The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Screen Gems | Release Date: August 21, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
33
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
17
Negative:
16
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyAug 21, 2013
Make no mistake, there will be a sequel. Clary may not wind up having the same pop-culture impact as Bella and Katniss, but like it or not, this won't be the last time you hear from her. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesBruce IngramAug 20, 2013
Everything chugs along briskly and reasonably entertainingly until running off the rails a bit with a wildly overcomplicated finale. Read full review
50
NPRMark JenkinsAug 24, 2013
Aside from the giggles induced by the romance-novel bits, the movie's principal hazard is exhaustion. There are too many characters, and too many of them spend too much time morphing into something else. Five more like this? That would be demonic. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandAug 21, 2013
Though imaginatively directed by Harald Zwart, Mortal Instruments, which is adapted from Cassandra Clare's YA novels, is marred by significant flaws. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundAug 21, 2013
The movie blasts by for a while as an odd and busy slice of highly watchable garbage. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 20, 2013
The storyline is at times muddled and incoherent. This won't bother readers much since they have the "inside track" on what's happening. Then again, the narrative is so predictable that maybe it doesn't matter. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Aug 20, 2013
Borrowing every single component of its complicated plot from other sources, The Mortal Instruments is hodgepodge claptrap, but there’s a faint flicker of fun in its introducing-the-world passages. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezAug 20, 2013
Start with a heaping helping of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Throw in some "Percy Jackson," a dash of "Twilight," a spoonful of "The Vampire Diaries" and a sprinkling of "Harry Potter," and you end up with The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephanie MerryAug 20, 2013
There are elements worth celebrating. The movie is thankfully less self-serious than the mopey “Twilight” films. The Mortal Instruments revels in its own camp. But there is plenty of room for improvement. The action flick is overly long, complicated and, even by teen romance standards, cringe-worthy in its cheesiness. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreAug 20, 2013
If you love exposition and shapely if bland young actors in leather, skinny jeans, knee boots, Goth cocktail dresses and heavy eye makeup, this may be the movie for you. Read full review
40
Total FilmCurtis WoloschukAug 28, 2013
As for some of the big reveals, viewers will see them coming from a galaxy far, far away. Read full review
40
SalonAndrew O'HehirAug 21, 2013
This initial “Mortal Instruments” picture has the vibe of a straight-to-video release from the mid-‘90s, except with a $60 million budget and considerable special-effects expertise. Read full review
40
EmpireHelen O'HaraAug 21, 2013
Apparently unable to decide whether to take its own mythology seriously or not, this is a mess of sculpted cheekbones and incoherent romance. Read full review
40
Time Out LondonAnna SmithAug 21, 2013
It’s a potent mix for young fans that gets off to an entertaining, action-packed start with bursts of knowing humour. But it’s soon bogged down by an increasingly convoluted plot, an overindulgent running time and absurd dialogue. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenAug 20, 2013
Despite the 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. Read full review
40
VarietyJustin ChangAug 20, 2013
A ludicrous, borderline-nonsensical supernatural concoction with a slightly redeeming sense of its own silliness. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisAug 20, 2013
Too much of the film feels like shorthand, a trail of teasing crumbs to lead us to the inevitable sequels. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 20, 2013
There’s so much bouncing around in tone and story that this film never really finds its footing. It flounders around trying to figure out what it should be, and never really settles on anything. Read full review
40
The DissolveGenevieve KoskiAug 20, 2013
There’s a germ of something interesting and different within the film’s narrative tangle, but it’s unfortunately been subsumed by Hollywood’s dedication to replicating previous successes. Read full review
38
St. Louis Post-DispatchSarah Bryan MillerAug 20, 2013
That can’t disguise the script’s complete lack of wit or originality, though, or the generally wooden acting. Read full review
38
USA TodayScott BowlesAug 20, 2013
Though it has flashes of promise, Bones traces the footsteps of its fantasy film predecessors too closely to blaze anything close to an original narrative. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleLouis BlackAug 28, 2013
Not only have we seen this all before, but we were probably hoping to not see it again. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriAug 26, 2013
City of Bones isn’t the worst of its kind, but crap served with flair is still basically crap. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenAug 20, 2013
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is just a sloppy rag bag of ideas cobbled from other stories. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJohn OurslerAug 20, 2013
The nomenclature varies slightly, but there's little new or exciting in City of Bones. For strong female role models and unique fantasy settings, stick with The Hunger Games. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsAug 23, 2013
These kids have to contrive magical pretexts just to lay hands on each other, and boy, are their excuses rotten. Read full review
25
The PlaylistDrew TaylorAug 21, 2013
No matter how good The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones looks, it's hard to really care about anything that's going on, and not just because we could barely understand it. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubAug 20, 2013
Every moviegoer will have his own breaking point, when The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones surpasses the mundane and enters the ridiculous. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyAug 20, 2013
Within this bloated fantasy hodgepodge, there are few grace notes: In the role of the creepy fortune teller, Madame Dorothea, CCH Pounder is evil fun. And a few special effects, including a Rottweiller who turns into a skinned hellhound, leave an impression. Otherwise, Mortal Instruments manages to occupy 130 minutes of frantic, numbing, activity. Read full review
25
Film.comLaremy LegelAug 20, 2013
This is a story that has everything you’re looking for, provided that you’re looking for absolutely nothing. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithAug 20, 2013
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones hopes to be the start of a new franchise for tweens and Twihards, but the twuth is this twash is anything but a twiumph. Read full review
20
The GuardianFrancesca SteeleAug 24, 2013
This is film-making at its most cynical. But none of it actually makes much sense. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanAug 21, 2013
This one is by far the worst of the “Twilight” copies. And when that bunch includes “The Host” and “I Am Number Four,” that’s saying something. Read full review
20
The TelegraphRobbie CollinAug 21, 2013
The plot is an incomprehensible tangle of dead ends and recaps. Read full review
20
Time OutMatt PatchesAug 20, 2013
If only the fantasy surrounding her made a lick of sense. Here, the Muggle types are known as the “Mundane.” An apt label for a wanna-be franchise with plenty of sheen and nothing to say. Read full review
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