Movie Review: The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Movie Review
I pride myself in being a realistic fan. It seems like whenever I become a fan of something I am almost off the spectrum, even though I may love it dearly. The good thing about being this way (I think) is that it’s easier for me to look at something for flaws or not to have exceedingly high expectations for something. I went into the movie theater to watch The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones with the knowledge that it is a book adaptation (and yes, I have read all the books) and as such there would be changes. I wasn’t able to go opening day and I wasn’t going to avoid the websites I frequent because there might be spoilers. I’d already read the book so what could really be spoiled?
But I will be nice and warn others because I know some are hardcore about spoilers so this is your warning. There will be spoilers for the movie The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones in this review.
I don’t follow many TMI blogs on Tumblr, when I did it was a lot of the same stuff over and over so I’m down to a couple of people and I track the Malec tag. Most of the “spoilers” that I did see before seeing the movie were related to Malec. I went into the movie expecting something close to the book because I knew Cassandra Clare had been involved with things. I was realistic though because I know even though she was there helping with things, there was no reason for them to do everything she said. I also knew that even though there was a lot of talk about there being a Malec kiss that it was unlikely, I wasn’t counting on it. And of course there was the Jamie vs. Jace war, was he Jace or not? I like Jamie Campbell Bower, I think he is a good actor but Jace is described as being very pretty (though Alec is supposed to be prettier) and he is very snarky. So, did he pull it off? I’ll get to that in a moment.
What people need to remember is that the movie is an adaptation. No adaptation is going to be the same as what it is based on.
Casting
Lily Collins as Clary Fray - I have seen Lily Collins in a couple of movies now. Though she did not have a huge role in The Blind Side, I loved her in it. In this role she captured Clary just the way I pictured her. I thought her acting was spot on. The color they chose for her hair looked very good on her. My only problem with Lily Collins, and this has been a problem since I first saw her in The Blind Side, is her eyebrows. For me they are too close together and too bushy for her face. I would love to see her get them waxed/shaped. Do her eyebrows affect her acting? Not at all, but I find them distracting.
Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace Wayland - As I said above, I like Jamie. He is a good actor and I had no doubt he would do a good job…but would he be Jace? There has been a Jamie vs. Jace war on Tumblr ever since Jamie was cast. Some people took sides and defended that side vehemently. I took the middle ground saying I would make my decision once I saw the movie. Now that I have seen the movie, is Jamie Jace? For me, personality wise he is Jace through and through. In looks though… not so much. This, like Lily’s eyebrows, is something that has bugged me in everything I’ve seen him in. Jamie has such a sharp face (sharp bone structure) that when he has his hair pushed back it makes him look weird. For the majority of the movie he didn’t look like Jace to me but there is one scene where is hair is wet or something and it is hanging down around his face and in that moment he was Jace.
Kevin Zegers as Alec Lightwood - I was a little concerned about Kevin playing Alec (my favorite character), not because of his looks or acting chops but because of his age. He is the oldest of the top people for the movie so I wasn’t sure he would be able to pull off being a teenager. Boy was I wrong though. Kevin was great as Alec. He only smiles once the entire movie which plays into Alec’s moody character perfectly. I was very pleased that he captured a tough and yet still innocent view of Alec.
Jeminma West as Isabelle Lightwood - Want a badass female? Jeminma is your girl! She is gorgeous, tough, and all in all just badass. She is just how I imagined Isabelle.
Robert Sheehan as Simon Lewis - Robert is the one actor that I had no doubts about. He looks just like how I picture Simon and though I had never seen him in anything else…I just wasn’t worried. I guess it was his natural nerdy look or something. His confession scene ripped my heart out.
Godfrey Gao as Magnus Bane - This was Godfrey’s first English speaking role so that had me a little concerned. I often said, “Please let his voice be awesome because looks wise he is Magnus”. There was quite a bit of talk about Godfrey’s voice being dubbed after the movie came out. My best friend and I talked about it after the credits had started to roll, she said that she thought he is so soft spoken that they had just turned his microphone up higher than the others. I can go with this. If they did dub his voice it was with his own voice. It was obvious that he worked with a vocal coach. The only thing I wished for Magnus was that he was a bit more flamboyant.
