What would you do if someone were murdered in a crowded nightclub? Scream? That is exactly what Clary Fray (Lily Collins) does in the new movie “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones," based on the worldwide best selling book by Cassandra Clare. The problem? Only Clary can see them.
Clary believes herself to be a normal girl living in New York City with an overprotective mother before she sees three strangers covered in strange tattoos kill a boy who disappears. Everyone, including herself and her best friend Simon Lewis (Robert Sheehan), thinks she is crazy when they can't see the murderers or even the body. Things become even weirder when she draws this symbol over and over again. Clary thinks she is having a mental breakdown.
Enter Jace Wayland (Jamie Campbell Bower), kickbutt demon slayer, and one of the murderers from the nightclub. Through him, the truth is revealed; Clary is not an ordinary human. She is half human, half angel- a shadowhunter: beings of immense power who train their entire lives to rid the world of demons. Now, the journey begins to find Clary's mother (Lena Heady) who was taken by the ultimate evil in the Shadow World, Valentine Morgenstern (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).
Readers, myself included, get nervous when a beloved book is translated to film, but after a three year wait, this fanbase has no reason to sweat. The book is taken to a whole new level, and is mirrored in all the important aspects, even the controversial twist. The director, Harald Zwart (“Karate Kid”, 2010), knows how important this book is to so many people. He decided to focus on the relationships between each of the characters, which are really what drives the books.
As for the twist at the end that might have left some viewers with a bad taste in their mouth, he handled it in such a way that viewers should be at peace with it. Readers are a lot more tolerant than moviegoers, so the little change that was added to this twist made the most sense for the movie. Unfortunately, movies cannot include every single moment from the books because of the time limit, but books and movies also have different paces. In the book, things are a lot more dragged out and there is a lot of traveling back and forth to the same place that a movie cannot afford to do, so they combined all those scenes. All the important plot points and character relationships were conveyed.
When it comes to the actors, they were all able to embody their characters, which is all the book audience can hope for. Collins showed Clary’s confusion and amazement that goes along with entering this secret world that has been hidden all her life. Robert Sheehan nailed Simon as the comical relief and character in love with his best friend, Clary. Alec (Kevin Zegers) and Isabelle (Jemima West) showed their characters’ brother- sister bond and their shared aversion to Clary.
Even all the minor characters were cast perfectly. Out of everyone, Jamie Campbell Bower was by far the best. After getting so much hate when he was first cast as the beloved, badboy Jace Wayland, he set out to prove himself to the fans. Like every role he takes on, Jamie was phenomenal, and he captured the character perfectly. He is the complete embodiment of Jace, and has amazing chemistry with Collins.
Readers will be happy hear all the familiar and beloved book lines in the movie. All the music and little details that the producers paid attention to from the book pull the whole thing together into a beautiful movie that flows flawlessly. “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” is lying the foundation for future movies, and it has everything a good movie should: action, violence, humor, fantasy, and a little bit of romance.
This series will reach six books in May when the final book is released while “The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes” will begin filming later this year, and is set to be released next year.
