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Warning: Spoilers!
Alright. I’ve
spent a little while thinking about this, so hopefully I’m going to be a bit
more open minded about the film. Overall, I will say it was a really good film.
And considering how most film adaptations of books go horribly wrong, this one
was done justice. However, if you’ve read the book, you will still find
yourself getting a little annoyed. Why? Because they changed the two biggest
and most important scenes in the book.
Yup, you
heard me. The first was the scene with Simon, Clary’s best friend. Where in the
book, he accidentally drinks something that turns him into a rat, and is taken
by the vampires. In the film, the vampires spike his drink and take him. Then,
the whole gang, Jace, Clary, Isobel and Alec, all storm in to rescue him,
though in the book, only Jace and Clary go. All in all, this change I can
accept. The only thing that I’m not so sure about is Raphael, the lead vampire,
who is quite an important figure in later books, but wasn’t even introduced in
the film. Not sure what they’re going to do there.
The second
change, which sent me into a rant for about an hour after the film, is the
fight scene between bad guy Valentine and the young shadowhunters at the end of
the book/film. In the book, this takes place at an abandoned mental hospital
that Valentine has taken over as his base of operations. In the film, however,
this all takes place inside the institute. I mean, what the heck? See, for me,
this is just plain wrong. If you’ve read any of the series and/or it’s prequel,
you know that the institute is the shadowhunter’s safe house. Vampires can’t
get in, and demons really can’t get in. To have demons invade the institute is
just not right. Also, they discover that Jocelyn, Clary’s mother, was being
kept in the basement of the institute all along. I mean, come on, as if they
wouldn’t have noticed her! I honestly feel as though the filmmakers got lazy
and couldn’t be bothered or couldn’t afford to build up another set, so used
one they already had. They also changed Hodge, leaving him to rescue them all
in the end, rather than running off after betraying everyone. And to top it
off, the werewolf pack wasn’t given nearly as much attention as in the book,
which was a shame. Oh, and Magnus got about five minutes of screen time. Sigh.
He wasn’t wearing trousers though.
Plot changes
aside, it was a good film. The actors and actresses were amazing. They really
did the characters justice. I had my doubts about the guy cast as Valentine,
but he was incredible! Clary and Jace were amazing, and the chemistry between
them just as good. The comments that flew between Jace and Simon were hilarious.
Magnus left a little to be desired, as he was barely in the film, but I’m
hoping to see more from him in the next films, as he stars in the later books
quite a bit more.
Whether you’ve
read this book or not, it’s definitely a film I’d recommend, but if you have
read the books, be prepared for major plot changes.
Rating: 7.5/10
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