This film publicity image released by Screen Gems shows Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace, left, and Lilly Collins as Clary in a scene from “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.”A young adult fiction binge has broken out in “Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.”
Like an 80-car pill-up, all of the current tropes of teenage fantasy here careen into one another: the young heroine with previously unknown powers; the gothic mix of heavenly and hellish supernatural creatures; the breathless romance with a young Brit of angelic cheekbones. And, oh, the tattoos.
It’s an overdose of mysticism, concocted to give devoted young fans their fix: a heartthrob to swoon over and grand battles to match inflated teenage emotions.
The film is based on the first in a series of popular young adult novels by Cassandra Clare, whose writing originated in “Harry Potter” fan fiction. It’s a blatant inspiration to “City of Bones,” the first of a planned franchise, as is (if you haven’t already guessed) “Twilight.”
Like a hand bag bought on a New York street, this is the knockoff version.