Others (characters I consider minor) - Robert Maillet (Blackwell), this guy was downright scary just because he is so huge. He doesn’t say a lot but he doesn’t have to. Kevin Durand (Pangborn), ohhh how I wanted to just slap him and that’s a good thing! He really captured this character. Lena Headey (Jocelyn Fray), I am not that into Game of Thrones but my best friend is, she was impressed with Headey’s performance even though she was asleep for the majority of the movie. She was certainly badass, I now know how to use a frying pan and refrigerator to defend myself. Jared Harris (Hodge), I was rather underwhelmed by this performance. Unless you’ve read the book I don’t think you’ll really appreciate his character. Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Valentine), I love Meyers. When he came through the portal I, according to my cousin, made some orgasm like noises. I have no doubt that Meyers is Valentine and I would gladly follow him. Aidan Turner (Luke), love, love, loved him! He was the perfect choice for Luke.
Direction
• I haven’t seen a single movie that Harald Zwart has directed so I have nothing to compare his direction to. However, I thought the movie was done fairly well. There are always going to be things with an adaptation that we wish were added/taken out or done differently. I also understand that some things cannot be translated from book to film. That being said…
• I did not like the use of so many British accents. I understand why they did it, to distinguish the Shadowhunters from the rest of New York, but the Shadowhunters go out of their way to hide themselves from the “mundane” world so I don’t think it would have been that big of a deal if they had New York accents.
• I felt like they should have explained what “parabatai” are, for me as a fan of the books this was important especially for character development. For those who haven’t read the book, “parabatai” are “a pair of Nephilim warriors who fight together and are closer than siblings, regardless of their gender. They are partners who would lay down their life for the other”. Because of this I was expecting more from Jace when Alec got hurt. As it was, he almost seemed like he didn’t care.
• I was expecting much more from the fight scene with Dorthea, she was possessed by a Greater Demon! She should not have gone down with one stab.
• Similarly, I expected a wound by a demon/Greater Demon to be more…painful? I expected screaming or whimpers and writhing. But maybe that is just the angst fangirl in me.
• I was very excited when I heard that we were getting the healing scene between Magnus and Alec, which is only mentioned but not really described in the book. However, when it came to that scene in the movie I was sorely disappointed. I was expecting blue sparks and magic from Magnus not…spirit fingers and some air waves.
• We are told that Alec is responding to Magnus’ magic but unlike the book we never see either of the characters again. Like with Hodge, unless you’ve read the book you wouldn’t know what happened to the character.
• To end this section on a good note, I liked that they moved Clary being able to create runes from the second book to the first movie. I have decided that she created “The Force” rune.
Production/Design
After the excellent casting job the production and design of City of Bones was absolutely fantastic. I had no complaints whatsoever. The moment that Clary saw the Institute for the first time I was in just as much awe, it was a gorgeous building. The building Clary and Jocelyn’s apartment is in is very charming, I loved all the vines and flowers growing on it. They must live in the nicest neighborhood in Brooklyn because they were gone for days, leaving the door open, and no one broke in.
The scene with Jace and Clary in the solarium was beyond gorgeous. It was downright magical, which is what I think they were going for. The flowers glowed…and combined with the music it was just one of the best scenes in the entire movie.
Cassandra Clare said is in an interview with People magazine, “They brought me in to talk about casting and props. I cried the first time I walked around the set. It looked exactly like I’d pictured it” (People, August 2013).
Soundtrack
As soon as I get paid in a couple of days I’m ordering the soundtrack. I thought it was excellent, especially the scene of the vampire fight which had disco music playing.
Box Office Opening
Because the world is so tired of Twilight-esque movies I am not surprised that City of Bones grossed around $14M its opening weekend. Most of the advertising done was of screaming girls in malls and I’ll admit, this was a turnoff for even me. I would much rather have seen the movie trailer played more than the few times that it was. Something else that I feel also hurt the opening was opening on a Wednesday after most schools were already back in session. The target audience is teens and I guess maybe these targeted teens are more dedicated to school than going to see a movie.
That said, the Constantin company has said that their projected earnings for the opening weekend for the US/Canada was $15M so they were pretty spot on. They were expecting more to come from the international showings, which seems to be the norm with most movies lately.
I hope that with the holiday weekend coming that City of Bones will pull through with another good showing. I don’t think it’ll hit #1 because the One Direction movie is coming out this holiday weekend, but depending on how The Butler and We’re the Millers do, it might be able to pull #2.
Overall
Overall I gave the movie 4/5 stars. The sequel is in “pre-production” and is scheduled to start filming in September. I look forward to the next movie and seeing how they develop the series. I especially look forward to seeing the relationships between Jace & Clary, Isabelle & Simon and Alec & Magnus developing. They all had such great chemistry. I think the cast and crew are very aware of the deep love that many fans have for this series and they want to do right by them. My best friend who has read up to the 5th book said, “It’s a series I look forward to seeing turned into a franchise over the next few years”.
