Frozen (2010)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers, no character deaths or major reveals**

Two lifelong friends are trying to figure out a way to secure a cheap pass for skit lift tickets during their annual vacation. Dan Walker (Kevin Zegers) and Joe Lynch (Shawn Ashmore) convince Dan’s new girlfriend, Parker O’Neil (Emma Bell) to bribe Jason (Ed Ackerman), the current ski lift operator, with one hundred dollars for a guaranteed spot on the lift, no strings attached. Parker lies about a spot for her “girlfriends,” and Jason reluctantly accepts the bribe.

Throughout the day, a bitter Joe isn’t happy about Parker’s presence on the vacation, but Joe agrees to suppress his animosity for the time being. During the closing hours, the trio agrees to go on one last ski trip before the park closes. Jason allows Dan, Joe, and Parker to ride the lift one more time, but Jason leaves his post to discuss a scheduling conflict with the resort’s manager. In his absence, Jason entrusts another employee with the task of waiting for Dan, Joe, and Parker. Jason instructs Rifkin (Adam Johnson) to wait for the trio, and once they return, Rifkin can start the shutdown sequence. But Rifkin mistakes another group for Dan, Joe, and Parker, and without hesitation, Rifkin deactivates the ski lift.

Dan and Joe dismiss the shutdown as a minor setback, but as time passes, no one else returns to activate the lift. Dan, Joe, and Parker are stuck at the highest point on the lift in the darkness, with a nasty storm looming over the mountains. It’s Sunday, and the resort doesn’t reopen until Friday, so the trio is stranded with no help. The group must endure the approaching storm and frostbite, and the situation takes a drastic turn for the worst, when a pack of hungry wolves emerge from the woods…….

The slight increase in screen time and the extra focus on her character helps, but Emma Bell delivers the best performance here. Parker is very annoying and whiny most of  the time. Still, Bell’s strong effort is enough to stand out amongst the pack, the welded tears helped, and Bell provides the most convincing performance, easily. Ashmore is decent enough as Joe, and Zegers isn’t bad, but his screen time is cut short here.

Wolves? A ski resort so close to wolves? I don’t get it. Having suspension of disbelief is one thing, but I have a hard time believing in the people behind the scenes for the ski resort being so careless for selecting their location. And I’m suppose to believe NO ONE bothered with a second search to see if anyone else was on the lift? Everyone just assumed the resort was empty, and all the employees left for home?

And the scene with the snowplow machine provided the biggest head-shaking moment for me. Parker, Joe, and Dan are throwing all of their equipment at the snowplow to catch the driver’s attention, but the driver never sees anything? I rolled my eyes during this fiasco, because the driver is conveniently looking away or backing up, when the the equipment lands on the ground. Yeah, right. Give me a break.

The stupid stuff is annoying, and the constant bickering within the trio is tiresome. Joe is pissed off at Dan, because he allowed Parker to tag along on their annual trip. Dan is tired of Joe disrespecting his girlfriend. And there’s a scene, where Joe tears into Parker after an accusation, but Joe and a teary-eyed Parker embrace for a truce. Eh, you guys are supposed to be working together to find a solution, so the constant arguments aren’t helping anything.

Truth be told, I didn’t hate everything about this one. Director/writer Adam Green deserves credit for creating an eerie and spooky atmosphere for Frozen. There’s an unsettling silence in the snowy mountains, and the creaky sounds of a ski lift wafting in the wind provide the icing on the cake. And the nighttime scenes feature their fair share of chills, as the survivors are dangling hopelessly on the lift with no one else in sight.

Still, Frozen is a forgettable thriller, and it’s hard to ignore some noticeable problems here. The characters are generic. Joe is that one guy, who has to be a jerk to everyone. There’s nothing wrong with her performance, but in the grand scheme of things, Bell’s Parker is just a ditzy blonde (i.e. Joe taunting Parker about her clumsiness and inexperience with skiing), and Dan is the leader/voice of reason. The constant finger-pointing and bickering almost gave me headache, and the stupidity from the main characters was too much to handle for my tastes.

In the end, a handful of eerie atmospherics, some nasty, cringeworthy moments, and an overall average cast aren’t enough to save Frozen. Frozen isn’t a complete train wreck, but it’s a chore to sit through for a number of reasons, and I can’t go with a positive score for this one.

Rating: 3/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

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Frozen (2010)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

Two lifelong friends are trying to figure out a way to secure a cheap pass for skit lift tickets during their annual vacation. Dan Walker (Kevin Zegers) and Joe Lynch (Shawn Ashmore) convince Dan’s new girlfriend, Parker O’Neil (Emma Bell) to bribe Jason (Ed Ackerman), the current ski lift operator, with one hundred dollars for a guaranteed spot on the lift, no strings attached. Parker lies about a spot for her “girlfriends,” and Jason reluctantly accepts the bribe.

