Adolescence is a time of great angst and confusion: you’re trying to figure out who you are, dealing with parents who have suddenly become a hundred times as infuriating as they ever used to be, and facing the beginning of the rest of your life. 16 year-old Percy Jackson, lucky fellow that he is, is having an even worse time of it.

It seems nobody’s bothered to tell him that his absentee father is none other than Poseidon, the ancient Greek god of the seas. Oh, and this lineage has led the other Gods to suspect that Percy has stolen Zeus’ legendary lightning bolt, so now they're kind of after his blood.

Such is the premise of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, the extremely enjoyable fantasy flick that opened to impressive box office numbers and widespread fan anticipation. In this film, directed by Chris Columbus, Percy (Logan Lerman) sets out to prove to Zeus that he is not the titular lightning thief. He is accompanied on his journey by fellow demigod Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), and junior satyr Grover (Brandon T. Jackson). Scattered throughout the movie are cameos from adult stars of all stripes: Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, and Steve Coogan all play famous mythological characters.

“I saw Chris Columbus’ name and I was like, ‘I gotta do this,’” says Lerman of how he got involved with the film. “He’s a director I love, and his movies have really shaped my childhood. I knew nothing about [the books], actually … then I read the script and fell in love with it, and I read the book and fell in love with that too.” Colombus' involvement was just as influential a factor in Brosnan’s decision to do the film. Says Brosnan, “Chris and I had worked together on Mrs. Doubtfire all those years ago, and I just admired him as a filmmaker and as a man.”

Columbus, in turn, seems equally taken with Brosnan. “I really wanted to work with Pierce again. We had a great time on Mrs. Doubtfire,” he says, explaining that "for me it was just a matter of casting actors who have a sort of larger-than-life, god-like quality about them as the gods. And who better to play a trainer of heroes, of people like Hercules and Michael Jordan, than Pierce Brosnan?”

His joke sparks laughter, and he goes on to extol the praises of the three young leads. “When I saw Logan in 3:10 to Yuma, and in the screen test, I realized, ‘This is the guy.’ I had no qualms about making the characters older. I thought that could only make it a better film, if I have an actor of that quality, and then surrounding him with actors as talented as Alex and Brandon and Jake Abel, just was the goal all along.” Daddario, he says, was particularly difficult to find. “We especially looked long and hard for someone like Alex, because I saw a lot of young actresses who weren’t eating properly and they could barely lift a fork. I needed someone who felt like they could hold a sword and be a formidable opponent for Percy.”

It’s clear that Columbus and the other creatives behind Percy Jackson were serious about making a film that could appeal to multiple audiences. The movie includes jokes about the recession and one-liners aplenty, quite a few of them laden with innuendo only a high school student could catch (don’t worry parents, your middle schoolers’ ears are safe). “I’ve got four children of my own, and I’ve spent the past several years going to various children’s movies and sitting through a screening of Pokeman one time—I almost physically deteriorated and thought about suicide,” says Columbus. “So for me this film had to work on two levels: first to make it a wild ride for the 17-to-16 year-olds, and then for the older kids and adults in the audience, to make it something that makes them feel like they’re 12 years-old again. That was really the goal, and you’ll see that there’s a balance where the kids are laughing at something while they’re watching a movie and then the parents giggle at something that goes over the kids’ heads.”

At the same time, Columbus and the cast members feel that the film could serve as a sort of “gateway drug” for its audience with regards to Greek mythology. “It was fun to go back to the stories because some of the stories are very, very dark and adult-oriented and not really appropriate for a children’s movie, so we wanted to avoid some of those,” says Columbus. “Hopefully, the kids will be inspired enough and interested enough to start reading about Greek mythology. And that will truly scare them out of their wits.”

Lerman laughs and expounds. “We’re taking Greek mythology and we’re putting it in the modern day. [The film] is basically retelling these classic myths and showing it to a modern-day audience. You’re kind of tricking the audience into learning Greek mythology without knowing that they actually are.”

And isn’t that the best way to learn?

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is in theatres now.

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