The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (Movie review)

City of Bones (released in 2013) was an adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s #1 Best-Selling The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones book, which was published in 2007. Lily Collins plays Clarrisa Fray, a teenager whose life is upturned after finding Jace Wayland, played by Jamie Campbell Bower, in a club called Pandemonium. She finds out she is from a big race of demon-slayers, called Shadowhunters. She allies with the Shadowhunters in New York to fight her father, Valentine Morgenstern, played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

About the cast:

Lily Collins, plays Clarrisa, aka Clary.

Jamie Campbell Bower, plays Jace Wayland, one of New York’s Shadowhunters, who falls for Clary. His character is very shrewd, fearless and self indulgent. Although he is also a person who doesn’t really open up to anyone, which Jamie, unfortunately didn’t manage to portray.

Robert Sheehan, plays Simon Lewis, a mundane with no special powers. He is Clary’s best friend since she could even remember, and miserably in love with her.

Other characters, such as Isabelle Lightwood played by Jemima West, Alec Lightwood played by Kevin Zegers, Lucian Graymark played by Aidan Turner, Jocelyn Fray played by Lena Headley, Magnus Bane played by Godfrey Geo and Hodge Starkweather played by Jared Harris were given secondary importance even though the books clearly gave them equal importance as Clary, Jace and Simon.

Pros of watching the movie:

• You don’t need to read the book.
• You’ll understand everything that’s going on even if you haven’t read the book.

Cons of watching the movie:

• You’ll want to kill the director. (If you’ve read the books.)
• It’ll be as if you’re being tortured. (If you’ve read the books.)
• You’ll want to kill everyone who comes near you. (If you’ve read the books.)
• YOU’LL WANT TO BURN EVERYTHING. (If you’ve read the books.)

About the music score:

There are around 20 songs in the movie, scattered. To be honest, I didn’t really see the need to have a music score, since the movie was already so influenced by animation and graphics. Anyway, the background score was worth mentioning since the song When Darkness Comes caught a special interest in me. The music score is composed by Atli Örvarsson.

Listen to the sound track here

Before the film was released, it was announced that a film adaptation of the second book City of Ashes, would start production in September 2013 with a 2014 release date. In August 2013 after the film opened below expectations, Kulzer, Constantin’s co-president, explained even if it performs moderately, it would warrant a sequel, noting increasing book sales, and soundtrack revenues. Although, the series is  now being rumored to be made into a daily soap. (I don’t know why they’re trying so hard.)

FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE READ THE BOOKS. 

So, if you are a fan of books and were looking forward to watch the movie, then this is going to be a disappointment for you. If you are like me, a person who hates books being adapted into movies, then I’d rather you not watch it, because I’d been tortured to the limit after watching this movie. The movie is nothing like the book. It’s as if they’ve taken Cassandra’s book, stolen her setting and everything and then made it into a story of their own. So, if I were you, I wouldn’t watch it.

FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T READ THE BOOKS.

Go read the books.

CRITICS SAY:

Slant Magazine – “The movie blasts by for a while as an odd and busy slice of highly watchable garbage.”

The A.V. Club –  “Borrowing every single component of its complicated plot from other sources, The Mortal Instruments is hodgepodge claptrap, but there’s a faint flicker of fun in its introducing-the-world passages.”

Reviews given by various people.

Official Poster of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. The poster shows (right to left) Clary Fray, Jace Wayland, Alec Lightwood, Isabelle Lightwood and Simon Lewis.

Thank you for reading! Do tell your experience in watching the movie in the comments, and rate the movie.