Out of the two films I managed to catch this week, one was a let down while the other was surprising enjoyable.
I am referring to The Mortal Instruments: The City of Bones, and Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, respectively.
I was very disappointed in City of Bones. It had a solid cast and some great sets but it still couldn't be saved from Overload Central. While some things weren't explained, even by the end. (The runes thing wasn't. It seemed just a case of, 'yeah, write these things on you and you'll have that power. Ta-dah!' with no information about the pros and cons of such. Or maybe it was mentioned and I missed it? That was the main problem with the movie.) Other things happened too fast. Too many characters introduced. Stunts in fight scenes were cut too short, so we only really glimpse the character doing a cool back-flip or whatnot, which causes a slight bout of disorientation.
Perhaps as a result of introducing too many people at once. The characters didn't inspire any kind of interest in me. We're never given time to really care about them. When one, I don't even recall his name, was injured I really didn't give two swinging cats whether he survived or not.
Villain was a cardboard cut-out and seemed to only exist in order for anything something to happen - I still don't get why he wanted the cup. His reasons were given alright, but it seemed like two or three reasons where given, so by the end I didn't know what was what.
Bower and Collins were on top form. I had reservations about Jace before going in because I had heard he is the biggest prejudiced git, and not even in a cool aloof Mr Darcy way. Just plain cunty way. Whether I am hearing that wrong, or Bower toned it down. Either way, Jace was as likable as anyone of these walking clichés could be.
Allow me to sum up the clichés:
Clary - ordinary girl who...dun dun dunnn...is not only not ordinary, but she is also the most fantastic of her new super friends.
Jace - bad boy with the heart who gets the girl. (I know nothing about this series save it gets dissed a lot, in equal to how much it's praised, and its about half-angels. But I know enough of teen-romances to say that yes, these two get it together for much more smooch-time - Star Wars un-twist be damned!)
Simon - best friend who's been in love with the girl for years, but won't win her. Will probably get over her by getting under than other one...I also forget her name. (Silly Simon. The friend never gets the girl. Haven't you seen Pretty in Pink?)
Hobes - is that his name? The older mentor. Didn't get his reasons why either. I didn't care. He's no Giles!
Seriously, the whole film, I can't put my finger on exactly why it failed. I'm using a lot of oxymorons here.
It gave no information - It gave too much information.
The cast was strong - They were blah characters.
Perhaps it stuck TOO close to the book? Maybe it would have worked better if key features of the book were filmed and the rest cut out. Condense the info down. Make us care about the characters first. Explain what the fuck that ending with the portal was all about?
(I really don't see how this got a sequel green-lighted when Beautiful Creatures didn't. BC is MUCH better.)
Now onto Alan Partridge, say what you want, but at least Alpha Papa had a plot that one could follow.
I wasn't expecting much from this, I'll tell the truth. I'm not actually a fan of the TV series, or Steve Coogan. But I found this immensely funny.
The four/five star reviews it has been getting, perhaps not. But very good to wile away a Wednesday evening.
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