The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie review.

from Shadowhunters' wikia.

This post has been a long time coming, since last year!  When I finished up this blog post, I decided to let my Mortal Instruments expert, C14, read my post before I posted it.  As she was reading, I could hear a little snickering here and there so I figured she was just laughing at my mundane writing, and she knows way more about this than I ever will so I gave her the challenge of sitting down and "improving" my original work.  When I blog, I want the information to be correct no matter what the blog post is about or I do not want to blog it.  So here is the finished post that I coauthored with C14.  It is a little interesting though when I went back to see what she changed and added,  I discovered we have similar writing styles because I could not tell in some parts if I wrote it or she wrote it.  She is a fantastic writer! 

So when my girls get obsessed with something, they really get obsessed with it.  C14 has a very select few favorite authors/book series at the moment and one is, you guessed it, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. I have seen the movie at least five times.  C14 has seen the movie at least five times more than me.  This is not a comparison of this movie to The Hunger Games, Twilight, and especially not Harry Potter.  In my opinion, they can only be classified in the same type of genre, and for me and C14, that is where the similarities stop!

A very brief summary, (my version of brief anyway).  This is a science fiction/romance/fantasy movie.  The movie starts out with a relatively normal teenager girl in New York but she soon discovers that she is not all that normal and that she is actually a Shadowhunter-which is a race of half-angel beings- sworn to ridding the world of demons.

It is probably a good idea to go ahead and give a few descriptions and character information so it is a little clearer what is actually going on but if you are a non-reader and have not seen the movie, you will probably be lost anyway.  We tried to make sure there were no spoilers here in case after reading this blog post, you want to check it out.

~Mundane-a normal human with no special powers, just mundane.  A mundie!  

~Shadowhunters (also known as Nephilim or the Angel's Children) The job of a Shadowhunter is to control the Shadow World (or Downworld) and all the demons and downworlders that live there.  Though technically these Shadowhunters are human, they can age and die; but the angelic blood gives them a special ability to do things that "mundanes" cannot do.  Feats beyond human possibilities.  They accomplish these feats through the

angelic runes. 

Nephilim-a human-angel hybrid.

~runes- Are symbols given to the Shadowhunters by the Angel Raziel, which Shadowhunters burn into their skin to grant them various abilities, supernatural abilities, abilities above and beyond that of a regular mundane. These include strength, stamina, healing, speed, precision, memory, angelic power, agility, and courage.

~downworlders-these are the non-demon, supernatural folks that inhabit the Shadow World.  This means they are part human and part demon.  They possess a human soul, and they are counted as part of the human race but downworlders are typically classified as the werewolves (children of the moon), vampires (children of the night), warlocks (Lilith's children), and the faeries (the Fair Folk). The downworlder list can also include nixies, ifrits, mermaids, and peris.  Although downworlders cannot use runes, each type of Downworlder has their own supernatural abilities. 

~Stele- a wand-shaped object made of adamas- a heavenly metal forged by the Iron Sisters- which Shadowhunters use to apply their runes. 

~Nixie-a water faerie. 

~Ifrits-ifrits are technically warlocks, although they cannot perform magic for whatever reason. 

The Clave-This just means the political body, the law.

~Accords-The Accords are a peace treaty between Shadowhunters and Downworlders. They must be re-signed every fifteen years in the Shadowhunter's home country of Idris.  

~Parabatai-a pair of Shadowhunters that fight together and are very close, like siblings.  In this series, Jace and Alec are parabatai. You can only have one parabatai in your lifetime, and the bond is only severed by the death of one of the pair, or if one becomes a mundane, downworlder, Silent Brother or Iron Sister. Parabatai can draw on each other's strength in battle, and because of this, have access to runes only they can use. 

~Portal-a portal is used to transport someone/something from one location to another. Shadowhunters cannot use magic, so the assistance of a warlock is needed to create- and close- them. 

~The Mortal Cup-this is one of the three mortal instruments given to the first Shadowhunter by the angel Raziel. Raziel poured his blood into it, and whoever drank from it became a Shadowhunter. 

~Witchlight stone-a small stone used as a flashlight.  It lights up, a stone that lights up.

