A teenage boy learns he's the son of the Greek god Poseidon, has powers he never knew about and must embark on a quest to stop war breaking out on Mount Olympus in this fantasy adventure, adapted from the first of Rick Riordan's popular novels. Having tackled the first two Harry Potter instalments, director Chris Columbus again sets a potential franchise in motion, but this time it's hardly an unqualified recommendation for a family treat. The idea of the Greek gods co-existing with the modern world is delightful, of course, but the film gets bogged down in explaining all the legends. Still, with superior effects work bringing the many headed Hydra and Uma Thurman's snake-haired Medusa to vivid life, there's enough thrilling spectacle to keep the clunky storytelling moving along. An entertaining grown-up cast (Kevin McKidd's brooding Poseidon, Pierce Brosnan as Chiron the centaur and Steve Coogan's lord of the underworld) also helps offset Logan Lerman's synthetic performance as the troubled adolescent. Yes, it's evidently Potter-ish, but unashamedly aimed at younger viewers - which makes the emphasis on the junior hero's fighting skills and a clearly misguided Las Vegas casino sequence all the more dismaying.

Accident prone teenager, Percy discovers he's actually a demi-God, the son of Poseidon, and he is needed when Zeus' lightning is stolen. Percy must master his new found skills in order to prevent a war between the Gods that could devastate the entire world.