THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES is yet another young adult fantasy adaptation of a popular novel. This one clearly ploughs HARRY POTTER and TWILIGHT territory, detailing a story that's extraordinarily similar to the famous tales regarding the boy wizard, except swapping genders and adding demons to the mix.
Truth be told, it's not all bad, and it's hard to see why this was such a flop on release. I for one enjoyed it more than various instalments from the HUNGER GAMES or DIVERGENT franchises; it has a faster pace and more action, for a start. It's hardly a great film, but as a kiddie version of a type of BLADE storyline it's not the worst.
The biggest problems here are the attempts to shoehorn in a typical twee and cheesy teen romance courtesy of the foppish Jamie Campbell Bower, which leads to some excruciating scenes. Plus, Lily Collins (MIRROR, MIRROR) is hardly what you would call a great actress - her eyebrows do most of the work. Robert Sheehan is another embarrassment. The older cast members are much better - Jonathan Rhys Meyers has a ball as the villain, and the likes of Lena Headey, CCH Pounder, and Jared Harris put in solid support. The demonic special effects (CGI, of course) aren't too shabby, and I enjoyed seeing the various beasties the film has to offer, even if some of them are heavily derived from the likes of WRATH OF THE TITANS. Bear in mind this isn't good enough to merit another watch, though; it's too much derived from what's come previously.
