One part young adult fantasy, one part history, one part Joseph Campbell, one part CGI…Sprinkle in some funny dialogue and a healthy dose of reality suspension and you are in for a pretty tasty afternoon with Percy Jackson and his demigod friends.

Director Chris Columbus’ (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, based on the novels of Rick Riordan, comes alive on the screen with the help of some Potter/Rings-esque special effects and a very large book of Greek mythology.

Percy, who just recently discovered that the Gods of Greece are as real as tzatziki or a gyro sandwich, is wrongfully accused of stealing Zeus’ lightning bolt.  Eventually, this son of Poseidon heads out into the world with his god-ish and goat-ish friends to win back his honor, and his mother.

For the most part, I found myself quite entertained.  I attended the movie with two sexagenarians and an octogenerian, and they also reported a healthy dose of entertainment, if not some eye-rolling confusion, at certain points.  For example, though the Greek Gods are thousands of years old, their headquarters and entrances to Hades seem to be centered around New York and Hollywood (yes, I know it is fiction, and teenage demi-gods can’t drive to Athens in a pickup truck or Maserati, but still…I was hoping for some beautiful scenes of the Greek coast.  Dare to dream!).

However, the spot-on, “rock” star, rock-transforming Uma Thurman (Medusa), the always scoff-producing Steve Coogan (Hades), and the laugh-a-minute Brandon T. Jackson (Grover) provide more than enough levity and interest to offset the more pedestrian Logan Lerman (Percy), although Lerman’s Hades-may-care attitude does much to endear him to audiences of all ages.

The movie, though simple and formulaic (at one point, Percy refers to himself as having completed his quest), has qualities that can spawn much deeper conversation among adults and children alike.  Jackson’s ADHD and dyslexia are transformed into strengths that help him on his quest.  Also, parental issues and a difficult marriage feature prominently, as do loyalty, friendship, and a small dose of teen romance.

But perhaps the most important aspect of the movie is the reminder that, like Rowling’s Potter, Riordan’s Jackson encourages kids to read.  At the uber-large theater where I saw the move, an usher came out to introduce the film and asked the audience who had read the books.  Almost every one of the seemingly one hundred enthusiastic children in the theater shot up their hands (some even took those hands off a cell phone type-pad).  In that way, Percy Jackson was more than a movie.  It was the earned culmination of countless hours curled up with the books.

Bravo.

If you are looking for Potter or Luke Skywalker, stay home.  If you are looking for some afternoon entertainment, or just want to inspire a youngster, head to the theater.

And maybe, by the grace of the gods, you’ll be stopping by the local bookstore on the way home.

-josh