Mortal Instruments - City of Bones (movie)

Oh my... where to even start. A friend of mine dragged me and a couple of others to see this movie. And I thought - fantasy? - why not! But no... no.

The movie - short introduction

So the movie itself is based on a book, which I heard is actually quite entertaining. The movie mixes the elements from the book, however, adding some of its own to the mix. And the mix ended up to be a cliché. The movie tells the story of a teenage girl who starts drawing weird symbols. One night she goes to a club where she witnesses the murder of a mysterious looking young man. Later she finds out that the man was actually a demon, her mother a 'Shadowhunter', and that the stories she has heard as a child about vampires and werewolves, are real. Clary (the heroine of the story) gets dragged into an Institute for the Shadowhunters, where she starts recovering her memories of the past; and her hidden abilities. The plot also includes some romantic elements of 'forbidden love'. While the plot itself could produce a decent enough fantasy movie, it just didn't work out. This is why:

The cliché

The film has been said to contain elements of many fantasy works of the past years. The forbidden love? Twilight. Institute for Shadowhunters? Hogwarts, for witches and wizards. Werewolves, vampires, demons... you name it. However, the only unique aspect the plot clearly had were the runes the Shadowhunters marked their skin with to perform certain abilities. I will come to this later.
While many movies may contain the lately popular fantasy elements, what really amused me were some of the romantic scenes. A girl landing on a boy with their lips almost touching? Never seen that before. Main characters kissing passionately when suddenly a 'rain' comes down with jolly and magnificent music on the background? That made me laugh - out loud. The male main character seeing the heroine on a glittering background? Seriously. Or getting busted while making out in the corridor, but that always happens, so let's pass it.
These, and many other parts of the movie actually made the person next to me facepalm a few times.

Comical - unintentionally?

I just have to mention the fighting scene with really happy party music or something on the background. I hope it was supposed to be made funny and completely inappropriate to the context.
Secondly, the 'main rune' the heroine frequently draws in the beginning of the movie. Is it just me, or does it look like a bunny? Seriously. Look at it:

A bunny. Or a modern art carrot.

How is this not a bunny? Or a carrot, if bunny isn't the first thing that comes to your mind. After I realised how much it reminds me of a rabbit, I couldn't take the movie seriously anymore. That's not the movies fault, of course, but am I the only one who thinks it's clearly a bunny?

On a side note + conclusion

The movie was clearly aimed at the female audience. Topless men fighting in leather pants? Yes please for some, no thanks for others. This aspect of the movie is actually a positive thing compared to the many male-centric movies out there, I won't comment whether it was made well or not.
The movie has received surprisingly negative reviews from the critics. Rotting Tomatoes, for example, give the movie the score of only 12%. I personally wouldn't especially recommend this movie, either. If you like movies such as Twilight, this movie could entertain you, but I comparing these two, I think Mortal Instruments: The City of Bones may have been even more of a flop. 

I am currently working on the book, though, and hope it will positively surprise me.