Review – The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones adapts Cassandra Clare’s best-selling novel of the same name into a lengthy and lifeless film. It’s aimed at teenagers, but even they should have trouble finding much to like here.

City of Bones follows young Clary Fray (Lily Collins) as she attempts to find her abducted mother while learning the forgotten secrets of her past, coming face to face with demons, vampires and werewolves, and getting embroiled in a love affair or two. If all that sounds like a real thrill ride, you’ll be severely disappointed. The film’s 130 minute run time lacks any sort of tension. Instead, we’re given a mix of poorly choreographed action sequences, middling special effects and large chunks of exposition. This is the first of an expected series of films (there are five novels in publication with a sixth on the way) so important plot points are left frustratingly underdeveloped, while much of the plot has aching holes in it regardless. There are some jarring tonal shifts, and in one particularly cringe worthy scene that finds Clary and Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower) knocking teeth in the rain while a random Top 20 radio hit blares in the periphery. It borders on parody without meaning to.

Director Harald Zwart doesn’t give his actors much chance for a work out. Robert Sheehan offers a forgettable and largely humourless performance as Clary’s best friend Simon, although Jamie Campbell Bower should be commended for his ability to stare piercingly into nothingness for the whole film (just take a look at his IMDB headshot!). The rest of the actors spend most of their time fighting baddies in leather.

That pout.

Fans of the books might get a glimmer of joy from seeing their favourite characters envisioned on the silver screen, but the rest of the audience will be subjected to dialogue so clunky and wooden you could knock someone out with it, characters as thinly developed as the paper they were hastily scribbled on, and a plot so obvious that you’re two steps ahead of the writer, the director, and probably everyone else involved.

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