Critics give thumbs down for new film 'Mortal Instruments'

Mortal Instruments is a film based on the first book of the six-novel series by Cassandra Clare. The first film based of the first book, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, has critics in an uproar for its lack of creativity and boring emulation of pre-existing franchises such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.

Scott Bowles of USA Today remarks, "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones can't decide which franchise it wants to ape: Twilight, Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings…So it tries to mimic all three…"

Bowles adds that the film is perhaps too long and not as evolved in story arc as it could have been. Bowles adds, "director Harald Zwart (The Karate Kid reboot) drains anything approaching tension.This is a film geared to audiences not quite ready for The Hunger Games, and Bones won't test kids' nerves. At slightly over two hours, though, it will test parents' resolve to remain awake."

Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter comments that the film is an "overstuffed assortment of vampires, werewolves, warlocks and demons of all shapes and sizes, The Mortal Instruments seldom feels like anything more than a shameless, soulless knockoff."

He goes further remarking that the film is "certainly not the first and very unlikely the last studio attempt at launching a Twilight/Hunger Games franchise of their very own, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is a bona fide saga all right -- just not in a good way."

Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times wrote that the movie is "Excessively busy and occasionally cheesy, the bustling plot sacrifices clarity for density, and emotional resonance for flirty one-liners."