So when I rebooted this blogging machine (come to think of it, that was exactly a month ago today!), I floated around the possibility of posting reviews. And now here I am, tired of talking about myself in these posts and ready to dive into this blog's first ever review!
Our lucky item of review is...THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES
(Is it bad that I prefer this poster over the one with all the characters on it? It is? Ah, well.)
I've been a fan of Cassandra Clare's MORTAL INSTRUMENTS series for a long time; I read the first book in 7th grade, and loyally followed her when she wrote the INFERNAL DEVICES trilogy (boy, do I LOVE that trilogy! I'm using a lot of parentheses in this post, aren't I?). I was excited when a movie adaptation was announced, and though some of the casting had me skeptical at first, I wasn't going to let it stop me from seeing the movie.
I went into the theater with medium expectations; I saw it this past Saturday, meaning it had been out for a few weeks and I'd had a chance of reading most of the unforunate reviews coming out about the film. SN: If you want a thorough and hilarious review of this film, check out the one by Christine Riccio here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFvp9Vcv-1w
Actually, just check out as many videos of hers as possible; they're great watches if you're an avid book/book-to-movie nerd like me!
For me, the movie suffered from two very major problems, most notably how underdeveloped the world presented to us was. Anyone who has read Clare's novels knows how intricate the world she's created is, with Nephilim, fae, and Mortal Cups galore! However, the film either glazes over important information or leaves it out entirely. It was almost like the filmakers expected everyone in the audience to have read the books and had a clear understanding of how the rules in this world work. Like seriously, it's not that hard to dedicate a few moments to properly explain who the Silent Brothers are! And also, how are we gonna leave out Idris?!?
Some of you probably have no idea what I'm talking about here. This is my first warning to read the book before you see this movie.
And here's my second: The movie, in my opinion, fails to give us a firm grasp on any of these characters. Characters with prominent roles in the book, particularly Alec (played by Kevin Zegers), have their roles diminished in place of fight scenes that, while necessary, go on for way too long. Instead of getting to know these characters--who they are, why we as the audience should care for them--we're watching attractive people we barely know, with funky tattoos whose meaning are never explicitly explained, throw themselves at demons and vampires. Because of this, I couldn't connect with these characters as easily as I could with their book counterparts. This has nothing to do with the acting; despite initial reservations, I thought most of the actors did very well in the roles they were given, with the exception of one or two (I'm looking at you, Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Valentine. Seriously, who thought that hair-piece was a good idea?)
One of the most important jobs of this first movie was not only to develop the world and characters inhabiting it, but the relationship between protagonist Clary Fray (Lily Collins) and spit-fire Shadowhunter Jace Wayland (Jamie Campbell Bower). Even if you've never a word of this book, you know from the previews that the story between these two is quite important. Collins and Campbell-Bower admirably attempt to pull this off, but the script and direction is hammered down with so many unfortunate cliches that the romance comes across as corny and inauthentic. What should've been moments of romance and tension turned out to be unfortunately laughable. One scene involving a Portal and petting hand made me burst out laughing, despite my best efforts to keep it in.
Though there were some unfortunate (and big) mistakes this film made, the acting did redeem it somewhat. Like I said before, most of the actors owned their roles, even with limited screentime. Most of the visual effects translated well, too. So...there's that.
THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES had great potential to be a great book-to-film adaptation and a successful start to a great franchise. Unfortunately, with the problems mentioned above, I feel like the direction the film took hurts its chances of becoming the respected franchise it deserved to be. With the second film, CITY OF ASHES, apparently still happening, I guess we can hope that the filmakers will learn from their mistakes and make a film that is consistent, entertaining, and free of terrible romance cliches.
What did YOU think of the movie? If you were a fan of the books going into the film, how did seeing it effect your viewing of the series, if at all? And if you'd never heard of the books before, did seeing the movie make you want to read them? Let me know in the comments or via my Twitter @DustinVann, and be sure to check out Christine's video review of the movie (Beware of spoilers, however!)
Until next time,
Dustin
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