Date Night Screening #2: Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Lightning Thief

There are only so many movies you can watch day in day out with your daughter before you realize that she needs to spend more time out doors. Or asleep. Plus, there are instances when I need to be alone with my wife, and having Toshi (the portable DVD player) makes it easy for cheap date nights. Caitlin, my wife, loves the Greek myths and legends almost as much as dragons, and since this movie features a Hydra, I figured this was a no-brainer. But life gets in the way, and we were not able to see this movie until recently when I picked it up at EPL.

As much room for success with the idea of having Greek Gods, demigods, and mythical creatures integrated with modern society, there was also much room for failure. There are a few plot holes, but the story keeps its focus on Percy Jackson, and holds to that story line. The movie could have very easily jumped off track and explored modern settings for the myths, but the other myths were treated as compliments to the story and didn't push it too hard.

Since my wife and I were very familiar with the myths, we caught onto some elements right away, and we were impressed how the myth elements were explained and used. When they confront the Hydra, Percy finds out about the regrowth factor after he had done the damage to induce the regeneration. When they were at Medusa's lair and they pick up some gold drachmas, there no huge exposition as to how many they should take, or why they should take them. Might seem a little odd, but we understood immediately.

It was also poignant to watch this with my wife since she was able to explain the character backgrounds, such as Chiron, the great scholar of the Greek myths and father of all centaurs. My wife and I were practically doing a special features commentary while watching the film.

I was particularly pleased with how they handled the Greek parts of the film. I didn't check to see if all the Greek text was accurate, but the spoken Greek, while brief, was correct. Made me think about training our dogs to respond to Greek commands. When we get dogs. Someday.

Wonderful date for my wife and I, and I could see my daughter enjoying it. Except for the scenes in hell. And the Hydra might scare her a bit, but she has seen centaurs before (Fantasia), so that wouldn't completely freak her out. She's also seen Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, so people turning to stone wouldn't give her a start. But that Fury... [shudder]

Maybe when she's four and a half.