Throughout the day, a bitter Joe isn’t happy about Parker’s presence on the vacation, but Joe agrees to suppress his animosity for the time being. During the closing hours, the trio agrees to go on one last ski trip before the park closes. Jason allows Dan, Joe, and Parker to ride the lift one more time, but Jason leaves his post to discuss a scheduling conflict with the resort’s manager. In his absence, Jason entrusts another employee with the task of waiting for Dan, Joe, and Parker. Jason instructs Rifkin (Adam Johnson) to wait for the trio, and once they return, Rifkin can start the shutdown sequence. But Rifkin mistakes another group for Dan, Joe, and Parker, and without hesitation, Rifkin deactivates the ski lift.

Dan and Joe dismiss the shutdown as a minor setback, but as time passes, no one else returns to activate the lift. Dan, Joe, and Parker are stuck at the highest point on the lift in the darkness, with a nasty storm looming over the mountains. It’s Sunday, and the resort doesn’t reopen until Friday, so the trio is stranded with no help. The group must endure the approaching storm and frostbite, and the situation takes a drastic turn for the worst, when a pack of hungry wolves emerge from the woods…….

The slight increase in screen time and the extra focus on her character helps, but Emma Bell delivers the best performance here. Parker is very annoying and whiny most of  the time. Still, Bell’s strong effort is enough to stand out amongst the pack, the welded tears helped, and Bell provides the most convincing performance, easily. Ashmore is decent enough as Joe, and Zegers isn’t bad, but his screen time is cut short (more on that later) here.

Warning! Here comes another stupid characters rant!

After the storm hits, Dan, Joe, and Parker lose their cool, quickly. They’re freaking out, because the realization of being stuck in the ski lift for one week is starting to sink in. Dan comes up with the bright idea of jumping to the ground, so he can search for help. Mind you, they’re at the highest point on the ski lift. Anyway, Dan jumps down, and guess what happens? He shatters both of his legs on impact, and you can clearly see a bone sticking out of one leg, but it’s not over yet. Dan is sitting on the ground by himself, trying to stop the bleeding with some help from Joe and Parker, when a wolf shows up. Parker distracts the wolf for the time being, but the lone wolf returns with a pack of allies. Together, the wolves literally rip Dan apart.

Dan is dead, and as time passes, Joe and Parker are stuck together. After a while, Joe leaves Parker alone in the lift, and he takes a shot at descending a ladder on a support pole. Of course, Joe has some trouble fighting off the wolves on the ground, but Parker tosses him a ski pole. Joe uses the ski pole to fight off the wolves, and he uses a snowboard to glide down the mountain…..but the wolves follow him.

Parker falls asleep on the lift during the night hours, and one morning, she awakes to nothing. No Joe, no rescue team, nothing. Parker knows something happened to Joe, so she decides to pull a Dan during a desperate jump. But the cables to lift snap during Parker’s frantic struggle. The lift drops halfway to the ground, so Parker falls at a safe height. After the fall, she injures her leg in the left, but Parker has enough strength to crawl. During her crawl to the open road, Parker spots Joe’s mangled corpse. The wolves are busy eating Joe, so Parker is free to move on without any interruptions. Parker crawls to the road, and after a few unsuccessful attempts, a driver catches Parker’s signal for help. The driver agrees to drive Parker to a hospital, and for the closing moments of the film, Parker remembers Dan’s reassuring words on the lift before she closes her eyes in the passenger’s seat.

So let me get this straight. You KNOW something bad will happen, if you attempt to jump off of a freakin’ ski lift, but you do it anyway? It’s like going to the roof of your house or apartment complex, and you’re at the top looking down at the sidewalk beneath you. You know there’s a 99.9% chance you won‘t survive the jump without any problems, but you still jump? That doesn’t make any sense. Joe knows the wolves are looking for their next meal after devouring Dan, so he decides to climb down the ladder, and fight off a pack of wolves with a ski pole? Also, Parker’s is escape is really frustrating, when you stop and think about it. After all the brainstorming and illogical planning, they NEVER thought about using the lift to break the fall to the ground? Ugh.

Waiting wasn’t an option either, huh? The snowplow machine showed up, so who knows, if you wait, another person might come to the rescue. Sorry, but it’s hard to have sympathy for Joe and Dan’s deaths, because I can’t ignore the dumb (and willing) choices from both characters.

Wolves? A ski resort so close to wolves? I don’t get it. Having suspension of disbelief is one thing, but I have a hard time believing in the people behind the scenes for the ski resort being so careless for selecting their location. And I’m suppose to believe NO ONE bothered with a second search to see if anyone else was on the lift? Everyone just assumed the resort was empty, and all the employees left for home?

