Lyons Township
In the new adventure movie “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” in theaters Friday and based on Rick Riordan’s popular book series, average teen Percy (Logan Lerman) discovers that he might not be so average.
In fact, the New York high schooler not only finds out that he’s the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, but that also he’s a powerful demigod. After discovering his true identity, Percy embarks on a journey with his friends Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario) and Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) in an effort to save his mother, return Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt and avoid a war between the gods.
“The Lightning Thief” premise—regular boy finds out he’s magical—may sound familiar (um, “Harry Potter”?), but the young up-and-coming stars told TheMash that this film is different from “Potter”—even though director Chris Columbus crafted the first two “Potter” films.
“I think it’s important to know that just because Chris directed the first two “Harry Potters,” this movie is going to be nothing like it,” said Jake Abel, 22, who plays Luke, the son of Hermes. “He’s a filmmaker and he’s not going to repeat himself. He’s going to try something different.”
Jackson, 25, added that while Harry Potter is a nerdy English kid, Percy is a Brooklyn dude who loves music and struggles with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“The reason why (Percy) can’t read is because of his battle reflexes,” Jackson said. “His mind is wired for ancient Greek, not English. That’s the reason why he looks at things and can’t understand them.”
But the cast admits there are a couple of undeniable similarities between the two fantasy sagas.
“Is the movie as awesome as “Harry Potter”? Yes,” said Lerman, 18. “Is the movie as big? Yes.”
And like “Harry Potter,” “The Lightning Thief” features a famous ensemble cast, including Uma Thurman as Medusa and Pierce Brosnan as a centaur. Plus, there’s fight scenes. Lots of fight scenes.
The actors did physical training that involved sword fighting to learning how to fly with harnesses. Unlike many films, the realistic battle scenes were actual fights, not just a routine of almost-punches and strategic head turns.
“If we just stuck to trying to do the choreographed scene, then it wouldn’t have ended up the way it turned out,” Lerman said. “Instead, (Daddario) was really kicking me, she was really hitting me and it looked good. But it was a week of abuse.”
That’s why, overall, Lerman said Percy is tougher than Harry.
“Go in and expect to be entertained, because it’s a ride.”
