Suvudu Universe

For a genre that was by far the minority in theaters for much of the nineties, the return of the big-screen fantasy film is a surprising and welcome development. Credit it to the success of “The Lord of the Rings,” “Harry Potter,” or even just a simple need for escapism in an increasingly complex world, but in any case, fantasy films are hotter than ever. Case in point: “Percy Jackson” and “The Mortal Instruments.”

These two highly anticipated fantasy films are coming to theaters this month, each a movie adaptation based on popular young adult novels. The first, “Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters” (August 7), is the sequel to the film “Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief” (2010). Both movies are based on books in author Rick Riordan’s five-volume Percy Jackson series, which follows the adventures of a group of young people who discover that they are demigods: the children of mortals and Greek deities. “The Lightning Thief” performed very well at the box office – with a budget of $95 million, the film grossed almost $227 million – so clearly a sequel was in order.

The second, “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” (August 21), is based on the 2007 book of the same name by Cassandra Clare, the first in the six-volume Mortal Instruments series. Like the Percy Jackson books, Mortal Instruments is the saga of a teenager, this one a girl named Clary Fray who learns that she is heiress to a powerful destiny. As the daughter of a Shadowhunter, she is capable of interacting with a hidden world of monsters and magicians obscured from mundane sight by faerie glamour.

At Word & Film we err on the side of optimism and are expecting great things from these two movies – but we also recognize that not every fantasy film is successful. If you look at the ones that are, however, you will find that they all have something in common beyond adequate budgeting, special effects, good direction, and talented actors: They employ archetypal story elements, a similarity of narrative progression and character. The late mythologist Joseph Campbell identified these archetypal story elements in his groundbreaking 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. He called this universal story a “monomyth,” and postulated that every story was patterned on it to a greater or lesser degree.

In Campbell’s monomyth, the story begins when the main character receives what he described as “the call to adventure.” It is an invitation to a greater world of danger and reward. Sometimes this call is issued by a divine or supernatural figure. Percy Jackson is made aware of his exceptional nature by a satyr. Clary Fray is awakened to her supernatural side by Shadowhunter Jace Wayland. In “The Lord of the Rings,” Frodo receives his call to adventure from the wizard Gandalf. Harry Potter receives his invitation to Hogwart’s by Hagrid the half-giant. Luke Skywalker is initiated into the Force by Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Incidentally, “Star Wars” director George Lucas corresponded with Campbell during the creation of the first film.)

Once this invitation is accepted, the character, be it Percy, Clary, Frodo, Harry, Luke or some other, faces challenges, makes sacrifices and ultimately returns home rich with a new understanding of his or her self and his or her place in the world. It sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It is the basis for innumerable films, all of them just variations on Campbell’s monomyth. So what keeps us coming back?

We come back to see the same story because it resonates with our own lives. Sure, there might be a need for escapism that fantasy films fulfill – but there’s also guidance and hope. We all have challenges; we all want to be exceptional. Good fantasy movies, like the myths of ancient times, inspire us to be more than what we are: to fight harder, be braver, and embrace the wondrous and unexpected. Surely, if an unassuming Hobbit can take that first step on the road to adventure, or Luke Skywalker can leave Tatooine, or Percy can stare down the powers of the Underworld, then we too can overcome the challenges that face us every day and become the hero of our own story.

The post Percy Jackson, The Mortal Instruments, and Why Fantasy Films Are Hotter Than Ever appeared first on Word and Film.