Percy Jackson didn't steal the lightning and he certainly didn't steal the thunder as this mythical yet modern, action-adventure for the family gets a take it or leave it from this reviewer. Chris Columbus' Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief could have quite easily been called Harry Potter and the Ancient Greeks and required a certain degree of tolerance to really be appreciated.

That said if you do go into this screening with an open heart and perhaps a numbed conscience it may not be too difficult to enjoy the story.

When Zeus' (Sean Bean) lightning bolt is stolen the lights go out in the heavens and he accuses his brother Poseidon of the suspected interference of his half-blood son. This infuriates the water-based mythical entity and a war between the Gods seems imminent.

Unbeknownst to him, typical American high school nobody, Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is about to discover the severity of the charges held against him and suddenly this confused teen turned demigod has more to deal with than his smelly, drunken step-father.

With his comedic, goat-legged best buddy and new Xena look-alike girlfriend, Percy goes on a rampage through the States and the history books tackling all kinds of big name celebrities posing as fabled creatures. Uma Thurman was cast very well for the role of Medusa although she spends most of her time on camera as a severed, snake-baring head, leaving her preferred assets behind.

Lecturer turned Minotaur Pierce Brosnan does his best to fill in the gaps where Percy and the audience start to loose track of the plot and these scenes amongst others are in fact refreshingly educational at times.

In total contrast they couldn't have gotten it more wrong with the repeatedly poor efforts at combining 8^th Century BC legend with contemporary product placement, which got more and more cringe-worthy as the story developed. However if Converse do bring out a Chuck Taylor line extension featuring winged pumps that fly then I will no doubt be amongst the first to buy a pair.

With this movie you just have to roll with it. Don't fight it. The plot is too weak and the acting hopeless. It would be too easy to pick apart this flick so if you want to really get your teeth into something then it's best to leave this one out. For what it's worth there were a fair few light laughs, although perhaps not at the right times but it certainly wasn't hard on the eyes.

As much as I would love to dissect and mock this movie there seems to have been a quirky charm about this one which has sent the bully inside me into a bit of a guilt-trip. I must admit that Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief outdid my expectations and certainly no harm can be done by giving this movie a fair chance.