The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones

For those who know me personally, they all know i hate Twilight. Why ? Because there is nothing good about Twilight. None of the movies have anything i needed to see. That´s why i loved Hobo With A Shotgun, this should have been the biggest box office hit at the cinemas, instead of vampires in a love story with nothing to say. The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones is based on the novel of writer Cassandra Clare. There are 6 books in the series, and i have never heard about any of them before. When i saw the trailer of The Mortal Instruments at the cinema, i remember thinking 2 things.

1. This can´t be worse than Twilight, could it be ?
2. At least we get action, and none in Twilight.
 
So with no high expectations, i decided to take a look at The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones, to see if we might actually have a good start of thís movie adaption. Is this a new fantasy action genre that actually delivers entertainment, or is City Of Bones a movie adaption just as boring as Taylor Lautners acting ?

Clara Fray ( Lily Collins ) lives in New York with her mother Jocelyn Fray ( Lena Headey ). Clara see herself drawing a strange symbol, she even see this symbol in her coffee. Not knowing what it means, she does not feel worried about it. On a night out with her friend Simon Lewis ( Robert Sheenan ), she notice a night club with the same symbol she have seen herself draw on paper. She persuade Simon to go with her into this club, as they take a look around. People here dress strange, and it does not look like a normal night club. Suddenly Clara witness a murder, by a man named Jace Wayland ( Jamie Campbell Bower ), but no one else reacts. Simon did not see anything, so Clara is not sure if she saw this in reality. Next day, while spending time with Simon, Clara see Jace passing by outside a window. She confront Jace outside, as she is trying to get answers. Suddenly Clara´s mother is calling constantly, she is under attack at home. Clara runs home to find their home destroyed, and her mom is missing. A demon attacks Clara, while she manage to hide during an explosion from her owen. Jace shows up again, killing the demon. He explains he is a Shadowhunter, who know Clara is chosen to be apart of their team. Clara is taken to the City Of Bones, a gate is located in a graveyard, where she tries to get answers from her past, to help her remember why her mother knew about these Shadowhunters. It turns out she used to be a Shadowhunter, fighting demons. The Shadowhunters are now prepared to let Clara learn the basics, so she also can become one of them. One of the people she is warned about is Valentine Morgenstern ( John Rhyes Meyers ), who is looking for a sacred cup. If he use this sacred cup, he could use these powers to destroy Shadowhunters and control the world.

I am surprised to say this, The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones is not awful. Actually this is a lot better than Twilight. Sure we have problems here, some of the actors does not do a great job. But the story is more interesting than the Twilight mythology, with more action, including monsters and demons. The CGI could have been better in some scenes, but still i find myself enjoying this first chapter of The Mortal Instruments. I suppose i like the idea of a society with Shadowhunters, who fight evil in many different shapes. One other problem i have is that within these 2 hours, we don´t get enough action. Some scenes are slow, and they could have made some changes here. There is actually a scene reminding us of Twilight, where werewolves attack vampires, but thankfully there is much more violence and fights here. The leading actress Lily Collins does a descent performance, but Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace Wayland is actually one of the highlights in this motion picture. A sequel is going to be made, the next chapter called City Of Ashes, and rumours say Sigourney Weaver might join in. I hope they get the mistakes done right next time, because this could actually become something interesting. Norwegian director Harald Zwart have given us a taste of a different fantasy adventure, that could have been better, but at least better than any of the Twilight movies. Worth a watch if you have seen enough of Jul Med Ernst.

Rating: DDD