Movie Review - Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Starring: Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Kevin Zegers, Jemina West, Robert Sheehan, Godfrey Gao, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Aidan Turner, Lena Headey, Robert Maillet, Kevin Durand, Harry Van Gorkum, and more.

Directed by: Harald Zwart Screenplay by: Jessica Postigo Paquette Based on the Novel by: Cassandra Clare Cinematography by: Geir Hartly Andreassen Original Music by: Atli Örvarsson

Premise: While checking out at a club with her friend Simon, Clary sees a man murdered. But though it happened in plain sight, no one else there seems to have seen anything. She also keeps drawing a weird symbol that haunts her dreams. When she spots the man who murdered the youth at the bar again, she goes and confronts him. He tries to tell her she doesn't understand what she saw, but they get interrupted by Clary's mother's frantic phone calls telling her not to come back to the house. Unbeknownst to Clary, her whole world is about to be turned upside down. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Lily Collins did a wonderful job as Clary Fray. Jamie Campbell Bower made sparks fly between Clary and Jace. Robert Sheehan easily conveyed Simon's many facets and emotions as Clary's best friend. Jonathan Rhy Meyers made a commanding Valentine, with just the right glint of madness in his eyes.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: The creature that gets blown up close to the beginning was disturbing enough when it morphed, but the group did even better work after it blew up. The juicy bits moving around on their own totally creeped me out (in a good way) and was made more intense by the wetness they imbued it with. Fantastic work!

The door to the institute as it went through its locking sequence looked great. The switch from seeing the old broken building to what was actually there was visually stunning. The portal was also spectacular.

I totally loved the snake whip. The scene where it was introduced worked beautifully.

3) Story/Plot - Thumbs Up: The start of the story is strong and pulls you in. Once things really get moving, however, a lot of stuff falls off to the side and is never pursued or questioned even though on some of these items the film forces the audience to notice them by bringing attention to them - for example Simon's vampire bite and his improved eyesight. Clary remarks on it, yet never asks the others about it, despite the fact it could be a very bad thing. Also a lot of backstory is skipped with things being stated without giving explanations. An extra fifteen minutes might have fixed this problem. This is a brand new world with new rules, but the audience is not given enough to understand it or even embrace it.


4) Stunts - Thumps Up: The fights in the kitchen at Clary's home were well done and filled with some nice combat surprises. While entertaining, the rest were pretty standard fare with some spark thrown around here and there. Solid work.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: The Institute was fabulous. Wished we'd been able to see more of it. The library set up was everything one could hope for. I adored how they added a Kuksi statue to the film for the angel and the creation of the warriors. If you've never taken a close look at his work, I totally recommend it. It is fantastic!

6) Costuming/Makeup - Total Thumbs Up: For once, a heroine does a lot of fighting, running, etc, and it shows! It might not last long but at least they took the time to show it - she looked tired ad her hair limp -  well done. Wounds and bruises were consistent as well. The only bad choice I saw was in costuming by putting Clary in six inch heel boots and actually having her run in them when she'd never worn them before. She did take them off at one point, then they were back on in a second as they ran on. Not sure that making Valentine look like a Goth really suited the character, but that's just a personal preference.

Conclusion: The great chemistry between the actors does much to entertain. Lots of neat visuals to distract us from the fact they're skipping explanations or information. If you've read the books, there are some changes as they crunch up locations and incidents - so fans will find it satisfying in some ways and then not in others.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again)

Movie Review - Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror

Starring: Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer, Nathan Lane, Jordan Prentice, Mark Povinelli, Joe Gnoffo, Danny Woodburn, Sebastian Saraceno, Martin Klebba, Ronald Lee Clark, Robert Emms, Mare Winningham, Sean Bean, and more...

Directed by: Tarsem Sighn Dhandwar Original Story by: Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm Screenplay by: Melissa Wallack and Jason Keller Original Music by: Alan Menken

Premise: The Queen of a small kingdom decides she must rid herself of her departed husband's daughter as Snow White begins to outshine her as the most beautiful woman of the realm. (Rated PG)

Review:

1) Acting - Thumbs Up - Julia Roberts was a hoot as the vain evil queen. Nathan Lane delivered any number of great lines and was the perfect toady. Lily Collins made a great Snow White, especially at the end when she showed the steel beneath the fair maiden! I have always enjoyed the work of Danny Woodburn, Jordan Prentice, and Martin Klebba. Now I have four more great actors to add to the list as well. The seven of them made a great team and looked to have had a lot of fun making the film and it shows. Armie Hammer brought a great air for Prince Alcott, whose ego suffered a few blows, but he learned in time. He pulled off the puppy love scenes hilariously. Robert Emms, though he unfortunately did not return in the latter part of the film, was a lot of fun as well. Great chemistry between all the cast.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up - From the gorgeous CGI castle, to the Beast, and the super amazing killer puppets, the special effects were outstanding. The integration of the Queen as she walked through the Mirror to the other world was amazing. And I totally enjoyed the cartoonish addition of hearts to the Prince as the Queen's potion took effect. Adorable! The beginning of the film as the Queen told her tale with the dolls was nicely done.

Totally loved the ships used during the chess match. Especially when they proved to be somewhat functional!

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up - The screenwriters took a story that has been retold countless times yet tweaked things up enough to make it fresh. Expect many of the bits one normally ties to Snow White, though not always in the same order or to the same effect, but are there for those who know the story - whether it be from the original Grimm tales or Disney. The tack taken with the Seven Dwarves was fun and made them more real. There's also a story twist, with plenty of hints so viewers might get there before our heroine does.

Comedic moments and one liners abound. The entire feel of the piece kept crossing boundaries, but also made sure to remain light even on dark subjects. Loved the direction they took on the concept of the mirror itself.

4) Stunts - Thumbs Up - There is a lot of fun swordplay. The stilt scenes with all the acrobatics during the robberies were great to watch.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Thumbs Up - Lovely sweeping views of the forest and the CGI kingdom. Totally loved the fact that the Queen's open bedroom, showing the sky outside, would match the Queen's moods. The forest views and locations of interest there looked real and believable.

6) Costuming/Makeup - Thumbs Up - They had a lot of fun with this. The Queen's costumes were always large and grand, to compensate for her fading beauty. The wedding dress she wore was a monstrous affair but lovely. Trying to look at all the costumes at the ball totally entertained. Some truly innovative thinking - see if you can spot the sheep. The walrus took a minute to figure out, but it was totally outlandish! And all were outdone by the eye burning colors of the wigs and clothes of the attendees at the Queen's wedding. You almost got the sense they were trying to compensate for their ever growing unhappiness.

Watching Snow go through clothes for just the right thief look was fun. By the time they find just the thing, you're agreeing one hundred percent with the choice!

Conclusion: Mirror, Mirror is a fun film enjoyable by the entire family. It is funny and light, with several surprises and cute moments. Well worth a watch. The in-joke to Bollywood during the closing credits (possibly a poke at the director?) was a lot of fun!

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Price of Admission)