Surprisingly this movie was good. It had enough intriguing elements to make it worth a watch. There’s the homosexuality; the character of Bane, an Asian immortal wizard who falls for a male shadow hunter; and enough funny moments to keep you entertained.
Such as the conversation Jace and Simon have in the subway after Jace kills 2 cops possessed by demons. It goes a little something like this:
Jace: “They weren’t cops.”
Simon: “Then how did they get the cop car?”
Jace: “……They weren’t cops.”
I like how, after explosions and fighting and running, Clary is dirty and sweaty and her makeup has faded because nothing is more irking then when someone is fresh and clean when they shouldn’t/couldn’t be.
Of course, like every film, this one had problems.
This film was pretty obvious during important plot points taking away their impact. Like how Valentine is Clary’s father because why would her mother just watch a guy turn evil and not say something or try and stop him unless she loves him? Even though it’s apparent it makes the surprise of Valentine being Jace’s father that much more successful.
But I suspected, based on the flow of the story, that it’s a lie and if you’ve read the books you know that it turns out Jace and Clary are not related. However, it will still take the next film in an interesting direction (according to IMDB the next book will be made into a film). When the same thing happened in Star Wars the franchise pretty much ignored it (if I remember correctly because it’s been years since I saw it), but if this series is going to continue as a film then the filmmakers have to address/explore it.
While this movie had obvious, Twilight-style “I’m falling in love with you” staring, that’s not what I have a problem with. What I have a problem with is that Simon is TOTALLY oblivious to the staring and doesn’t get upset that Clary and Jace have fallen in love until the climax after he sees a drawing. There is just no way Simon wouldn’t notice, especially if Alec has noticed because Alec is into Jace just as much as Simon is into Clary.
And at the same time Jace doesn’t get jealous of Simon and Clary’s friendship until the climax of the film even though they’re friendly throughout.
Sweet n Sour Reviews 