And the scene with the snowplow machine provided the biggest head-shaking moment for me. Parker, Joe, and Dan are throwing all of their equipment at the snowplow to catch the driver’s attention, but the driver never sees anything? I rolled my eyes during this fiasco, because the driver is conveniently looking away or backing up, when the the equipment lands on the ground. Yeah, right. Give me a break.


The stupid stuff is annoying, and the constant bickering within the trio is tiresome. Joe is pissed off at Dan, because he allowed Parker to tag along on their annual trip. Dan is tired of Joe disrespecting his girlfriend. And there’s a scene, where Joe tears into Parker after an accusation, but Joe and a teary-eyed Parker embrace for a truce. Eh, you guys are supposed to be working together to find a solution, so the constant arguments aren’t helping anything.

Truth be told, I didn’t hate everything about this one. Director/writer Adam Green deserves credit for creating an eerie and spooky atmosphere for Frozen. There’s an unsettling silence in the snowy mountains, and the creaky sounds of a ski lift wafting in the wind provide the icing on the cake. And the nighttime scenes feature their fair share of chills, as the survivors are dangling hopelessly on the lift with no one else in sight.

Still, Frozen is a forgettable thriller, and it’s hard to ignore some noticeable problems here. The characters are generic. Joe is that one guy, who has to be a jerk to everyone. There’s nothing wrong with her performance, but in the grand scheme of things, Bell’s Parker is just a ditzy blonde (i.e. Joe taunting Parker about her clumsiness and inexperience with skiing), and Dan is the leader/voice of reason. The constant finger-pointing and bickering almost gave me headache, and the stupidity from the main characters was too much to handle for my tastes.

In the end, a handful of eerie atmospherics, some nasty, cringeworthy moments (i.e. Dan’s twisted and mangled broken legs, Joe’s dismembered corpse, frostbite wounds on Parker’s face, etc.), and an overall average cast aren’t enough to save Frozen. Frozen isn’t a complete train wreck, but it’s a chore to sit through for a number of reasons, and I can’t go with a positive score for this one.

Rating: 3/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

The Colony (2013)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers, no major twists, reveals or surprises are included in this review**

In the future, survivors of the next ice age are forced to live in an underground outpost. Led by a former Army solider named Briggs (Laurence Fishburne) with the help of his lieutenant, Mason (Bill Paxton), Colony 7 is running low on resources, while trying to contain the outbreak of a deadly flu.

But Briggs focuses his attention on another problem, when Colony 5 doesn’t return daily check-up calls. After numerous failed attempts to receive a transmission, Briggs assembles a team including Sam (Kevin Zegers), Graydon (Atticus Dean Mitchell), and himself to investigate the problems with Colony 5. In his absence, Briggs leaves Mason in charge of the colony. With no one to control or put a stop to Mason’s tirades, Sam’s girlfriend, Kai (Charlotte Sullivan) fears the worst for sick members of Colony 7.

At Colony 5’s outpost, the team finds a frightened survivor, and things only get worse, when Colony 7’s team uncovers the horrifying reason behind Colony 5’s decimated population..........

Capable cast at best. Bill Paxton delivers the best performance, as the grizzled and pissed off veteran, who seemingly hates everyone. I got the sense Fishburne was just phoning it in for the most part, but Zegers and Sullivan do their best with strong efforts. Can’t say too much about the leader (Dru Viergever) of the cannibals, because his character doesn’t receive any spoken dialogue, just a lot of growling and screaming.

Usually, I’m willing to overlook predictability, and The Colony features a handful of scenes with nasty, bloody, and gruesome gore, but The Colony is a pretty lousy film. Tedious pacing, predictable and anticlimactic character deaths, too many plot holes, too many boring moments, and the action sequences are mediocre at best. Unfortunately, The Colony is a formulaic and generic sci-fi/post-apocalyptic thriller, that’s void of any guilty pleasure fun. And the premise isn’t bad, but it’s something you’ve probably seen a thousand times over (i.e. a band of small survivors fighting an unexpected and malicious threat in the aftermath of an apocalyptic disaster).

Rating: 2/10


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Or take a trip into world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in my book of short stories, also only $0.99-  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

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The Colony (2013)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

In the future, survivors of the next ice age are forced to live in an underground outpost. Led by a former Army solider named Briggs (Laurence Fishburne) with the help of his lieutenant, Mason (Bill Paxton), Colony 7 is running low on resources, while trying to contain the outbreak of a deadly flu. Briggs believes in a more diplomatic approach to handling the flu, including a sealed quarantine ward for the sick, and if the sick don’t show any signs of improvement, Briggs allows the choice of execution, or a long walk in the endless snowstorm. Mason on the other hand, believes in more drastic measures by skipping straight to the execution without any discussions, and no questions asked.

