Fantasy film backfires with weak character development.
Directed by Harald Zwart, this 130-minute box office failure is set in present-day New York City and stars Clary (Lilly Collins), a young girl who discovers, after a murder at a pub, that she actually belongs to the clan of shadow-hunters, half angels, who kill demons. These supernatural beings cannot be seen by ‘mundane’ humans. A subplot is the love story: Clary’s best friend Simon (Robert Sheehan) secretly harbours feelings for her.
After the discovery that she is a shadow-hunter, Clary’s primary agenda is to search for her mother, also a shadow-hunter, who has gone missing. Her mission is to find the magical artifact, the mortal cup, which her mother had hidden to protect it from the villains. As Clary embarks on the journey, she is constantly shielded by a fellow shadow-hunter Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower), who needs her for his own motives. With Jace in the picture, the love triangle is completed, as Clary is attracted to Jace’s flirtatious yet insensitive nature and his expertise at combat.
Even though Clary plays the role of the protagonist with punch, her supporting cast fail to back up the plot, and the lame, supposedly witty comments, fall flat. You will be, however, taken in with the action, which the movie wastes no time in introducing right at the beginning. However, the back-story is clumsily managed with thin characterisation.
And thus this soppy love story masquerading as a fantasy flick fights its way through attacks from monsters. Shadow-hunters would not suffice, which is why werewolves and a witch are also part of the picture. The Mortal Instruments fills your appetite with a platter full of otherworldly characters.
Clary does her best to emotionally anchor the movie in some kind of reality, but her transition from an ordinary girl to a vehement fighter does not ring true. Furthermore, the villains seem far too ordinary to make an impact, and the tension between the characters seems remote. For example, Valentine (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), the evil shadow-hunter searching for the mortal cup to further his wicked plans, struggles to bring his supposedly frightening character to life with silly speeches and little pigtails stuck to the back of his head.
The first initiative of the successful book series has definitely backfired, and now the producers must go back to the drawing board, having put the second sequel on hold, in order to save the franchise.
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, September 22nd, 2013.
Correction: In an earlier version of this article, Jace's name was misspelled. The error has been fixed.
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The movie was amazing. This review wasn't. However, parts here did ring true. The authot said that Jaces lines were a lame attempt at being witty? Well, he certainly didnt act them very well, thats for sure! But a soppy love triangle? Come on! Jace and ckary were an obvious match, and when simon wes thrown in, it added spice to the classic 'boy meets girl, they fall in love' story. On of my main complaints wad the actor who played alec, Kevin Zeggers. Anyone who read the books knowd that alec was shy and awkward, as well ad being very clised up reguarding his emotions. As well ad on the inside, kevin wad wrong on the outside. Along with dark brown hair (instead of black), his skin wad tanned. In the book, alec had pale skin and was tall, with slight muscles. This wad poorly portrayed in the movie. Jace also had some flaws. He wasnt smart-assed enough and his hair was WRONG! Damn you alex pettyfer for refusing the role!!! Another thing, i wonder how the next movies will be organised, because vkary never found out about her powers untill the end of the second book. It will be interesting to see how things pan out.
the movie was not good as the book. the beauty of the mortal instruments series are the relationships of all the characters to each other. I did not feel it in the movie. I also expected some witty dialogue/repartee but the script was ho hum..cassandra clare should put her foot down in regards to the script and the direction of the movie. i love the series and i dont want to see it destroyed by such an average to below average movie adaptation...look how the harry potter books were adapted. the director, scriptwriter and the production group should sit up and take notes from that series
The only problem with this movie was it was not publicized enough! Anyone who sees this regardless of the age, cannot help but fall in love with characters. What a mother or father would do to protect their child. Where feeling between best friends sometimes run into a fine line of love. How EVERY girl wants that one knight in shining Armour to be out there somewhere! The LOVE between brother and sister, unquestionable, unshakable, regardless of choices! Isabel and Alex enfold Jace into their family no questions ask, on faith! Who could ask for a more stronger bond, than being there for each other! This movie is SUPERB! Just needed to be advertised SO much more! My family and I watch movie once a week, all kinds, except horror, not once did I see this or my husband on movie trailer. WAY TO GO CAST!!! YOU ALL DID SUPERB!!
the movie wasn't horrible.this review was..who in their right mind would write such a critical review about something and not even know the names of the lead characters?did the author even watch the movie before writing this review?!
Let's be honest, if you did not read the books you would have no idea what was happening in the movie. There were a lot of plot holes and nobody bothered to explain to the viewers what the stele does and what the runes meant. I have to agree with the reviewer about the witty comments falling flat and about Valentine's look in the movie. Someone please fire the costume designer! Valentine looked like a pirate and Magnus Bane was not wearing any pants. Someone should also fire the casting director for getting such a bad actor to play the role of Magnus Bane. I beg you to please get the second movie right.
I just kept laughing every time I came to the name Lace. Who in their right mind reviews something and doesn't even get the names right? It's Jace. With a J not an L. This makes me wonder if the reviewer even watched the movie, the J sound is quite distinctive from the L sound. Then again, it could have been auto correct. You never know.
The movie was a disaster and so were the actors thanks for summing it up for us.
What "soppy love story"? There was romance in the movie obviously, but I didn't see it as sloppy. Clary and JACE's relationship didn't take center stage in this movie. I thought it was really good.
Hello? It's Jace not lace
If you had actually seen the film or read the book you would know that
Get your facts right before you judge something
This review had as much depth to it as the movie itself. Movies and books are two different worlds. Even if you may be a fan of the series, the movie could still disappoint. And in this case it did. ET should be a lil more careful with their editing, in the case of the name issue. Human error though: lace and jace.
Umm.... his name is Jace, not Lace. I can practically imagine his horror if he were to read that.
It could be a typo, in the author's defense. However, having read the books, the movie really did not do justice to the novels. That's why all the reviews have been so 'awful'.
The only thing that I can see as lame is this horribly written article. Obviously, the author failed to read the book or watch the movie because they would at least know the correct name (Jace not Lace) of one of the lead characters. It appears the only thing the author has bothered reading would have been the inside sleeve of the book or another negative and uninteresting review of this movie. I highly recommend the book series and the movie. The movie was good and I'm lost on why it's getting such awful reviews. I feel if you read the book series first you will be able to relate better to the movie and it's characters. I'm so over all these tired/lazy reviews of this adaptation. Do us all a favor and don't bother writing a review u know nothing about.
It's Jace by the way.. if your going to judge the film you should at least get the names right.
This review is soo stupid you should at least know that his name is Jace and not Lace whoever wrote this review didn't know anything about the mortal instruments