Movie Review : Mortal Instruments - City of Bones

Another adaptation of a current popular young adult book series has made its way on to the big screen in the form of City of Bones.

Having just finished the book I have a vivid image in my mind on what I expected to see on the screen. The film starts off with Clary the daughter of Jocelyn meeting up with her best friend Simon to attend a poetry reading. After that they end up going to a local club and she witnesses a murder by a group lead by the man named Jace. They are called shadow walkers. No one can see what had transpired but Clary. Rushing home she finds her home turn inside out with her mother missing. Jace tracks down Clary and invites her back to his home which is called the Institute where we are introduced by name the rest of the group which include brother and sister Isabelle and Alec. They all answer to a man named Hodge who runs the building. She is given the story of a cup that has been lost and the man, Valentine, who is searching for it and what it means to them. They figure that Jocelyn has hidden it but Clary has no clue where.

Hodge and Jace deduce that there is a block in Clary's mind as she can not remember why she is capable of seeing the unseeable and sketching a symbol over and over which they inform her is a "rune". They take her to a more powerful person named Magnus Bane who informs them that he is the one that put a block on her by the request of her mother.

Simon is captured by a pack of vampires and they must rescue him in their domain and after a tense battle in which it looks like they are about to lose they are rescued by an unlikely group. Once free of the vampires Clary figures out where her mother hid the cup that now seems everyone wants to get their hands on.

Once in possession of the cup a final battle ensues with all parties involved in which we see every one's true loyalties and where they lie. Clary evolves from who she was and though she is lives through the ordeal she is not at peace with what she has seen or learned.

Verdict : This was a hard movie to review and I feel that what I wrote was short and not overly "detailed" and that is because I was highly disappointed with this film. If you read the book, pass on the movie but if you haven't read the book then the movie is fine on its own two feet yet it still has many plot holes. The movie changes so many things from the book and adds scenes that did nothing to enhance the film. The cast is "OK" but only a few characters in my mind matched what was described in the book. I know it is hard to cram in 450+ pages of book into a 2+ hour movie but with Hunger Games being able to do it I expected more out of this one. I will continue to read the rest of the series as the books have me interested but I will not be watching any sequels if they happen to be made. Sad to say, a THUMBS DOWN from me to a viewing.