6:41 PM
ArtsNFashion
By
James Colt Harrison
Demons,
dragons, witches, werewolves and bats seem to be all the rage in today’s
movies. Whatever happened to happy movies with Munchkins and dancing flowers?
Movies have darkened and so have the plots. No more cute “little people.” No
more colorful gardens of singing plants. What we have now are wild animals
jumping out from behind the scenery to scare the daylights out of you. And
scared you get in director Harald Zwarts’ spectacular version of the hit book
series The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
Author
Cassandra Clare ( a fake name if there ever was one. She was born Judith Rumelt
in Tehran of American parents in 1973) has written a series of adult-fantasy
books that have sold in the millions. This is the first movie version of her
books, and there promises to be more. That could be scarier than the books.
Beautiful
little Clary is confused as to who she is and why she has powers nobody else
has. Clary is played by newcomer Lily Collins, daughter of musician Phil
Collins. So that none of her real-life friends at high school know she is in
the movie, she wears two mechanically-operated fuzzy black caterpillars above
her eyes.
Really
bad guys come in and kidnap Clary’s mother and wreck the place for good
measure. They rip out walls, throw doors through windows, and turn over
old-fashioned davenports. This shows us that her mother Jocelyn (played by the
beautiful Lena Headley, who looks younger than her daughter) put up a good
fight and probably has a Black Belt in the closet.
Interestingly
set in modern day New York, the picture is much brighter and lighter than most
“horror” pictures. Clary meets the dashingly handsome blond hunk Jace (Jamie
Campbell Bower). He explains she is a Shadowhunter, and a descendant of
warriors who are here to protect the human race from demons. Voila! Clary is
now special and can follow every word of Jace because he’s hot and tall and can
wear leather pants like nobody else and get away with it. Besides, he was in
other hit movies such as Harry Potter and all those incessant Twilight sagas.
Jace
shows Clary the way to the Downworld, populated by demons, vampires and
warlocks, all of which she must learn to fight off without messing up her hair.
Fights break out, demons are stabbed and mysteriously turn to dust, Clary is thrown
around on her head, and bounces back with her Elizabeth Arden foundation that
has nary a scratch. Somehow she has been transformed into a black
leather-wearing Miley Cyrus clone, but she still looks fetching.
Clary
relies on Simon (Robert Sheehan),her best friend forever. He’s somewhat nerdy
but transforms into a handsome curly-haired dude when he takes off his glasses
(just like Superman!). He’s hopelessly in love with Clary but she can’t see him
for cellophane. She opts for the dangerous bad boy Jace. Being a loyal friend,
Simon and Clary help each other when things get rough.
Handsome
Kevin Zegers plays the token gay guy Alec. Zegers said in an interview with
Patrick McDonald of hollywoodchicago.com that “There are so many more important
characteristics about Alec, that to me were more interesting to play than just
his sexuality. It seemed a bit silly that because he is gay, that it’s the
forefront of who he is.”
British
actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, still in tip-top shape, comes in for a few flashy
scenes as Valentine, the baddy. He chews the scenery as only a classically
trained stage actor can do. But we don’t hate him even though he is evil. We
marvel that he can be as flexible as he is while being squeezed like a grape
press in those tight, but gorgeous, costumes. There is no doubt he’s a boy.
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