The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Witches, werewolves, vampires and demons converge on contemporary New York in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, which is based on the first book in the popular series of young-adult novels by Cassandra Clare.

The intent here, of course, is to kick-start another big-screen fantasy franchise for teens, piggybacking on the success of Twilight, among others. That goal isn’t very noble, and it’s not very likely either, judging from this first installment that manages to be both simplistic and convoluted, and certainly isn’t compelling enough to generate mainstream appeal.

The story follows Clary (Lily Collins) a precocious teenager who doesn’t realize that her artist mother (Lena Headey) is actually a member of the Shadowhunters, which is an underground group of angel warriors assigned to protect the world from violent demons.

When her mother is attacked, however, Clary is forced into action along with her nerdy best friend (Robert Sheehan) and a fellow Shadowhunter (Jamie Campbell Bower) who becomes protective of Clary. The key to finding her mother becomes unlocking a mystery surrounding her past and finding the Mortal Cup, a hidden chalice with special powers that could be deadly if it falls into demon hands.

Along the way, the lines become blurred between fantasy and reality, as well as good and evil, as Clary crosses paths with mysterious creatures, only some of which can be trusted.

The film is crammed with special effects and punctuated with scenes of extreme violence, with weapons ranging from swords to blowtorches to frying pans. In between, no opportunity for melodrama is wasted in the script by rookie screenwriter Jessica Postigo, which is accompanied by an overbearing music score. After all, who cares about a life-or-death battle with evil spirits when there’s angst-ridden teen relationship drama in the mix?

Dutch director Harald Zwart (The Karate Kid remake) stages some visually striking action sequences, but fails to inject sufficient humor into the proceedings. Meanwhile, the performances are a mixed bag from the cast of pretty faces.

Indoctrinated fans to the source material might appreciate such a reverent adaptation, while newcomers will likely find City of Bones initially ridiculous and eventually tiresome, investing almost no emotion into the predictable outcome.

Rated PG-13, 129 minutes.