight on his team. Percy makes his way through the woods when the Ares kids attack and he manages to find the flag, only for Annabeth to come and stop him. She cuts him several times, but Percy heals after going near the river. He manages to get back up and fights his way through the other campers, getting the flag and winning for his team. That night, Percy is seen as a hero with Annabeth also being very impressed with him.
Hades appears in the campfire where he attacks the campers, demanding for Percy Jackson to come and give him the Master Bolt. He offers up Sally, having kept her in his domain, before disappearing. Chiron forbids Percy from leaving the camp as this means that everyone will be after him. In the middle of the night, Percy sneaks out, only to be accompanied by Grover and Annabeth who tell him that he cannot go on a quest alone. They go to see Luke, whose cabin is filled with modern technology, and he offers his own help. He gives Percy winged shoes, a retractable shield, and a map that will list the locations they need to go, which in this case is areas where Persephone's pearls are being kept.
Percy, Grover, and Annabeth take a bus to the first location: Auntie Em's Garden Emporium, and find the place derelict, save for some statues. Annabeth encounters a distraught woman while Grover notices that one of the statues resembles his Uncle Ferdinand. The group realize that they are in Medusa's domain as she turns the woman to stone. Annabeth and Grover manage to knock Medusa down with a truck while Percy lops her head off. The group take her head as well as one of the pearls which was on her bracelet. At a motel, Percy and Annabeth bond over the fact that neither has met their godly parent before seeing a news report of Gabe victimizing himself after Percy and Sally's disappearance.
The group next head to Nashville, Tennessee to the Parthenon where the statue of Athena possesses the next pearl. After the Parthenon closes, the group use the shoes to get the pearl, only for five janitors, whom Annabeth knocked out earlier, to suddenly reveal themselves as the five heads of the Hydra. The trio battle the hydra, defeating them with Medusa's head. They head to the next location which is at the Lotus Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The group attempt to find the pearl, but quickly fall under the enhancement of the place.
Poseidon's voice urges Percy to snap out of it who quickly awakens Grover and Annabeth and they escape in a car, but not before Percy finds the last pearl. The trio realize that they have been in the casino for five days, despite it feeling like hours and now only have a couple of hours to stop the war of the gods. They head to the Hollywood sign where the entrance to the Underworld is and pay the ferryman with drachmas they found back at Medusa's.
In the Underworld, the trio are greeted by Persephone who introduces them to Hades, who demands the bolt so that he can use it to rule Olympus. Percy admits that he doesn't have it and just wanted to see his mom. Hades reveals Sally before the group realizes that the bolt was in the retractable shield that Luke gave them. Hades gets the bolt and plans to be rid of the trio and Sally, but Persephone, who despises Hades and the idea of the gods going to war, knocked out Hades and gives the bolt back to Percy. Unfortunately, they only have three pearls to return home, with Grover offering to stay behind.
Percy, Annabeth, and Sally use the pearls and end up at the Empire State Building where Luke reveals himself. He wanted the gods to go to war with each other so that the new generation of demigods could take over in their stead. Percy and Luke fight over the bolt, ending with Percy summoning water from a water tower and defeating Luke by knocking him into the Hudson Bay. Percy returns with the bolt as he and Annabeth enter Olympus. They arrive just as midnight roles around and Zeus gets his bolt back. Percy reveals that Luke was the real thief, much to Hermes's shock. Annabeth finally sees Athena, while Poseidon is allowed to speak with Percy briefly. Percy also convinces Zeus to bring Grover back from the Underworld.
Having finally rescued Sally, Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood. Sally informs Percy that she will always be home and that Gabe has finally been kicked out. Percy discovers that Grover now has horns on his head, having earned them for helping Percy on his quest, while Chiron commends him for taking charge and promising that he will be destined for great things. Percy then goes and meets with Annabeth where they proceed to do sword fight training.
In a mid-credits scene, Gabe discovers that Sally has collected all of his things for him to move out, much to his annoyance. He goes to the fridge where he sees that Percy left a sign on it saying to not open it. Frustrated over being told off by Percy, Gabe opens up the fridge and finds Medusa's head which, presumably, turns him to stone.
