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Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief | 2010 | PG | - 3.6.3
A teen boy (Logan Lerman), troubled by his mother's relationship with an abusive man, feels out of place and angry. Then on a school trip to the museum, he begins to understand just how different he really is when he discovers that he's the son of the ancient Greek god Poseidon and he has inherited some of his father's superpowers. Based on the Rick Riordan fictional series. Also with Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Kevin McKidd, Joe Pantoliano, Uma Thurman, Melina Kanakaredes and Julian Richings. Directed by Chris Columbus. [2:00]
SEX/NUDITY 3 - A man says, "Can't you see your mother is servicing me?" A woman approaches a Satyr and says, "I've never had a Satyr," while caressing his chest. A man talks about gods "hooking up" with mortals. A man says of a teen boy: "He didn't come from these loins."
► A teen boy is surrounded by several young women who swoon over him and he says that they are going to get married. Three teen girls (identified as nymphs) invite a teen boy to a party. A woman seductively gestures for a Satyr to come to her, and he does with pleasure.
► Several woman wearing bikinis wave to a satyr and invite him to join them; he remarks about their mother being the goddess of love and runs off to be with them. Women are seen wearing low-cut tops and dresses that reveal cleavage in several scenes.
► A teen boy and a teen girl lean toward each other as if they are going to kiss (they do not). A teen boy and a teen girl hug. A teen boy and a teen girl stare at each other with interest. A teen boy kisses Medusa's severed head on the cheek.
► Several women dance and watch as a Satyr dances on a stage. A man slaps a woman on the buttock (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
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VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - A teen boy cuts off the head of a woman: we see the severed head on the ground, snakes on the head continue to slither around, and it is wrapped and placed in a bag; we see it a few more times throughout the movie.
► A teen boy with a sword fights several others and they are each dispatched; he then holds his sword to the throat of a teen girl. A teen girl with a sword threatens a teen boy, who also has a sword, and they fight: she slashes him on the hand and the cheek (we see blood), he is cut twice more (we see blood on his arm), and she slashes him on the leg and kicks him to the ground where he lays motionless for a moment.
► A minotaur grabs a woman and holds her in the air and she turns to a swirl of dust. A huge minotaur charges toward three people who run through woods; the minotaur picks up a car and throws it at them (they are not struck), a teen boy with a sword fights, the minotaur runs into a tree and breaks off one of its horns, and the boy uses the horn to stab it (we hear a crunch and it falls to the ground dead).
► A woman turns into a winged, sharp-toothed fury, she swoops toward a teen boy, picks him up in the air and threatens to tear his heart out; then she drops him to the floor and flies through a window, shattering it. A woman blasts a man using a lightning bolt (he is thrown through the air and lies motionless).
► A huge flaming winged creature with horns, claws and sharp teeth (identified as Hades) bursts up out of a campfire and throws fireballs at people (they run for safety). Hades holds the image of a woman in his hand and we see her surrounded by flames. A man transforms into a flaming winged creature and three teens cower in fear.
► A woman takes off her headscarf and reveals many slithering, hissing snakes (she is identified as Medusa). A woman looks at Medusa and she turns to stone. A woman who has been turned to stone had been holding the arm of a teen girl and the teen is unable to free herself; someone cuts the stone woman's arm off. Snakes on Medusa's head coil around a teen girl's face and head and then a teen boy's.
► Five men transform into a Hydra, a five headed creature with snake-like heads that breathe out fire toward three teens: they snap their large mouths, which are full of sharp teeth, one teen slashes the heads off (we see them fall to the floor but no blood is visible), the Hydra comes back to life and grows two heads where there had been one and continues to try to get the three teens; it is pushed back briefly by a wall of water and a teen boy holds up the head of Medusa and the Hydra is turned to stone.
► Two teen boys fight on a rooftop using swords and a lightning bolt: one is struck by a blast and thrown, a teen girl slashes one of them using a dagger, one is slashed with a sword, one shoots a bolt at the others, the rooftop begins to crumble, and the two boys fall off and continue to fight; one is slashed on the face (we see blood), they fly through a building and continue to fight, and a wing is cut off the shoe of one of the fighters and he crashes onto another rooftop.
