The book was fascinating. It's too bad they turned this into an MTV version. I take that back; Teen Wolf is much better than this. The one character in the book who is full of life, charisma and charm is a warlock named Magnus Bane. In the movie, he's a super serious curmudgeon. Parts from the second book are added, but not all of the basic concepts from the first book are properly explained. They never defined what the Clave is. The first book should have been split into 2 movies so it could be done properly. For some reason, one of the runes gives Clary the ability to repair her damaged apartment like a wizard?? What is this, Harry Potter part 8? A friend who never read the book came with me. He couldn't follow the twisted, fractured story points. Just awful...

I really liked the book series, so I went to the opening night of City of Bones. The plot moved too slow, the action seemed placed (not natural), and the actors didn?t do the book characters justice. Some actors were better then others. Clary and Jace were good. I liked the actor playing Jace. He had some acting skills and was cute/quick with the lines as Jace in the book is. But the actors playing Isabel and Magnus Bane were awful for their characters! It?s like they never even researched the characters by reading the book City of Bones! Isabel is a kickass heroine Shadowhunter and Magnus a super smart hipster Warlock! They came across as dull and forgettable in the movie. Alec was unlikable. The quick one liners and jokes between Jace and Simon were few and far between. Overall the movie seemed lackluster. It could have been a lot better. It?s like they skimmed over some really good parts and only gave a predicable surface story.

I am a big fan of the books and was a little reluctant to go after I read some reviews. Luckily, I did go and I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. In fact, I am planning on seeing it again. Lily Collins made a wonderful Clary and the rest of the movie was well cast. The story followed the book for the most part but where it deviated it did not spoil the story. This is a fun movie where you can just loose yourself for a few hours - isn't that what is great about going to a movie - you get to escape your mundane life and just spend a few hours in a fantastical world. I say if you want to have a great night out at the movies you should see this film. You might also check out the books, also, they are a good read!

I read all the books and believe they stayed pretty much true to the books except for cutting out certain parts, but maybe there were time constrictions. However, if you have not read the books, you may not understand it all as well.

City of Bones will satisfy fans of the series by Cassandra Clare, but might be a hard sell to newcomers. The casting was great--Jace and Clary have chemistry to spare, and Simon stole every scene he was in. Too bad about Bane--pretty, but. . . . (was that a voice-over?!) Action was well choreographed and fun, and Clare's witty dialogue is intact. Music is cringeworthy and nearly ruined the kiss scene for me, and they took a lot of license to fit the epic story in two hours, but overall it worked for me and I am looking forward to the next installment.