The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

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The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

PG-13

Released Aug 21, 2013

2h 10m

Fantasy

Action

Adventure

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13%

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126 Reviews

58%

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50,000+ Ratings

In New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager named Clary Fray (Lily Collins) learns that she is descended from a line of Shadowhunters -- half-angel warriors who protect humanity from evil forces. After her mother (Lena Headey) disappears, Clary joins forces with a group of Shadowhunters and enters Downworld, an alternate realm filled with demons, vampires and a host of other creatures. Clary and her companions must find and protect an ancient cup that holds the key to her mother's future.

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Critics Consensus

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones borrows ingredients from seemingly every fantasy franchise of the last 30 years -- but can't seem to figure out what to do with them.

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Perri Nemiroff

Shockya.com

'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones' might reduce plans for the sequel to ashes.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 24, 2013

Full Review

Louis Black

Austin Chronicle

Not only have we seen this all before, but we were probably hoping to not see it again.

Rated: 1.5/5

Aug 23, 2013

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Donald Clarke

Irish Times

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is such a pathetic mess you end up feeling a little sorry for the poor mite.

Rated: 1/5

Aug 23, 2013

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Amanda the Jedi

Amanda the Jedi (Youtube)

The one thing this movie managed to do was capture the visual style I felt the book conveyed but otherwise we were left with something that neither fans, critics or general audiences were particularly impressed by

Jul 4, 2021

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

This is one incredibly mixed-up, poorly planned, annoyingly-plotted mess.

Rated: 2/10

Dec 3, 2020

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Screenwriter Jessica Postigo serves up a script that feels like a working draft.

Rated: 1.5/4.0

Sep 17, 2020

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Dark V

This world is so amazing and complex, I love it! Jason and Clary have off the charts chemistry! It's a shame we never got to see the rest of it, but I've rewatched this movie half a dozen times at the very least.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/14/25

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Viridiana L

A lot of those moments where you just say: WTF? Why didn't they do this? Or said that? Or why did they wait so long to act?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/25/25

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Lucy S

This movie is just brilliant! The storyline is great and the cast is great. I had read the book prior to watching the movie and I actually prefer the movie as I found the book to be quite long winded and the characters to be a bit annoying. However, I did like that they used lines from the book to add to the movie I just wish they would do the other movies for it. One of my favourites for sure

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/12/25

Full Review

Audience Member

Love this movie qnd wish they had continued to produce the other books. What can I say, I have never agreed with yhe negative reviews or critics from this company and others. Just so sad that the negative vibes have caused the other films to be canceled. Thanks negative people.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/09/24

Full Review

Lasya V

Love the movie just found out about it and to know it was made in 2013 is a surprise because of how good the quality is also I watched this movie in 2024 the movie is just so amazing but we need the sequel to see what valentine does with the cup and if Jace and clary are valentines kids and if clary’s mother is also jaces mom and what will happen to Jace and clary will they get together or just be friends and partners and will clary become a shadow hunter. And is clary a shadow hunter already because it’s kinda unclear if she is or she isn’t a shadow hunter

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/01/24

Full Review

Jorja A

I generally thought it was amazing and now hate there won’t be a part 2 because of how people didn’t like this movie it disappoints the people who actually like it for example me I loved it and I found out they wasn’t siblings but still don’t know what happened and now will never know because of these people that clearly don’t know good taste in movies

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/29/24

Full Review

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Harald Zwart

Director

Lily Collins

Clary Fray

Jamie Campbell Bower

Jace Wayland

Robert Sheehan

Simon Lewis

Kevin Zegers

Alec Lightwood

Lena Headey

Jocelyn Fray

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2014 GLAAD Media Awards Winners

Parental Guidance: On DVD The Wolverine, Smurfs 2 and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Parental Guidance: Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

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Synopsis

In New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager named Clary Fray (Lily Collins) learns that she is descended from a line of Shadowhunters -- half-angel warriors who protect humanity from evil forces. After her mother (Lena Headey) disappears, Clary joins forces with a group of Shadowhunters and enters Downworld, an alternate realm filled with demons, vampires and a host of other creatures. Clary and her companions must find and protect an ancient cup that holds the key to her mother's future.

Director: Harald Zwart
Producer: Robert Kulzer, Don Carmody
Screenwriter: Jessica Postigo
Distributor: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Production Co: Constantin Film International, Unique Features
Rating: PG-13 (Intense Fantasy Violence|Intense Action|Some Suggestive Content)
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 21, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 18, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $31.2M
Runtime: 2h 10m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, Datasat

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