Movie Review
I pride myself in being a realistic fan. It seems like whenever I become a fan of something I am almost off the spectrum, even though I may love it dearly. The good thing about being this way (I think) is that it’s easier for me to look at something for flaws or not to have exceedingly high expectations for something. I went into the movie theater to watch The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones with the knowledge that it is a book adaptation (and yes, I have read all the books) and as such there would be changes. I wasn’t able to go opening day and I wasn’t going to avoid the websites I frequent because there might be spoilers. I’d already read the book so what could really be spoiled?
But I will be nice and warn others because I know some are hardcore about spoilers so this is your warning. There will be spoilers for the movie The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones in this review.
I don’t follow many TMI blogs on Tumblr, when I did it was a lot of the same stuff over and over so I’m down to a couple of people and I track the Malec tag. Most of the “spoilers” that I did see before seeing the movie were related to Malec. I went into the movie expecting something close to the book because I knew Cassandra Clare had been involved with things. I was realistic though because I know even though she was there helping with things, there was no reason for them to do everything she said. I also knew that even though there was a lot of talk about there being a Malec kiss that it was unlikely, I wasn’t counting on it. And of course there was the Jamie vs. Jace war, was he Jace or not? I like Jamie Campbell Bower, I think he is a good actor but Jace is described as being very pretty (though Alec is supposed to be prettier) and he is very snarky. So, did he pull it off? I’ll get to that in a moment.
What people need to remember is that the movie is an adaptation. No adaptation is going to be the same as what it is based on.
Casting
Lily Collins as Clary Fray - I have seen Lily Collins in a couple of movies now. Though she did not have a huge role in The Blind Side, I loved her in it. In this role she captured Clary just the way I pictured her. I thought her acting was spot on. The color they chose for her hair looked very good on her. My only problem with Lily Collins, and this has been a problem since I first saw her in The Blind Side, is her eyebrows. For me they are too close together and too bushy for her face. I would love to see her get them waxed/shaped. Do her eyebrows affect her acting? Not at all, but I find them distracting.
Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace Wayland - As I said above, I like Jamie. He is a good actor and I had no doubt he would do a good job…but would he be Jace? There has been a Jamie vs. Jace war on Tumblr ever since Jamie was cast. Some people took sides and defended that side vehemently. I took the middle ground saying I would make my decision once I saw the movie. Now that I have seen the movie, is Jamie Jace? For me, personality wise he is Jace through and through. In looks though… not so much. This, like Lily’s eyebrows, is something that has bugged me in everything I’ve seen him in. Jamie has such a sharp face (sharp bone structure) that when he has his hair pushed back it makes him look weird. For the majority of the movie he didn’t look like Jace to me but there is one scene where is hair is wet or something and it is hanging down around his face and in that moment he was Jace.
Kevin Zegers as Alec Lightwood - I was a little concerned about Kevin playing Alec (my favorite character), not because of his looks or acting chops but because of his age. He is the oldest of the top people for the movie so I wasn’t sure he would be able to pull off being a teenager. Boy was I wrong though. Kevin was great as Alec. He only smiles once the entire movie which plays into Alec’s moody character perfectly. I was very pleased that he captured a tough and yet still innocent view of Alec.
Jeminma West as Isabelle Lightwood - Want a badass female? Jeminma is your girl! She is gorgeous, tough, and all in all just badass. She is just how I imagined Isabelle.
Robert Sheehan as Simon Lewis - Robert is the one actor that I had no doubts about. He looks just like how I picture Simon and though I had never seen him in anything else…I just wasn’t worried. I guess it was his natural nerdy look or something. His confession scene ripped my heart out.
Godfrey Gao as Magnus Bane - This was Godfrey’s first English speaking role so that had me a little concerned. I often said, “Please let his voice be awesome because looks wise he is Magnus”. There was quite a bit of talk about Godfrey’s voice being dubbed after the movie came out. My best friend and I talked about it after the credits had started to roll, she said that she thought he is so soft spoken that they had just turned his microphone up higher than the others. I can go with this. If they did dub his voice it was with his own voice. It was obvious that he worked with a vocal coach. The only thing I wished for Magnus was that he was a bit more flamboyant.
