When it comes to cinematic adaptations of young adult novels, it’s always clear that the main audience is the largely teenaged crowd who spends more of their social time at the movies than adults do. And so whenever I watch a trailer for one, I mentally and metaphorically put myself inside of a teenager’s shoes and question whether or not I would have gone to see the movie in my more naïve youth. And when it comes to the above MSN Video trailer for Harald Zwart’s The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - based on the best-selling book series by Cassandra Clare – I cannot even imagine going to see this, even if it meant automatic carnal knowledge with the female of my choosing. I really don’t know what this movie is doing; but it’s not for me specifically, so let’s look at what the trailer does for everyone.
Because the “basic” story behind the seemingly normal teen Clary Fray is so goddamned complicated, a good chunk of this trailer, and the others, deals specifically with laying the plot out for the uninitiated to try and grasp onto. At least it does this with efficiency, even if the overall story is obviously more suited to be told over the span of a novel instead of a film. The pressure is on, screenwriter Jessica Postigo (Tarzan).
Clary (Lily Collins) is living an ordinary life when she sees a guy murder another person in a nightclub, only to find out that the victim was actually a demon and the murderer can’t be seen by anyone but her. She finds out she’s a Shadowhunter like Jace Wayland (Jamie Campbell Bower), the guy from the club. Other Shadowhunters include Alec Lightwood (Kevin Zegers), and Isabelle Lightwood (Jemima West). Clary’s best friend is a nerdy dude named Simon (Robert Sheehan). He’s a mundane, which is another name for a human. Because just saying “human” takes entirely too long and doesn’t make sense in a world full of demons. And werewolves, apparently. It turns out Clary’s mother Jocelyn (Jena Headey) was also a Shadowhunter, and her life is now in some kind of danger. In trying to save her, Clary’s life gets turned completely upside down.
These kinds of movies never cease to keep me uninterested, with the rampant threats seemingly coming from all corners without rhyme or reason, solely to put the entire world in most evil crosshairs. And I don't even think this trailer had any new footage in it, so these are the same rampant threats we've seen before. I’m always going to enjoy a book more than its cinematic counterpart, and I’m willing to read this book to guarantee never having to watch it. They can’t all be The Hunger Games. (Thankfully.)
If you’re quite unlike me and you can’t wait for this movie, it’ll hit theaters August 21, 2013. Check out another one of the film’s posters below and a host of character posters below that.
