Plot
When her mother disappears, Clary Fray learns that she descends from a line of warriors who protect our world from demons. She joins forces with others like her and heads into a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 6.9/10 (5,187 voted)
Director:Harald Zwart
Storyline
Set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray (Lily Collins), discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother (Lena Headey), Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures. Based on the worldwide best-selling book series.
Trivia: Chris Riggi auditioned for a role See more »
Goofs:
After Clary makes the rune to freeze the demons in the institute, her hair parting changes twice in different shots. See more »
Quotes:
[
User Review
Author:
Rating: 9/10
First of all you need to know this review is coming from a 39 year old
Male who has never read the books. Having heard the hype that this was
the next twilight series (which I dutifully, but barely endured as a
good husband)... this movie is NOTHING LIKE TWILIGHT AT ALL. Heres why:
This is a movie made for more then just teenage girls and soccer mom's.
It's has real action, solid acting, good cinematography, and dwells
more on the storyline then romance.
Having never read the Mortal Instruments books, I was a little leery of
seeing the movie and being totally lost. My fears were unfounded as the
first hour of the show does a solid job of laying out the storyline.
The first hour did seem a little long for me, but was well worth it and
necessary as it made the last hour understandable and fly by with its
non-stop action. This is nothing like what I was expecting after having
to endure the twilight films with their horrible acting and cheesy
cinematography. As well as multiple one-hit wonders of
werewolf/vampire/demon shows that have come out since. This show had
legitimate effects, great action scenes, and some really good acting
performances. Here's my breakdown:
Effects: From the beginning this film proves it's a step above with
cinematography and effects. The demons were gruesome, scary, and
awesome! When supposed humans turn to demons, this is done very well.
One questionable effect towards the beginning of the show was easily
forgotten due to the many excellent effects during the whole show.
Action: Having seen Jamie Campbell Bower on the red carpets just
moments before seeing the show, I had serious worries about him being
able to pull off a believable action figure due to his skinny frame.
Oddly, it was the action scenes where I enjoyed his acting the best and
believed he was the main man. On the whole, the fight scenes were very
engaging, particularly the ending sequences. There were two times
though, I wished they had made the fight scenes a little longer to show
more of a struggle to overcome.
Acting: This is where I was most pleasantly surprised. Lily Collins and
Robert Sheehan stole the show in terms of solid, believable
performances. Jamie did a convincing job and exceeded my expectations,
but did fall a little short at subtle times as his skinny frame could
not be overcome in the shot. His attempt to be seen as tough when his
stature said otherwise caught me at times. I felt like all the
performers were engaging though, with the exception of the role of
Magnus. I'm not sure if it was his acting or the role they put him in,
but it just didn't seem to fit the character he could/should have been.
Readers may feel differently here, I was just confused if he was
intended to be a tough guy or a joke.
Storyline: Understandably they had to lay the foundation of the
storyline, which for the first hour they did. There was a lot of
information to take in the first hour and honestly I began to doubt how
they were going to take this load of info and tie it all together by
the end. I was amazed at how well they did it! The last hour flew by as
they did an excellent job of tying in each element and doing it with
very compelling drama.
Overall I'd give the movie a B+. Solid acting and action stood out and
will make a very satisfying experience for any non-reader who watches
the show.
0