~Institutes- Institutes are located all over the world and serve as safe houses for Shadowhunters. 

~Silent Brothers- The Silent Brothers are the archivists of the Shadowhunters, keeping extensive records of Shadowhunter histories and the Shadowhunters themselves. They lock these records away in the depths of the Silent City, which only they can access. Though Shadowhunters once, they have chosen to take upon them some of the most powerful runes in existence, in the pursuit of knowledge. Their mouths are usually sewn shut, and they have no eyes. They wear long parchment-colored robes. Despite their unsettling appearance, the Silent Brothers are typically friendly toward other Shadowhunters.

~Iron Sisters- Little is known about the Iron Sisters, as they choose to keep themselves hidden away in the Adamant Citadel- which only female Shadowhunters are permitted to enter. They are the weapon-makers of the Shadow World, and create all the steles, witchlights and seraph blades. Unlike the Silent Brothers, they don't sew their mouths shut or remove their eyes, and wear long white gowns instead of robes. The only thing unusual about their appearance is their eye color, often described as resembling flames. 

CHARACTERS:  

Lily Collins

~Clary Fray-teenage girl protagonist raised by her mother. 

Lena Headey

~Jocelyn Fray-Clary's mother and ex-Shadowhunter.







~Jace Wayland/Lightwood/Morgenstern/Herondale-Jace is an

Jamie Campbell Bower

orphaned Shadowhunter.  He lives at the Institute in New York.

Robert Michael Sheehan

~Simon Lewis-Clary's best friend of ten years, and he is in love with Clary but she has no interest in him.  

Jemima West

~Isabelle Lightwood-"Izzy is a Shadowhunter and the only daughter of Maryse and Robet Lightwood.  She is little sister to Alec Lightwood.






~Alexander Lightwood-Alec (Isabelle's brother) is a Shadowhunter but he has never killed a demon.  Alec is in love with Jace and is jealous of the relationship forming between

Kevin Zegers

Jace and Clary.

Aidan Turner

~Luke Garroway-was a Shadowhunter and is best friends with Jocelyn and loves her.  They have a very close relationship.  Clary considers him her father.  He becomes a werewolf because Valentine Morgenstern betrays him.  

Jonathan Rhys Meyers

~Valentine Morgenstern-This dude is a powerhouse of evil.  He is a Shadowhunter that reappears after years of hiding.  He was presumed dead.  He tries to steal the Mortal Cup from his former wife, drum roll, Jocelyn. 

Godfrey Gao

~Magnus Bane-He is the High Warlock of Brooklyn and he looks high walking around in his underwear and a jacket.  He is very interested in Alec Lightwood.

Jared Harris

~Hodge Starkweather-Hodge is a tutor.  He suffers a curse that was cast by the Clave which keeps him trapped inside the Institute as punishment.  He secretly joined forces with Valentine who can release him from the curse but does he?


Finally!  The main character, Clary, played by Lily Collins finds out that her mother is actually a Shadowhunter.  Cool!  Clary did not know that her mother was a half-angel warrior until she was kidnapped by demonic goons that wanted the Mortal Cup that she had hid.  After Clary's mother was kidnapped, she meets up with Jace.  He is a bad boy, a very blond and very tattooed bad boy that looks like an angel.  I would call him a cutie but C14 would call me a mundane so I won't call him a cutie even though he is. After Clary finds out she is a descendant of the Shadowhunter line, she teams up with Jace and other Shadowhunters at the Institute to find her mother.  Clary's adventures take her through many shocking surprises, and she learns a lot about who she is.  She also leans a few disturbing bits of information that are untrue but I cannot say more because if you do not know, it would ruin the story for you.  

I would say is it definitely worth the time reading or watching whether you are a mundane or not!  

Latin lesson-sed lex dura lex-The Law is hard, but it is the Law.

Need more?
Cassandra Clare's blog
Shmoop
Wiki
more cast and crew
movie trailer youtube
my Pinterest page
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**This is just our review of the movie adaptation Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.  We did not receive anything for this blog post, although Ms. Clare, if you are reading this, an autograph would be awesome!  Just sayin'! 
**These photographs were taken from multiple sites on the internet.