The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

As a movie based on a book that appears in the “teen paranormal romance” section at Barnes and Noble, my expectations were limited when heading into The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. The film follows Clary, played by Lily Collins, whose normal teenage life goes crazy when she learns that she is a shadow hunter, a long hidden group that fights demons. To follow the Twilight trend, Clary becomes the subject of a love triangle with her friend Simon (Robert Sheehan) and shadow hunter, Jace (Jamie Campbell Bowyer). Fighting with demons and vampires and such ensues.

More action oriented than your usual young adult adaptation, City of Bones is presented as a logical bridge between Twilight and The Hunger Games. But it falls flat with the character interactions and dialogue. The overall concept is interesting, but with almost the entire movie playing out as exposition, elements of character development get lost in the shuffle. First we have to explain that this world exists, then Clary’s involvement, the cup’s involvement, the bad guy’s deal and so on. It’s just too much. Simplify it. I also have to say that calling non-magical people “mundanes” is a lazy knock off of Harry Potter’s muggles. The nerve of them.

The film is not entirely unenjoyable however. The concept is interesting and the rune tattoos have potential. For the most part they just look like bad frat boy tattoos though. As the mysterious villain, Jonathon Rhys Meyers provides a spark when the movie desperately needs one. He only has a handful of scenes, which may mean he’s only being established in this chapter. But with a sequel pick-up questionable, the film would do better presenting the strong actor in the forefront. Since his henchmen have about double the screen time he does, it wouldn’t be that hard to work Meyers in there more. I guess we should file City of Bones away with the other young adult adaptations that didn’t quite hit the mark.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.