Others (characters I consider minor) - Robert Maillet (Blackwell), this guy was downright scary just because he is so huge. He doesn’t say a lot but he doesn’t have to. Kevin Durand (Pangborn), ohhh how I wanted to just slap him and that’s a good thing! He really captured this character. Lena Headey (Jocelyn Fray), I am not that into Game of Thrones but my best friend is, she was impressed with Headey’s performance even though she was asleep for the majority of the movie. She was certainly badass, I now know how to use a frying pan and refrigerator to defend myself. Jared Harris (Hodge), I was rather underwhelmed by this performance. Unless you’ve read the book I don’t think you’ll really appreciate his character. Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Valentine), I love Meyers. When he came through the portal I, according to my cousin, made some orgasm like noises. I have no doubt that Meyers is Valentine and I would gladly follow him. Aidan Turner (Luke), love, love, loved him! He was the perfect choice for Luke.
Direction
• I haven’t seen a single movie that Harald Zwart has directed so I have nothing to compare his direction to. However, I thought the movie was done fairly well. There are always going to be things with an adaptation that we wish were added/taken out or done differently. I also understand that some things cannot be translated from book to film. That being said…
• I did not like the use of so many British accents. I understand why they did it, to distinguish the Shadowhunters from the rest of New York, but the Shadowhunters go out of their way to hide themselves from the “mundane” world so I don’t think it would have been that big of a deal if they had New York accents.
• I felt like they should have explained what “parabatai” are, for me as a fan of the books this was important especially for character development. For those who haven’t read the book, “parabatai” are “a pair of Nephilim warriors who fight together and are closer than siblings, regardless of their gender. They are partners who would lay down their life for the other”. Because of this I was expecting more from Jace when Alec got hurt. As it was, he almost seemed like he didn’t care.
• I was expecting much more from the fight scene with Dorthea, she was possessed by a Greater Demon! She should not have gone down with one stab.
• Similarly, I expected a wound by a demon/Greater Demon to be more…painful? I expected screaming or whimpers and writhing. But maybe that is just the angst fangirl in me.
• I was very excited when I heard that we were getting the healing scene between Magnus and Alec, which is only mentioned but not really described in the book. However, when it came to that scene in the movie I was sorely disappointed. I was expecting blue sparks and magic from Magnus not…spirit fingers and some air waves.
• We are told that Alec is responding to Magnus’ magic but unlike the book we never see either of the characters again. Like with Hodge, unless you’ve read the book you wouldn’t know what happened to the character.
• To end this section on a good note, I liked that they moved Clary being able to create runes from the second book to the first movie. I have decided that she created “The Force” rune.
Production/Design
After the excellent casting job the production and design of City of Bones was absolutely fantastic. I had no complaints whatsoever. The moment that Clary saw the Institute for the first time I was in just as much awe, it was a gorgeous building. The building Clary and Jocelyn’s apartment is in is very charming, I loved all the vines and flowers growing on it. They must live in the nicest neighborhood in Brooklyn because they were gone for days, leaving the door open, and no one broke in.
The scene with Jace and Clary in the solarium was beyond gorgeous. It was downright magical, which is what I think they were going for. The flowers glowed…and combined with the music it was just one of the best scenes in the entire movie.
Cassandra Clare said is in an interview with People magazine, “They brought me in to talk about casting and props. I cried the first time I walked around the set. It looked exactly like I’d pictured it” (People, August 2013).
Soundtrack
As soon as I get paid in a couple of days I’m ordering the soundtrack. I thought it was excellent, especially the scene of the vampire fight which had disco music playing.
Box Office Opening
Because the world is so tired of Twilight-esque movies I am not surprised that City of Bones grossed around $14M its opening weekend. Most of the advertising done was of screaming girls in malls and I’ll admit, this was a turnoff for even me. I would much rather have seen the movie trailer played more than the few times that it was. Something else that I feel also hurt the opening was opening on a Wednesday after most schools were already back in session. The target audience is teens and I guess maybe these targeted teens are more dedicated to school than going to see a movie.
That said, the Constantin company has said that their projected earnings for the opening weekend for the US/Canada was $15M so they were pretty spot on. They were expecting more to come from the international showings, which seems to be the norm with most movies lately.
I hope that with the holiday weekend coming that City of Bones will pull through with another good showing. I don’t think it’ll hit #1 because the One Direction movie is coming out this holiday weekend, but depending on how The Butler and We’re the Millers do, it might be able to pull #2.
Overall
Overall I gave the movie 4/5 stars. The sequel is in “pre-production” and is scheduled to start filming in September. I look forward to the next movie and seeing how they develop the series. I especially look forward to seeing the relationships between Jace & Clary, Isabelle & Simon and Alec & Magnus developing. They all had such great chemistry. I think the cast and crew are very aware of the deep love that many fans have for this series and they want to do right by them. My best friend who has read up to the 5th book said, “It’s a series I look forward to seeing turned into a franchise over the next few years”.