I honestly didn't expect to have to see this movie alone. An acquaintance got me to read this series ages ago so when the movie was released, I thought we'd be going to see it together. But you know what they say about assuming, right?
Anyway... I was both looking forward to this movie and dreading it at the same time. Film adaptations of awesome books have too often failed to impress. So how was it?
The first half of the film went very well. Although it differs a lot from the book, it managed to capture the essence of the story - which is too often a battle on its own. And Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace is just excellent casting. A lot of people were worried about Lily Collins as Clary but I don't see what the big deal is. She did well enough, I thought.
(Don't even get me started on Godfrey Gao, though... Whoever thought he'd be a good Magnus Bane needs their head checked. I mean... ZERO on the fabulous scale. SO disappointed.)
Things went downhill the second Valentine was introduced. Firstly, they barely mentioned him until he showed up, they dropped the whole thing about him pretending to be Jace's father, and he was just all wrong. I saw Valentine as a crisp suit, suave motherfucker. They turned him into an ugg for the film. Mega fail.
Visually, this film is intense. It moves at a lightning fast pace and is chock full of fights, explosions, fire, and mayhem. The runes didn't look quite like what I was expecting, though. I thought they'd be more... elegant, less... garish. Not as sexy as I imagined.
Some major things are missing: Simon doesn't get turned into a rat, no flying motorcycles, and they've dropped the parabatai angle, etc.. Some things are just wrong: the portal is described as a natural phenomenon, werewolves are allowed in the Institute, they find Jocelyn in the basement of the Institute, etc. Overall, though, I think they did a good job.
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