Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Movie Review!

Directed by Harald Zwart. Starring Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan, Kevin Zegers, Jemima West and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (for full cast and crew, click here). Based on Mortal Instruments novel, City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare. Release date was August 21st 2013. Rated 12A. Running time is 130 minutes.

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. {movie synopsis}

First off, I should probably tell you that I read Cassandra Clare's book over two years ago, loved it and was expecting great things going into this movie. Luckily, I ended up absolutely loving it! It's easily become one of my favourite book-to-movie adaptions of all time. No, scratch that, one of my favourite movies ever. I loved it so much that I'm planning on going back to see it again sometime this week!

It goes without saying that I think you should read the book beforehand. I'm not saying that because I think you'd get confused if you didn't but because I feel you could appreciate it more because of how true it stays to the novel. Seriously, the opening scenes are pretty much exactly what happens in the beginning of the book! I'm not denying there weren't differences because, of course, there were - that's pretty much a given when a book's being adapted into a film! - but it stayed true enough to the book to keep me happy. However, I did go with a friend who hadn't read the book and she still ended up loving it just as much as myself. True, she did need me to clarify a few bits and pieces afterward, but nothing major. She did ask me about something that even I didn't quite understand though and that was *SPOILER*why Valentine tried to get Clary to drink out of the Mortal cup. I didn't get this part of the movie because, not only was it not in the book, but it just didn't make any sense. Clary's already a Shadowhunter so there should be no need for her to drink out of it... right?!*SPOILER OVER*

Okay, on to the cast! A few of you will know that I wasn't all too happy about Jamie Campbell Bower being cast as Jace at first. But then the trailer came out and he looked so promising that I instantly took back what I'd said. And in the movie?! He was freakin' amazing! Though he wasn't exactly like book Jace, he did an amazing job. By the end of the movie, I was just like:

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So, yes, I'm now a huge fan of Jamie/movie Jace. Of course I can't not mention Lily Collins who also done a fantastic job bringing Clary to life. She was perfect. And, thanks to Robert Sheehan, I actually liked Simon! *gasps* (if only a little) For those of you who don't know, I find book Simon annoying... But that wasn't the case in the movie! Kevin Zegers (who I'd seen before in It's a Boy Girl Thing) also did a great job portraying Alec though he wasn't in it all that much. I think I'm a little in love with him too.

Okay, so I'm going to stop rambling now. Basically, I loved this movie and really recommend you go see it. It's AMAZING! The cast are great and you literally feel like you're in the book when watching it. If you haven't read the book, I totally recommend you do before going to see it - you'll really be able to appreciate it on a whole new level! Of course there are little things that aren't perfect but I loved it all the same and can't wait to see it again and again and again. They truly did a wonderful job turning a great book into a great - no, amazing - movie.

Happy Reading,

Rachel xoxo

PS: This is the first movie review I've ever done on the blog. Did I do okay? What'd you think? Also, don't worry, I won't be making this a regular occurrence. I only post stuff about movies if they are being adapted from YA books! :)