“The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” released in 2013, was based on the first book of a series by Cassandra Clare. The movie was able to properly create its own adaptation of the book without taking away the main story.
I recently watched the movie before it was removed from Netflix, and I absolutely loved it. The movie started off by giving the viewer little details of each character. Clary, played by Lily Collins, is the main protagonist of the book and movie. It shows her living in her small apartment with her mother, Jocelyn, played by Lena Headey.
I love it whenever movies are able to subtly show little details that can show you things that truly build the characters’ personalities and interests. The set of the apartment is shown having a very homey, comfortable look to it, but it also has a lot of personality to reveal the different details of Clary and Jocelyn. The home is littered in paintings and art supplies. It just has a sense of creativity throughout it.
What I also loved about the movie was the casting. It was perfect. When I started reading the books, which I heavily recommend if you want to delve more into the series of The Mortal Instruments world, I was able to realize just how accurate the actors were to the characters in the books. That’s what I love about movies – when they don’t just cast famous people who don’t even resemble the character, in looks or personality. I like when they actually take into account how an actor can resemble a character’s appearance and personality.
What I do dislike about the movie though is the slight inaccuracy to the books. Personally, I watched the movie first before reading the book, but when I actually started to read, I realized how some scenes are inaccurate. While yes, they did have a lot of accuracy to the characters, they did dramatize the movie a bit rather than sticking to the book’s full story. Some scenes of the movie that were adaptations from the book were shown inaccurately, and some were dumbed down or put in a way that didn’t make sense.
Another thing I disliked about the movie, which isn’t entirely the fault of the movie’s creators, is how they only made one movie of one book of the series. Understandably, this isn’t the blame of the distributors, but the fault of the lack of money to create more. So if you were wanting movie adaptations to all six books, you’ll be disappointed.
Overall, the rating I give the movie adaptation of the City of Bones is a 3.5,or 4 star rating. I loved it, but there are of course some negative aspects some people may not like. I also recommend reading the book first, just because I find it fun to see the book you read come to life – of course, if done properly. Also, I would recommend the show based on the book series, Shadowhunters. But I do want to say, I don’t find the cast as accurate, nor the show as good, as the movie.
