The
Mortal Instruments - City Of Bones (2013/Sony Blu-ray & DVD)
Picture:
B & C+ Sound: B & C+ Extras: A Film: A-
Clary
(Lily Collins) just thought she was an ordinary girl, the kind into
things like fashion and boys, until she started seeing 'angelic
signs', and then discovers she is a descendant of a line of
Shadowhunters; half angel, half humans who secretly protect the world
from demons. After her mom goes missing, she is rescued by a
mysterious young man, Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower) and his team of
Shadowhunters, where she learns of the Downworld and how the world is
filled with vampires, werewolves, warlocks and other deadly
creatures.. and she is the key to stopping them in Harard Zwart's The
Moral Instruments - City Of Bones (2013).
Turns
out a secret war has been going on for centuries between the dark and
light, invisible to the 'mundane' humans. Clary is then taken in by
group by mysterious sexy Jace and his small band of Shadowhunters,
where she then learns about her lineage and begins her training.
There, she learns about Valentine (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a fallen
Shadowhunter who wants the 'Mortal Instrument', a cup that caught the
blood of an Angel and has the ability to turn anyone into a
Shadowhunter, but he wants it to create evil Shadowhunters to rule
the world. The secret of the cup and it's location lies hidden in
her past.
This
movie plays like a combination of Harry Potter mixed with Twilight,
with a Star Wars like plot grafted on top as a young girl who finds
who learns how to be a warrior and is the key to stopping the forces
of evil. The movie had plenty of supernatural creatures/races, with
magic and sword swinging action, and even a bit of romance but it
somehow all works. We'll see if a sequel follows, but the money is
on the screen despite the abundance of CGI. Lena Headley, Kevin
Durand, CCH Pounder, Jared Harris and Aidan Turner also star.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer has its share
of CGI, but it was shot in real 35mm anamorphic Panavision using
Kodak's terrific Vision 3 film negative stocks. The anamorphically
enhanced DVD version is weaker and much harder to enjoy because it
cannot capture the nuances of the shoot. The DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the Blu-ray is warm and full taking
advantage of the multi-channel possibilities, so the lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 is not bad, but no match for the DTS-MA version.
Extras
include feature length Filmmaker and Cast commentary on characters,
stunts and cast transformation, deleted scenes, music video, creating
the creatures of the Shadow World, and trailers.
-
Ricky Chiang