Cast[]
- Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson
- Brandon T. Jackson as Grover Underwood
- Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase
- Jake Abel as Luke Castellan
- Sean Bean as Zeus
- Pierce Brosnan as Mr. Brunner / Chiron
- Steve Coogan as Hades
- Rosario Dawson as Persephone
- Melina Kanakaredes as Athena
- Catherine Keener as Sally Jackson
- Kevin McKidd as Poseidon
- Joe Pantoliano as Gabe Ugliano
- Uma Thurman as Auntie Em / Medusa
- Julian Richings as Ferryman / Charon
- Serinda Swan as Aphrodite
- Dimitri Lekkos as Apollo
- Ona Grauer as Artemis
- Stefanie von Pfetten as Demeter
- Conrad Coates as Hephaestus
- Erica Cerra as Hera
- Dylan Neal as Hermes
- Luke Camilleri as Dionysus
- Ray Winstone as Ares (uncredited)
- Maria Olsen as Mrs. Dodds / Alecto
Additionally, Valerie Tian portrays Nancy Bobofit, though she is credited as "Cute Girl" in the final film, and is only identified by name in a deleted scene. Annie Ilonzeh, Luisa d'Oliveira, Marie Avgeropoulos, Marielle Jaffe, and Alexis Knapp make appearances as Aphrodite children. Chelan Simmons, Natassia Malthe, and Andrea Brooks appear as Lotus Casino waitresses. Zane Holtz appears as a 50's Tough at the Lotus Casino.
Production[]
20th Century Fox obtained the rights to the books in 2004 and hired Chris Columbus to direct it, having previously directed the first two installments of the similar film franchise, Harry Potter. Filming started April 2009 in Vancouver, but some filming also took place at the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee. Filming wrapped July that same year, with additional filming taking place in Brooklyn for exterior shots.
The film notoriously made numerous changes to the source material, so much so that author Rick Riordan was greatly disappointed with them. He offered to make rewrites for free, but the studio turned him down. Their reasoning, according to Riordan was that "40% of the people never read books anyway... Nobody reads books and the ones that do, eh." Riordan also took issue with the aging up of the characters, the addition of mild profanity, and various plot alterations that stymied the whole point of the story.
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Nina Dobrev and Brie Larson auditioned for the part of Annabeth.
- Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean appeared in Goldeneye together.
Book comparisons[]
The film adaptation took so many liberties that were controversial among fans and Rick Riordan himself.
- The main characters were aged up for the film, Percy instead of being 12, is 16 at the beginning.
- Percy attended Yancy Academy in the original book, while the film implies that he attends a regular high school.
- Grover identifies himself as a "protector". Following him helping Percy on his quest, he becomes a "senior-protector" which means that he now has horns on his head. In the book, Grover already has horns and he instead is trying to get his searcher's license, as it is every satyr's dream to find Pan.
- Mrs. Dodds is portrayed as speaking with a light South African accent, the actress's real voice. In the book, she spoke with a distinct southern accent. Additionally, she makes multiple appearances throughout the original story and is even disintegrated by Percy during her first violent encounter with him. The movie has her transform once, escape, and is never seen again.
- Nancy Bobofit appears to be absent, however if one were to go by the deleted scenes, Nancy is the young Asian girl on the field trip. She appears to only be mildly aware of Percy, as opposed to the book where she was his primary bully.
- Mr. Brunner / Chiron, gives Percy the pen after the encounter with Mrs. Dodds and orders Grover to take him to Camp Half-Blood right away. In the book, Mr. Brunner gives Percy the pen before the fight with Mrs. Dodds. He later takes it back from him, but returns it to him when he goes on his quest.
- Percy's brief encounter with the Fates is removed
- The entire sequence of Percy ditching Grover and leaving to the beach house with Sally is completely gone. Grover take Percy back to the apartment, beats up Gabe Ugliano, and all three head straight to Camp Half-Blood.
- Clarisse La Rue is absent. Because of this, the capture the flag scene pits Percy's team against Annabeth, who in the book were both on the same team. Clarisse does appear in the sequel however.
- Mr. D / Dionysus is not seen working at the camp and is only given a barely seen cameo near the end on Olympus.
- Annabeth's first meeting with Percy at the infirmary is gone. The scene was filmed and appears as a deleted scene.