► Two armies charge toward each other and engage in a battle during a training exercise: swords slash and people are struck and fall to the ground (we hear loud thuds and yelling).
► A teen boy in a bathroom picks up a severed head and says, "I can't pee with her watching"; a woman sees the head and screams. We see many people who have been turned into stone with frightened expressions on their faces.
► What looks like the outline of humans engulfed in flames (they are identified as souls) moan and reach for four people who are being pushed toward them by three large, dog-like creatures (they are not harmed). Two large, dog-like creatures with sharp teeth approach three teens (the dogs are called off by a woman).
► Large water tanks on the roof of a building explode and the water surrounds a teen boy: he collapses to the ground, the water pulls away, he coughs, a trident is thrown, and it wraps around his neck and takes him through the air and into a river.
► Three teens walk into a cave entrance where we see many human skulls lining the walls; they approach a gaunt man standing in a small boat who is identified as the Ferryman, and he takes the teens over a deep canyon where we see fires burning and we hear people moaning and screaming (when the Ferryman takes paper money in his hand, it bursts into flames).
► Three teens run through a casino and are chased by security: they fight them off with kicks and strikes, they steal a car and speed away crashing through the glass entryway and swerving through traffic. A teen girl with a crossbow shoots several people who collapse to the floor (they are unconscious, not dead).
► A man slaps a woman on the buttock, her teen son complains that the man is being disrespectful, and the man pushes the boy against a wall, pulls his hair and threatens him. Two teen boys shove each other into lockers. A teen boy strikes a man in the stomach using a metal cane, and then stomps the man's foot.
► A car swerves to miss a cow, flips and rolls off the road (three passengers get out and appear to be unharmed). A driver falls asleep at the wheel and swerves into oncoming traffic (no one is harmed). A pick up truck is driven through a garden wall and two people are thrown but uninjured.
► A man threatens to rip a fury to pieces and it flies away. A man threatens another man's son and the other man shoves him and threatens him in return. A man sits at a table and demands that a woman bring him beer. A man yells at a teen boy when he tries to defend his mother.
► We see people training with swords, shields and arrows in a few scenes. A teen boy and a teen girl lean toward each other as if they are going to kiss, she steals his sword, holds it to his neck and they fight. Two teen boys crash into each other when running through a garden.
► An enormous man with a trident stands up, out of the ocean, and a fisherman on a pier looks alarmed as he walks past him. An enormous man shrinks to human size as he walks along a street (we see a large swirl of water around him). Three teens are transformed into dust and float up into the air (they are fine later).
► A teen boy collapses and we see him later in an infirmary where we understand he has been for several days. A teen boy sits on the bottom of a filled swimming pool and we understand that he has been there for 7 minutes. A teen boy puts on winged shoes and flies toward a statue, crashes into it, begins to slip down, climbs back up, and then glides to the floor below.
► A teen boy yells at his mother as to why she stays with an abusive man. A teen boy and a teen girl talk about their parents hating each other. A centaur talks about the potential for a war on Earth and the destruction that would follow. We hear stories of murder and mayhem in the Greek myths during a museum tour. We see a sign that reads "Camp Half Blood." A Ferryman talks about "life ending in suffering and tragedy" and talks about "human misery, lost hopes and dreams."
► We see an animal turning over a spit (it's headless and does not have lower limbs). A teen boy opens a cooler chest and we see many rats scurrying inside. We see a Satyr with a human head and upper body and goat legs. We see several Centaurs with human heads and upper bodies and equine lower bodies and legs.
► A man waves his arm and a door breaks into pieces. There are loud thunderclaps and bright lightning flashes in the opening sequence.
LANGUAGE 3 - 2 sexual references, 2 anatomical terms, 7 mild obscenities (several times in the refrain of the song "Highway to Hell"), name-calling (pig, bald-headed freak, creep, loser, thief, weirdo, selfish, stupid, idiot).
SUBSTANCE USE - A man drinks a beer, several men playing cards have beer in front of them, and a man talks about a teen boy and accuses him of drinking and doing drugs. People eat Lotus flowers and appear to be affected by losing their sense of time.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Greek Mythology, gods, demigods, immortality, love, sacrifice, friendship, feeling different, heroism, dyslexia, ADHD.
MESSAGE - Don't ever steal a Greek god's lightning bolt.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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