Move over Harry, Percy is on board.

From director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, Harry Potter 1, 2) comes the newest young-adult action adventure. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is the first big-screen adaptation of Rick Riordan's popular book series. With clear hopes that the franchise will turn Potter-esque, forecasts seem positive.

We meet Percy, a troubled teen from Manhattan, just in time to witness the discovery that he is no ordinary boy. Confronted by a demonic Fury while on a school field trip, Percy begins to glean the truth begins and he is soon whisked away to Camp Half Blood. On its lakeside grounds, Percy finds himself amidst hundreds of others demi-gods like himself, sons and daughters of Olympic gods who loved and left human partners with extraordinary babies.

Formerly, Percy was just a hyperactive, dyslexic urban kid, but within hours of arrival at Camp, his prior problems turn out to be the part and parcel of his heroic identity.

Spiritually speaking, there is much one can draw from the unfolding adventures. Like so many of the myths and fairy tales we've learned to crack open (Lord of the Rings, Til We Have Faces, etc.) PJ&tO is rich with metaphor. Within the stylized scenes we hear the whispers and glimpse the visions of the one true Narrative.

One sequence in particular is Percy's dawning experience of his real character, just after arriving at Camp. Quickly briefed on his true father's identity (Poseidon, god of the sea), Percy is immediately thrown into fierce wa- games training. Battling with and against other young demi-gods who appear far more fit for combat, Percy struggles to keep up in his own strength. Easily rebuffed by a female warrior, he is nearly done in when, for the first time, he hears the voice of his father quietly guide him to the water. Just able to reach out to the stream flowing by, he is suddenly healed and filled with strength to conquer. Thus begin the real adventures of a true son of god.

Like all sons of God, we struggle to reconcile the "real world" we've come to know through our senses with the True World we find only when we listen to the marvelous mysteries told to us by those who have seen the unseen. Struggling against the common sense and natural expectations that rule our thinking, we find our way as heroes only when we are able to listen to the still small voice of our Father, and be healed, filled, and prepared for warfare by the water of Word and Spirit.

Like all fantasy, we can appreciate PJ&tO merely as clever imagery and well-made entertainment, a fun flick that scores well for its intended children's and young-adult audience. As sons (and daughters) of God, we can also appreciate the continued lessons and themes that subtly emerge and instruct us as we too grow into our own supernatural gifts and identity.