This movie stars Lily Collins as Clary Fray, Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace Wayland, Robert Sheehan as Simon Lewis, Kevin Zegers as Alec Lightwood, and Jemima West as Isabelle Lightwood.
Casting:
Lily Collins did an excellent job portraying Clary. Her and Jamie had really good chemistry and she was just a very good Clary overall.
Jamie Campbell Bower looks exactly how I pictured Jace. He's that perfect mix of being strong and vulnerable at the same time. But he wasn't as witty and sarcastic as Jace was in the book, which is one of my favorite parts of Jace's character. He was sarcastic, but his delivery was kind of weird.
Robert Sheehan did a surprisingly good job with Simon. He was awkward and sweet and that perfect guy best friend.
Kevin Zegers did such a fantastic job as Alec. I feel like Alec doesn't get enough love. He is such an awesome character. At least, I think so. He was so amazing and he's just the perfect representation of Alec.
Jemima West was quite good as Isabelle. I love her whip. That was so awesome. But she's shorter than Lily Collins which kinda bugged me. And that dress in the beginning. It was gorgeous.
And I would like to comment on Magnus. He isn't Magnus. That wasn't at all what I pictured him to be like. Just so you know.
Scenes:
They changed Hotel Dumort! That angers me. That's one of the best scenes in the book! Sure, it was still epic and kick-butt, but Simon wasn't a rat! And they didn't have the whole thing with Raul (I think that was his name).
The greenhouse scene. Wow. The set looked fantastic. Clary and Jace go up this little spiral staircase thing to an itty bitty platform and they're looking out across the greenhouse and then the clock strikes midnight and all the flowers start blooming and it was so gorgeous. And then Clary and Jace start edging closer together and I'm all pumped up, like this is it they're gonna kiss now. But no. Clary had to see this weird little lizard thing, and she's like, looks like we've got company, and Jace goes down the staircase. Then Clary does this weird trip fall thing and Jace catches her and pushes her up against the railing and starts making out with her and I'm like, "No!" This is supposed to be tender and gentle and sweet and uncertain. This looks like they're trying to eat each others faces off! Gak.
Then there's that scene with Jace and Clary at the portal. And so in the movie the portal is made of water. Jace is telling Clary about the portal and he's like, let me show you something. He takes a ball of water and puts it next to her head then reaches into the portal and BAM! His hand comes out of the ball of water and starts stroking Clary's face. Am I the only one who finds this incredibly creepy?
The ending has got to be the biggest thing they changed. Am I wrong or did the whole ending take place in Valentine's house in the book? I think I'm right. I mean, that's not a big deal, just something I noticed. Something that did anger me were Valentine's stupid braids! Whoever thought those were a good idea is obviously blind. It kinda bothered me that they added on stuff that didn't happen (or I don't remember happening) to the end. It's not a super big deal, just something that made me go, 'Was that really the best decision? Really?'
This was a fantastic movie by itself. But as someone who has read and is obsessed with the book, its pretty good, but not great. However, this book definitely caters towards people who have read the book. I went to see it with someone who hadn't read the book and I had to explain a lot of stuff to her. So, if you haven't read the book, prepare to be confused. But I understood pretty much everything so, I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
