The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Starring: Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Lena Headey , Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Director: Harald Zwart
Rating: 3/5
I have to admit that when I ventured into the cinema to see The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones I wasn't expecting too much - let's face it the teen book adaptation genre has been a rip-roaring success of late.
However, I have to admit, that I was pleasantly surprised when the credits rolled as it was a movie that was action packed as well as entertaining.
Now I am not saying that it is going to trot off and win awards, or that it is without flaws, but is a decent piece of popcorn fun.
Clary Fray (Collins) thought she was an ordinary teenager living in Brooklyn until one night in a downtown nightclub she encounters the mysterious, charismatic Jace (Campbell-Bower); a shadowhunter who is part of a secret of half-angel warriors tasked with protecting the human race from demons.
When Clary’s mother is viciously attacked and taken from their home, she discovers her connections to Jace run deeper than she could ever have imagined and beneath surface of the city exists another world...one she unknowingly belongs to.
As both Clary and best friend Simon (Robert Sheehan) are drawn into this dark and dangerous world, Clary realises Jace is both the key to uncovering her past and protecting her future.
The problem with movies like these is that you have to cram all the back-story into a short space of time. Unlike the books, the film doesn't have the time to explore the history of the characters to as full an extent - because the back-story is condensed it can, at times, feel incredibly rushed.
Because quite a complex story is crammed into 130 minutes, you do feel like you loose some of the soul of the book, and that is a major shame as this is a story that does have huge potential.
We have whom Clary Fray is, the past that has been kept from her, the secrets her mother has kept, the identity of her father, the significance of the Mortal Cup, the purpose of the Shadowhunter and a love triangle; as you can see a lot of topics to cover in such a short time.
You do feel like they are jumping from scene to scene and explanation to explanation as quickly as possible in a bid not to miss any major plot points out.
So, at times is does feel that the story is a little out of control the brisk pace is a little too quick.
They also have to introduce a huge number of major characters, and so you are left not really caring about any of them because we have not really delved into their story of who they are.
Having said all of that I did find this movie very entertaining as it is packed with action and potential danger at every point.
On top of that it really is beautifully shot - it really is a lovely looking movie - and there are a lot of very talented stars on the cast list.
This is a franchise that does have potential and going forward they really need to concentrate on the core story rather than trying to jam in every aspect of the book.
Fans of the novel are probably going to love it but The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones may struggle to find an audience outside of that.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is out now.