Synopsis
In New York City, Clary Fray, a seemingly ordinary teenager, learns that she is descended from a line of Shadowhunters — half-angel warriors who protect humanity from evil forces. After her mother disappears, Clary joins forces with a group of Shadowhunters and enters Downworld, an alternate realm filled with demons, vampires, and a host of other creatures. Clary and her companions must find and protect an ancient cup that holds the key to her mother's future.
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Cast
- Lily CollinsClary Fray
- Jamie Campbell BowerJace Wayland
- Robert SheehanSimon Lewis
- Kevin ZegersAlec Lightwood
- Jemima WestIsabelle Lightwood
- Lena HeadeyJocelyn Fray
- Aidan TurnerLuke Garroway
- Jared HarrisHodge Starkweather
- Jonathan Rhys MeyersValentine
- Kevin DurandPangborn
Recommendations
- 50
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
If you love exposition and shapely if bland young actors in leather, skinny jeans, knee boots, Goth cocktail dresses and heavy eye makeup, this may be the movie for you. - 50
Washington Post
There are elements worth celebrating. The movie is thankfully less self-serious than the mopey “Twilight” films. The Mortal Instruments revels in its own camp. But there is plenty of room for improvement. The action flick is overly long, complicated and, even by teen romance standards, cringe-worthy in its cheesiness. - 50
Miami Herald
Start with a heaping helping of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Throw in some "Percy Jackson," a dash of "Twilight," a spoonful of "The Vampire Diaries" and a sprinkling of "Harry Potter," and you end up with The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. - 40
The Dissolve
There’s a germ of something interesting and different within the film’s narrative tangle, but it’s unfortunately been subsumed by Hollywood’s dedication to replicating previous successes. - 40
Arizona Republic
There’s so much bouncing around in tone and story that this film never really finds its footing. It flounders around trying to figure out what it should be, and never really settles on anything. - 40
The New York Times
Too much of the film feels like shorthand, a trail of teasing crumbs to lead us to the inevitable sequels. - 30
Village Voice
The nomenclature varies slightly, but there's little new or exciting in City of Bones. For strong female role models and unique fantasy settings, stick with The Hunger Games. - 25
New York Post
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones hopes to be the start of a new franchise for tweens and Twihards, but the twuth is this twash is anything but a twiumph.
