Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Has A Little Bit Of Everything

It is easy to say that one movie is similar to another and that it's not original. Mortal Instruments: City of Bones faces this very problem with already biased audiences while trying to tell it's own story. The fact is though is that Mortal Instruments: City of Bones does use a lot of similar elements while telling it's own plot line. Sure it has werewolves and vampires, but at least the vampire doesn't sparkle in the sun. Or stalk young girls and claim they love them. Sorry, went off on a Twilight rant there. What you need to do when walking into Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is to clear your mind of other teen fantasy genre films and view it as the only one in the world. Once you did this, you would discover a unique story with some flaws that make it another teen movie. The whole shadowhunter thing is really cool in my mind. Although the film did rely on flat jokes to make the audience laugh and actions scenes, not that I minded. Lets take a look at Mortal Instruments: City of Bones without comparing it too much to other films. By the way, if you're a Twilight fan, you should probably stop reading. Seriously.

It all begins on the day of Clary's birthday as she is making plans to go out with her friend Simon to go to a poetry reading and maybe clubbing later without her mother knowing. As Clary is leaving, her mother notices the symbol that Clary was drawing and begins to worry that events might be set in motion. Luke, Clary's mother's friend warns her that she is going to have to tell Clary sometime. After the poetry reading, Clary decides to go into a club where she witnesses a 'murder'. Freaked, Clary heads home and sleeps on it. The next morning she discovers she drew the symbol all over her walls, and that the mystery boy, Jace, she saw last night is following her. Clary talks to him asking about the symbol when her mother calls Clary telling Clary not to come home. Clary rushes home despite her mother's warning, and comes face to face with a demon dog and is saved by Jace. Clary realizes there is something more happening here and she needs to find her mother. She won't be alone as Jace, and Simon help her.

Despite all the comparison, Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is a decent movie to watch. For the inner geeky, fantasy loving, young girl, in me, I liked it and enjoyed watching it. I really liked the art design of the film and was constantly in awe of the visuals and colours used. They had this modern gothic theme going on with the shadowhunters and their hideout. From the location to the character, the theme was ever so present. The CGI was impressive too. What I also liked was the absence of a love triangle (I really don't count the Simon/Clary connection cause come on, they will always be like "siblings) and the little romance between Clary and Jace. What I really like though is the whole idea of the Shadowhunter. Like the whole human with angel blood thing is just wicked tied with the whole different abilities thing is just awesome. Sure the hunting demons things has been done before (Supernatural), but the whole seeing supernatural stuff is pretty cool. Some of the action sequences nicely done as well.

Now, time to tackle the ugly of Mortal Instruments: City of Bones that made it not so great. Let's face the facts here, first and foremost, this is not an original idea since there has been so much done with series like this with girl meets boy, but there is destiny or some crap like that. Not to mention that Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is a teen movie that is aimed for that demographic. Which means anyone over it may not see the obvious jokes the characters lay out. Or get the general subject matter of the film. There is also a lot of "coincidences" that during the film, like Clary falling on Jace, or the sprinklers turning on the moment they kiss. Then how fast their happy train ends. No seriously, the moment they connect, they break up and all that crap. Also hate the sibling storyline at the end.

Overall, I think Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was a decent movie and excellent time waster. Not to mention adds another teen series to the mix. Interested on how they continue with it. Now I'm not sure how close to the books the film was since I never really read the books, but after reading the wikia, I noticed some differences, although I really didn't care. I just hope that Mortal Instruments doesn't turn into another Twilight cause god knows we just survived the last one. Who knows. Our rating for Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is:

Only if your curious to watch it, otherwise, carry on and find something else.

Trailer for Mortal Instruments: City of Bones below:
What did you think of Mortal Instruments: City of Bones? Will you watch it?