When her mother disappears sixteen year old New Yorker discovers that she comes from a long line of Shadowhunters, half human and half angel warriors who protect the world from demons. Along side her mundane best friend, Simon and fellow Shadowhunters Jace Wayland, Alec and Isabelle Lightwood, and High Warlock of Brooklyn Magnus Bane, she unravels the truth her mother has been trying to hide all her life.
*WARNING: SPOILERS & INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR AND VOCABULARY INCOMING*
To start things off, let me just say that The City of Bones was one of the first novels ever to turn me into a bookworm. I fell in love with it from chapter one and have been reading the series ever since. And then a few months ago, I found out that there was going to be a film adaptation of the series and I went out of my mind. My sister and I had just finished watching Lily Collins' Mirror Mirror (I had also seen her in Abduction alongside Taylor Lautner) and like every time I watched a movie, I went of Wikipedia and looked for other movies Collins played a part in. And then I saw it:
The next day, I told my close friend who had just finished reading the first book of the series and we talked about it nonstop for at least a week. So knowing how I felt about the books, my expectations were high. I was so psyched about this movie, but when it finally hit theaters it was flooding. I was supposed to watch it with my friends, which we had planned since we first knew about the film adaptation and was devastated.
However, my mother knew how much this meant to me and we watched it together at the closest mall. It wasn't how I planned to watch it but I was happy nonetheless.
I think the acting was spot on! I love both Lily Collins and Robert Sheehan (who I've seen in The Season of the Witch along side Nicholas Cage). I'm still a bit confused as to why half the people had to have a British accent. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the movie take place in New York city?! One of the most American cities ever. I'm not sure but I'm guessing it's because Alicante is located somewhere in Europe and it can be somewhere in the UK but the books never mentioned British accents. I thought it was a bit ridiculous to make Kevin Zeggers and Jemima West, who played siblings Alec & Isabelle Lightwood, to fake British accents when both characters lived in New York most of their lives. So if anybody knows the answer to this, please comment it!
Now off to soundtrack, just adjksldk.
Words cannot even describe how much I love this soundtrack. It's so moving and upbeat and exciting at the same time. Songs include Magnetic by Jessie J and Heart by Heart by Demi Lovato. I love both these artists so much because of their previous songs, like Jessie J's Price Tag, Who's Laughing Now and Who You Are. I also love Demi Lovato's Skyscraper and her goals in life in general. Both these singers are so humble and for me that was a win for me.
The most popular song from the soundtrack is obviously Almost Is Never Enough by Ariana Grande & Nathan Sykes (BTW, are they really together?) because, well, who doesn't love Ariana?
But my favorite track is hands down Colbie Caillat's When The Darkness Comes. While typing this, I'm actually also listening to it! It's such an incredible song and it's just so emotional. I've been listening to Colbie Caillat since I was twelve! I love all of her songs. Every time I listen to this one track, I fall in love with it all over again and it's just so full of hope it helps me find myself as a person. So if you haven't listened to it yet, like really listen to the lyrics, you totally should.
To be totally honest here, during the whole film, I was so terrified about what they had to change and cut out from the book. But unlike so many film adaptations, the plot was more or less the same! Sure there was tweeks here and there but how else were they supposed to fit a 500 page book into a 2 hour long movie?
So here were a few notable changes:
1) When Simon was kidnapped by vampires at Magnus's party, he did not turn into a rat. Instead he was merely drugged to lure Clary to the Hotel Dumort. Now, I'm so sorry if this seems childish and stupid but I honestly thought that that part in the novel was quite funny. And although at first, I was a bit disappointed, it turned out that I actually liked that change. You know, because instead of looking at a rat for fifteen minutes, I was staring at a shirtless
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| Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Valentine Morgenstern and the Portal |
3) In the book, Valentine never entered the Institute, he resided in Renswick's Ruin, an abandoned lunatic asylum on Roosevelt's/Blackwell's Island. In the film, it was never even mentioned. While watching the film, I was quite upset that the screenwriters had to cut out Renswick but I understood that they had their reasons. I mean, to rent something like Renswick's Ruin must cost a fortune! So instead, the writers simply changed the location of Clary and Valentine's confrontation, which, frankly I thought was pretty resourceful.
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| Lily Collins as Clary, creating a new rune. |
5) They cut out Raphael! Huh, huh :'(
6) Now, there were many differences between the novel and the film but there was one scene that I loved so much in the book, which the writers changed in the movie. In City of Bones, when Jace and Clary go back to Madame Dorothea's to retrieve the Mortal Cup, they are confronted by a Greater Demon, who was later killed by Simon. The reason why I loved this part so much was because Simon Lewis was my favorite character in the whole series. During the first novel, he was the odd one out, he was a mundane. Throughout those few hundred pages, he was considered as a weakling. And in that particular scene, he was able to do what Jace nor Alec nor Izzy failed to do. He killed a Greater Demon. And I thought that that was one of the most heroic things that Simon has ever done in The Mortal Instruments. However, in the film, Simon merely knocked the demon unexpectedly and again, it was Jace who came to the rescue and finished him off. This only amplified the fact that Jace was the knight in shinning armor.
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| Robert Sheehan as Simon Lewis. P.S. THIS IS EXACTLY HOW I IMAGINED SIMON |
Don't get me wrong, I love Jace to bits but he'd been a hero since the first time he and Clary met. This, for me, was supposed to be Simon's moment of glory, where the readers (mundanes like himself) could look up to him and say, "If he can be that brave, why can't I?" The others were born to be demon hunters, they had had years of training - they were already heroes, Simon was not. And this was the first moment in the entire series where he showed that he could be a hero too. So I was crushed when the screenwriters had to change that one scene. I know it seems like such a minor detail but to me, it was so important. Because now, everyone who goes see the film, they'll be thinking, "Wow! When I grow up, I want to be just like Jace!" I'm sorry to crush your hopes and dreams but Shadowhunters don't exist. Mundanes like Simon do. Because in reality, firemen and police officers and hell, even teachers are like Simon Lewis. They don't have special angel blood flowing in their veins, yet just they're able to protect the human world just like Shadowhunters do.
Phew! I'm glad I got that out of my chest! Now I know 90% of the fangirls (and fanboys) reading this will go completely against me and I'm not saying they shouldn't. They all have their own opinions. I just wanted to show mine.
And let me just say one thing to those who actually hated the movie, it's your own damn fault. Some critics say that it's just another Twilight, hell to the no. If you've read the books, you would know that Cassandra Clare took great care in her work. She developed this crazy and complicated plot and world and turned it into something incredible. I'll admit, from time to time, it gets kind of sappy and cheesy but that's the beauty of it! It's a mix of pretty much everything! And the only reason why those haters did not enjoy the film is because they didn't understand it! Most people when watching a movie, they simply watch it. They don't listen to what the characters are saying or trying to explain. That's why to the viewers, the plot is going nowhere!
And also, try opening a book once in a while! I'm so disappointed with how much this generation of teens are absolutely mortified or reading. Let me tell you, READING IS NOT A BAD THING. A century ago, it was one of the most popular things to do in the world! Is it really that bad to live without cable TV or the internet for ONE DAY? How the hell do you think your ancestors survived of boredom all those years? They read! They went outside of their room everyday! So now, get your ass of your chair/bed and go to the bookstore!
Please tell me what you DID and DID NOT like about the film! Were there any changes you were unhappy with? Or was it the acting? Tell me all about it in the comments! And I'm so so sorry for the long ranting in the end and the cursing ^^
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