So, Valentine's Day was kind of a little bit of a bust. I was recovering from the show, and somehow after a drag show my entire body hurt and I basically laid in bed all day. The only point in the day that I stirred was when my friend Nayte called me to nerd out with him and go see Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Although I love sci-fi/fantasy and pre-teen novel series that I can become ridiculously obsessed about, I had not read this series yet, and relished the opportunity to see the movie before reading the book. I also saw that the movie had an impressive cast including heartthrobs Logan Lerman and Kevin Mckidd as well as the fierce divas of Rosario Dawson & Uma Thurman; so I was game to go. Since I have the attention span and tastes of a thirteen year old girl, it doesn't take a whole lot to impress me; some special effects, fierce divas, a few Greek gods, and some battle scenes is all I really need.

The movie follows the story of Percy Jackson, a slightly emo-ish high school student, discovers that he is the son of Poseidon, and therefore a demigod. Percy is accused of stealing the powerful lightning bolt of Zeus, which sends the Gods and Heavens in an uproar. Everyone is vying for the lightning bolt in an attempt to overthrow Zeus and rule the world. If the lightning bolt is not returned in 14 days, Zeus will declare war upon the Earth the other gods contriving storms and other natural disasters to wipe out humanity. Percy, along with a few friends, must battle minotaurs, gorgans, hyrdras, and more in order to discover who is the lightning thief and return the bolt to Zeus before war begins.

My friend Nayte had read the books prior to the movie and had mixed feelings about the movie. Although generally enjoying the movie, the movie took some liberties on the details of the book, screwed up a few important elements that apparently are recurring themes in future books, and left some characters out, which Nayte was generally not pleased about. I however, ignorant to the books, thought the movie was pretty good. It had a logical plot line some funny moments – as well as some cheesy overdone ones – but all in all I was entertained and sometimes that is all need from a movie. Most of the time I do not need life lessons or an intense complex psychological examination of the human psyche. I checked out reviews of the movie at Rotten Tomatoes – my favorite place to learn about movies – and people were generally split about the movie. For whatever reason, critics kept referencing Harry Potter in their reviews, stating that the movie is a far cry from Harry Potter or a poor imitation there of. I understand that the idea of a “chosen one” with unique abilities who holds a revered place in a mystical world unknown to humans who has two best friends that help him in all of his ridiculously dangerous adventures sounds like Harry Potter but it is not. Ok maybe a little bit …. ok a lot … but simply put, Harry Potter is about magic and Percy Jackson is about the Olympian Gods. They're different, and as much as I love Harry Potter – which is a lot – Greek gods are just infinitely cooler than witches and wizards. Seeing a 60 foot tale armored-clad Kevin McKidd as Poseidon was one of the most delicious things ever. All I know is that I am planning on making a trip to the book store today and heading straight for the preteen section and start indulging myself.