Review of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) by Dave C — 02 Jan 2014

I am tempted to give this film three stars. It's not quite as bad as some are making it out to be, even as much of the critique recognize some weaknesses I would readily agree with. It is true, the film mishandles the source material by amping up the teenage romance and dropping the ball somewhat on bringing to life the books mythology. It moves too fast for its own good and gives us cliche moments and undeveloped characters. And the visuals at points are cheaply rendered. But it has moments. It hits some of the cynical tone and offbeat humor of it source material, and at points exercises a good visual interpretation.

I hate to comment on this particular issue, but it was not until I finished reading the book that I became aware of some of the controversial surrounding its author. Given the pending accusations of plagiarism and poor character it was hard to suspend judgment to simply try and enjoy the movie. Wherever one falls on this issue though, I must still admit that I enjoyed the story itself. This may not be a great adaptation, and I know that the story could have provided the premise for a really good one, but it still reflected some of what I enjoyed from the novel.