City of Bones (movie review)

MOVIE: The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

RATING: M

GENRE: Fantasy/Adventure

Well, I just spent about an hour talking to my sister about this movie so LOTS of thoughts. I'll just tailor it slightly for you though so don't worry. Also as a heads up, I've read the books so I'm looking at the film from an insiders perspective I guess as opposed to a stand alone film.


So this movie is based on a book series by Cassandra Clare that I really enjoy. It's about shadowhunters who are half-human half-angel and whose job it is to fight demons and "downworlders" - vampires, werewolves and the like - and protect the peoples of earth. The main characters' mother goes missing and as she, Clary, tries to find her mother, she learns that "all the stories are true" and that she is actually a shadowhunter. Lots of action, lots of drama, quite a bit of romance and a bucket load of sarcasm and irony from most of the characters.


So as far as movie adaptions go, this one did a good job. I'm not saying it was 100% accurate because it wasn't (major changes for those who've read the books include the characterisation of Valentine, a removing of the incest tension and a changed setting for the ending) but it was really just like seeing the world of the book come to life. It was aesthetically wonderful. Visually, this film was perfect. It looked really stunning and that's referencing everything from costuming to set design to the special effects to the colouring. Just look at those shadowhunters there.

I know that a few of the actors got a lot of slack after they announced the casting but honestly, all of the roles were acted really well. Lots of dialogue straight from the book which is always enjoyable for the readers I find.


The soundtrack to this was wonderful. Very effective, very emotive, although sometimes, like a lot of other aspects of the film, slightly cheesy and cliched. And thank goodness that the Ariana Grande and Nathan Skyes duet wasn't actually in the movie because that thing made me want to punch myself in the face with its saccharinity.


Speaking of which, the thing about this film is that there was quite a lot of cheesy and cliched moments, particularly in the dialogue. But in the films defense, lots of it did come from the book, which is kind of written, at least in the relationships aspect, as the fantasy of a teenage girl. But for example, in the big kiss scene guess what happens. Did you guess rain? Because yeah, you're pretty much right.


Another hang-up I had with the film was that Valentines two cronies were written as charicatures as opposed to actual real characters with depth. That was sad because the whole point of Valentine and his followers isn't that they are cronies and thugs but that they truly believe in his views. I don't want to spoil things because I am going to recommend you go and see this movie, but I'd always aligned Valentine with a Hitler kind of a figure and the movie did reference that slightly. And I was fine with Valentine himself but just those silly chronies. They were played for humour and you really didn't need that with all the other characters being their sarcastic selves anyway. It's almost as if they chucked them in there to pander for a younger audience.


And on that note, there was actually a mixed demographic in the cinema. Mainly people of the "young-adult" disposition but a few older people as well and also there were probably an even number of males and females which I was super happy about because, truth be told, the books are more female oriented mainly because of Clary's quite female view point. But the movie did make it more adult which was great. Because really, the world of the shadowhunters and Valentine's plans are all actually quite dark and gritty. Kind of like how the Hunger Games books were made less for teenagers when they were adapted to movies. I'd say those were made more adult than City of Bones though.


I walked out of this film with that post-movie buzz and my friends and I agreed we'd all happily go and see it again in cinemas. And it really was worth seeing in the theatre as opposed to waiting for a DVD release because of what I said before about the visuals.


Oh, how could I have not said this before. The beginning of the film I thought was wonderful. They set it up really well and it was just super engaging and as soon as the music started and there were these wonderful aeriel shots of Brooklyn (which continued throughout the film) you were just ready for something special.

This movie is number one in Australia at the moment. You should go and see it. It's enjoyable. Just be prepared for cheese.


Until next time.