- Percy is already identified as Poseidon's son by Chiron. In the book, no one knew who his father was until he was "claimed" by him via a glowing triton above his head after the capture the flag game.
- The individual cabins for each of the gods is not shown, however Percy is depicted having his own personal one by a lakeside, with Chiron claiming that Poseidon built it himself for Percy.
- Hades materializing at the camp, demanding the bolt from Percy, and revealing that he has Sally is not in the book at all.
- Chiron forces Percy to stay at the camp for his own safety, forcing him to sneak out. In the book, the whole point of the story is that he was sent on the quest intentionally. Because of this, his meeting with the oracle is nixed from this film, but was moved to the sequel.
- Luke only gave Percy the shoes in the book and nothing else. Additionally, Percy gives them to Grover because as the son of Poseidon, he is not allowed to fly.
- The film depicts the characters using modern technology such as cell phones and video games. In the book, it is established that using modern technology makes it easier for monsters to locate demigods, hence why they rarely use them.
- The stops the trio make are purely out of happenstance, rather than any actual need to go. The fetch quest of collecting Persephone's pearls is not something that happens in the book. They were given to Percy by the Nereid much later on down the line.
- The trio's fight against Mrs. Dodds and the furies on the bus is removed.
- The trio are by themselves when they get to Auntie Em's, only to run into another victim of Medusa's. In the book, Medusa greets them at the front and it takes a while for them to figure out who she is.
- Upon defeating Medusa by cutting her head off, the trio take the head with them. In the book, Percy ships it to Olympus as a way to mock the gods. This is only change from the book that Rick Riordan actually enjoyed from the movie.
- Everything between Medusa and Las Vegas is radically altered. The movie has them in Nashville, Tennessee battling the Hydra in the Parthenon. In the book, they end up in St. Louis, Missouri and visit the Gateway Arch where they battle Echidna and the Chimera. They soon hit the road and meet Ares who gives them a side quest to get his shield from an abandoned theme park. He then sends them to Las Vegas after telling Percy that his mother is still alive.
- Ares is almost totally absent from the film, save for a very small cameo played by an uncredited Ray Winstone in the Olympus scene at the end.
- Las Vegas remains mostly faithful, but their escape is different. Rather than stealing a car, in the book they escape via a taxi cab and utilize an infinite game card to pay for the service to get them to California.
- The side adventure with Procrustes in his mattress store is skipped over.
- The entrance to the Underworld is under the Hollywood sign. In the book it was inside a recording studio called DOA Records.
- In the book, Charon is dressed in a nice Italian suit and spoke with an odd accent. In the movie, he is portrayed more traditionally.
- Cerberus, the Fields of Asphodel, and the Pit of Tartarus are skipped over. The latter in particular is when they discover that the Master Bolt is in their backpack, as opposed to the movie where it was in the shield.
- Persephone was not in the book. Additionally, the movie takes place during the late spring, early summer, thus making her appearance in the Underworld rather perplexing, as she only goes down during the winter.
- Hades was not after the bolt, nor did he desire to rule Olympus. Instead, he was after the Helm of Darkness and, true to his story, didn't mind ruling the Underworld.
- Due to the removal of Ares, the trio discover the Luke was behind the Bolt's theft right away, instead of thinking it was Ares.
- Percy, Annabeth, and Sally are forced to leave Grover behind in the Underworld. In the book, the group leaves Sally behind, with Hades implying to have given her up once he got his helm back.
- The fight with Ares on the beach is removed and replaced with Percy having an aerial fight with Luke across New York City. Additionally, this means that the revelation that Luke was the thief and him attempting to poison Percy at the camp is removed.
- Percy and Annabeth return the Bolt together. In the book, only Percy returned it while Annabeth returned to Camp Half-Blood with Grover.
- The entire wrap up with Gabe is shortened. Sally forces Gabe out of the apartment and he opens the fridge to find Medusa's head. In the book, Percy finds the gods have returned the Medusa head and he gives it to Sally who uses it on Gabe, selling his remains as an art piece.
- In the movie, Percy stays at Camp Half-Blood. In the book, he decides to go back to living with Sally until next year.
Sequel[]
The film was followed by a sequel, based on the second book in the series titled Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. It was released August 7, 2013.
