The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones: Movie Review

If you’ve read any other reviews about the first movie in The Mortal Instruments series then you must think it isn’t good. Well I saw the movie last Thursday and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. However, I prepared myself by expecting a bad movie. I mean.. that’s what all the reviews were saying! Even fan’s comments on the official Facebook page were saying it wasn’t good. So I have this theory that I went into the movie expecting it to be bad .. and it exceeded my expectations! LOL  .. But seriously.. I loved it! I’ve read the first two books and I’m halfway through the third one. There’s already 5 out and a 6th one coming May 27, 2014.

My outfit when I saw the movie!

So I’m going to give a quick little SPOILER-FREE review here, then I’ll give another more in depth review. If you’re looking for a fantasy action movie with some chick flick romance then this is it. I love vampires, werewolves, angels and demons, etc.. so the dark characters intrigued me. It’s seriously got some cool action! There are demons that are so real looking it scared me and fight scenes with some serious skills involved. I think guys will enjoy that side of the movie and girls can enjoy the lovey dovey teenage romance that blooms between the main characters. It’s NOT LIKE TWILIGHT. Sure it’s a young boy with superpowers and a young girl that lives a normal life.. but the dynamics definitely change later on. I’d also like to point out the acting didn’t suck in this movie. It was a great mix of humor, drama and suspense. I loved that Clary is shown all roughened up from the fight scenes with wet, dirty hair and messed up makeup. She came across very real to me. My only complaint with the actors was Magnus Bane. His performance was very dull .. and he’s supposed to be quite an eccentric character. He sounded like he was just reading lines off paper. *yawn* … But the casting for Jace was spot on to me. He was just sarcastic enough to be funny, but incredibly brave and heroic to make it easy to fall in love with him. And finally my last thumbs up goes to the soundtrack! I have had it on repeat since I got it last week! My favorite songs are by Colbie Caillat, AFI, and Jessi J … this soundtrack is also sure to please both guys and girls. The romantic songs are sweet and touching.. while the techno/rock songs are sure to get you dancing in your chair. In all, this movie was magical, gothic, suspenseful, and fun. I enjoyed it a lot and I plan on seeing it again!

:: WARNING:: SPOILER REVIEW::

If you haven’t read the books or seen the movie then DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!

I absolutely HATE getting spoiled (when I don’t want to be) so I am trying to give plenty of warning 🙂

My review of the movie WITH SPOILERS is that it was definitely different from the book! However, I think the changes made sense for the movie. As others have said, the first half of the movie stayed very true to the story in the book, with only minor changes. Then, once Clary and the others talk to Magnus Bane I felt like the plot shifted a little.

In the movie, Simon’s kidnapped by the vampires because they want the mortal cup from Clary.. so he’s used as bait. In the book, the vampires (as well as all the other downworlders) could care less about the cup. So when everyone finally ends up back at the Institute, it’s shown that Simon was bitten by a vampire. This isn’t brought up until book two, but I think it was a good move on the screenwriters part because it will pull the audience that hasn’t read the books in to wanting to know what happens to Simon. So eventually Clary figures out where the cup is hidden, and the scene with Dorothea and the shadowhunters was really cool to watch! She was super creepy when she turned into a demon. But once Clary gets back to the Institute with the cup, Hodge summons Valentine through the portal. Now what confuses me here, is they show Clary’s mom in the portal and she jumps after her.. But then later her mom is at the Institute? So was she always at the Institute? I can see why fans of the book may not “like” the movie because it does stray from the original plot a bit and gets confusing. I do like, though, that the big battle is now happening at the Institute rather than bringing in another location like in the book. And they do say that demons have never stepped foot in an Institute before.. making this a pretty terrifying event. So Valentine summons demons in, Hodge is helping him, Clary has jumped through the portal to try and find her mom but ends up at Luke’s, and the other shadowhunters are tending to Alec upstairs who got hurt at Dorothea’s house.

My next confusing question was what did Valentine say to Hodge about Jace and Clary? I’ve tried googling it and I just can’t figure it out exactly. I know he admitted that *MAJOR SPOILER* they are NOT brother and sister… and Hodge exclaims that telling them that are ARE related will break their hearts…. But WHY did Valentine want to break their hearts in the first place? I never heard a conversation about why it was important to keep the two apart. Maybe this is because I’m only book 3.. but I know the fandom was kinda bummed that they told the audience they aren’t really related. But I think this is good so the audience isn’t creeped out by possible incest.. and makes people eager to see if they can eventually be together. So Clary and Luke and the other werewolves come back to fight and try and save her mom .. And Jace finds Valentine who tells him he’s Clary’s brother .. and then I guess when Clary comes in ready to kill Valentine, Jace wants her to stop and listen first? But then Valentine gets mad and starts attacking her and like the good hero Jace is he starts defending her … *swoon* … Well it would be romantic if they didn’t just get told they were related!

But then to distract Valentine she pretends to throw the mortal cup into the portal (where it would get lost in limbo) And this pisses Valentine off.. so he goes for it and she eventually gives it to him .. And I’m like WTF Clary! Because in the book Valentine gets to keep the cup so I figured this was how it ended… Well nope.. major change here is that she kept the real cup hidden.. and must have grabbed the replica (shown way way earlier in the movie) and gave him that one. So I thought that was kinda cool! And now.. we have a reason for Valentine to still be after Clary .. He wants the cup.

So .. I can understand why they changed certain parts of the storyline. It will make having sequels better in my opinion. And while I’m okay with them telling the audience that Jace and Clary aren’t related… I still don’t understand why Valentine went to the effort of fabricating the lie in the first place.

And that’s my unprofessional review of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones!

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I would love to discuss this movie with y’all and maybe get some of my questions answered but please be considerate of those who may not have seen/read it yet and put “SPOILER” in your comment if you choose to post! Thanks 🙂