Review of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) by Bree B — 31 Dec 2013

When I saw the trailers, I became very amused and read all five Mortal Instruments books with a sixth book coming next year. Then, as I watched it, it turned out to be a very interesting film. Although, I do understand the critical reception it had due to it's similarities of Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Twilight, but I don't think it's as bad as they say it is because what these critics don't know is that "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" is entirely different than those films and much better than Twilight in my opinion (heck, even better than the "Twilight-wannabe" Beautiful Creatures).

Before I can get to the good stuff, I would say that there are some flaws. The story is a lot more engaging than Twilight and Beautiful Creatures and the opening is well-done, but when it comes to young-adult film adaptations, it did left out some of the important stuff that have already caused an outrage to the fans, although they did give a lot of nice detail of the world created by Cassandra Clare. Also, the romance between Jace and Clary is poorly done because it transited some scenes a bit too fast and there wasn't enough chemistry.

With that said, everything else was great. The visuals are breathtakingly beautiful, the scenery is nice to look at, and the special effects are very cool (even the creepy demons look realistic). The music score, aside from a few out of place pop songs, is epic with a lot of atmospheric stuff in it. There are bits of funny moments and the action sequences are entertaining, but the best part would have to go to a decent cast of actors.

Lily Collins is very appealing as Clary and emotes very well with the supporting actors, Jamie Campbell as Jace is very witty, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers is very sinister as Valentine Morgenstern. The script is fine with really smart dialog and the direction from Harold Zwart is solid.

Overall, TMI: COB isn't as excellent as the other fantasy films like "The Lord of the Rings", "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "Harry Potter", but like I said before, it's a lot better than Twilight and I strongly suggest that anyone, especially those who haven't read the books, can go check it out! It is that good! :).