Culture

REVIEW: Percy Jackson DVD

by Manny Castro | June 9, 2010 at 05:29 pm

484 views | 0 Recommendations | 1 comment

On June 29, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief arrives on DVD and Blu-Ray. The special features include deleted scenes, trailers, and a quiz that determines what demigod you are and whose your parent. All of those are good, but the behind the scenes featurettes are way too short and especially on the DVD which only includes one. It's a short interview with author and middle school teacher Rick Riordan on what inspired him to write the book. An even shorter interview with director Chris Columbus is included on what attracted him to the project. They should have done a commentary track to make up for the lack of behind the scenes information.

If you haven't seen the movie or read the books, the film's plot is a modern day tale based on Greek mythology. 17-year-old Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman), a demigod whose father is Poseidon, is accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolts. Although he is innocent he must nonetheless find the thief in 14 days or Zeus will declare war on the other Gods.

Upon release the movie received mixed reviews and performed modestly at the box office. It grossed $221.2 million worldwide on a $95 million budget. Although domestically it was a flop with only $88.6 million. Despite its flaws, it's a fun family film and worth a rental now that kids are on summer vacation. It's also a nice way to discover future stars. 18-year-old star Logan Lerman has created a lot of discussion since there was rumors that he was going to be cast as Spider-Man in the upcoming reboot. Sony denied those rumors and they seem to be telling the truth since Lerman recently signed on for a new adaptation of The Three Musketeers. 26-year-old actor-comedian Brandon T. Jackson was a scene stealer in Tropic Thunder as Alpa Chino and does the same in Percy Jackson. Expect to see more of him in the future. He's definitely a rising star. Then there's 24-year-old actress Alexandra Daddario who has the most beautiful eyes in Hollywood. It's too soon to tell if she is going to have a successful career, but it's worth to keep an "eye" on her.