The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones: DVD Review
The Movie:
Clary (Lily Collins) believes she is a normal girl and is ready to celebrate her 16th birthday. Unfortunately, Clary soon discovers she isn’t as normal as she thought. Forced into a dangerous situation, she is thrown into a world she has never encountered. Her mother has disappeared and she is now on a mission to find her. With the help of her best friend Simon (Robert Sheehan), she encounters several shadowhunters, aka: demon hunters, who are half angel and put on this earth to protect the human race. Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower), Isabelle (Jemima West), Alec (Kevin Zegers), and Hodge assist in helping her discover answers to her cryptic new world, a world she unknowingly now belongs to. Screenplay by Jessica Postigo, based on the novel by Cassandra Clare and directed by Harald Zwart.
I’m a huge fan of the book series and this movie did the first book justice, at least in my opinion. Now, speaking from someone that is well aware of the back story and characters, I did feel the movie rushed some explanations and might have confused the non-Mortal Instruments fanatic like myself. But hey, it’s a movie brought to us from a book. Sometimes it’s not an easy task to condense the well described novel into its two hour allotment, but aside from all that, it was still a great film. I enjoyed the story line and of course, the love triangles. We can never get enough of those.
My take on the cast: Hello Lily Collins! If you are reading this, you were a fantastic pick for Clary! She was a beauty but also with an edge, and I can’t imagine any other actor portraying Clary quite like Lily. Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace was fabulous. Though, I’d admit he was not exactly how I envisioned Jace, he played the part oh so well that now he is my Jace. Simon was another favorite character of mine, played by Robert Sheehan. He had this adorable quirky-ness that was so endearing. Isabelle, played by Jemima West, was fierce and a force to be reckoned with. She was another favorite of mine in the books for being very strong and opinionated. Alec, played by Kevin Zegers, didn’t have as much screen play as I would have liked. His character has his complexities in the first book and they didn’t really play on that in the film. Lena Headey as Jocelyn was a fantastic pick as Clary’s mom. She really did have similarities with Lily Collins too, but we didn’t get too much from her in the film, given her unfortunate situation. Luke was played by Aidan Turner and he played a great father figure/protector for Clary. We didn’t get too much back story about him, but I’m sure more will come in the next films. Jared Harris gave Hodge a nice mystery. Even though I knew what the outcome was going to be, he portrayed his two sides very well. Magnus Bane, which was played by Godfrey Gao, is another one of my favorite characters in this series. He has this raw-ness about him that makes you want more of him. Godfrey was a perfect pick for Magnus. Last but not least the character of Valentine, which was played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, was a great addition to the cast. Valentine is not to be trusted; he has only one goal in mind which is to be the most powerful being on earth. When I first heard Jonathan was playing Valentine, my only reservation was that I felt he was a bit young for the character, but his acting abilities out weighed my initial thoughts.
Overall, loved this movie! If you agree, I would definitely also suggest reading the books. Cassandra Clare is just phenomenal when it comes it her writing. Watch the movie, you will not regret it!
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes – I would agree that the majority of these scenes were best deleted, but I felt the very last one with Luke should have been added. It gave a bit of a back story for him that was somewhat lacking in the film.
Featurettes – Behind the scene interviews with the actors and how they prepared for the film. You always gain a higher appreciation for the actors after watching these!
“Almost is Never Enough” music video – Song by Ariana Grande ft. Nathan Sykes. Nice ballad for the film.