But Briggs focuses his attention on another problem, when Colony 5 doesn’t return daily check-up calls. After numerous failed attempts to receive a transmission, Briggs assembles a team including Sam (Kevin Zegers), Graydon (Atticus Dean Mitchell), and himself to investigate the problems with Colony 5. Reluctantly, Briggs leaves Mason in charge of the colony. With no one to control or put a stop to Mason’s tirades, Sam’s girlfriend, Kai (Charlotte Sullivan) fears the worst for sick members of Colony 7.

At Colony 5’s outpost, the team finds a frightened survivor, and things only get worse, when Colony 7’s team uncovers the horrifying reason behind Colony 5’s decimated population: with no more food left, Colony 5 turned to cannibalism to survive. Briggs, Sam, and Graydon try to escape the gruesome scene of the messy killing floor, but the odds aren’t in their favor, as they outrun and fight off the attacks from Colony 5’s mutated cannibals.

Capable cast at best. Bill Paxton delivers the best performance, as the grizzled and pissed off veteran, who seemingly hates everyone. I got the sense Fishburne was just phoning it in for the most part, but Zegers and Sullivan do their best with strong efforts. Can’t say too much about the leader (Dru Viergever) of the cannibals, because his character doesn’t receive any spoken dialogue, just a lot of growling and screaming.

Unanswered questions are a big problem for The Colony.  So the outbreak of a deadly flu is the main concern at first, but once they introduce the cannibals, the epidemic of the flu becomes insignificant? Okay, the remaining survivors at Colony 5 are cannibals, but they’re not ordinary cannibals. They have discolored pupils and fangs, so how did the mutation happen? Is the flu the source of the transformation? They never give the slightest effort to explain any of this.

Weather machines are used to control the climate in the future, but the vast majority of weather machines froze……but SOMEHOW there’s still one functioning weather machine left? At Colony 5’s outpost, Sam is able to find the video for a broken transmission about another colony’s operational weather machine (and you can clearly see sunlight in the background of the video). Using this information, Sam gathers some remaining fruit and vegetable seeds, and the remaining survivors of Colony 7 embark on a mission to join the other colony, so they can plant and grow the seeds. So during an ice age, when every other weather machine in the world is frozen solid, ONE weather machine managed to miraculously survive the cold, is working without any problems, and there’s plenty of sunlight in this specific region? Yeah, bullshit.

Usually, I’m willing to overlook predictability, and The Colony features a handful of scenes with nasty, bloody, and gruesome gore (with Sam literally slicing the cannibal leader’s head in half being the highlight), but The Colony is a pretty lousy film. Tedious pacing, predictable and anticlimactic character deaths, too many plot holes, too many boring moments, and the action sequences are mediocre at best. Unfortunately, The Colony is a formulaic and generic sci-fi/post-apocalyptic thriller, that’s void of any guilty pleasure fun. And the premise isn’t bad, but it’s something you’ve probably seen a thousand times over (i.e. a band of small survivors fighting an unexpected and malicious threat in the aftermath of an apocalyptic disaster).

Rating: 2/10

Looking for a change from Batman, Spider-Man, and Iron Man? Then get know the world's newest superheroine Freechelle Fantabulous for only $0.99 by following the link- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in my book of short stories, also only $0.99-  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

And remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

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The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones (2013) (Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

Living in New York City, Clary Fray (Lily Collins) struggles to comprehend a strange and bizarre obsession with seeing mysterious symbols in various places. Clary’s mother, Jocelyn (Lena Headey) realizes her worst fears have come to life, but before she has a chance to explain the truth to her daughter, Joeclyn is attacked by an intruder.

One night, Clary pushes her nerdy best friend, Simon Lewis (Robert Sheehan) to go into into a night club after Clary spots the mysterious symbol on the entrance sign again. Inside the club, Clary witnesses a man named Jace Wayland (Jaime Campbell Bower) use his sword to kill a man, but Clary’s frightened screams are met with confused looks, because no one else was able to see the murder.

Clary’s mother is taken hostage after the attack, and Luke Garroway (Aidan Turner), Jocelyn’s best friend, who also lives with Clary and Jocelyn, mysteriously disappears. After seeing the ruins of her ravaged apartment in the aftermath of the attack, Clary is saved by Jace, who manages to kill a demon before it kills Clary. Eventually, Clary learns the truth about her true identity: like her mother, Clary is a a Shadowhunter, a warrior sworn to a life of killing demons and other malevolent forces, who hide in other forms (humans, animals, etc.) on Earth. 

Simon tags along with Clary and Jace, as Clary embarks on a mission to learn more about her past, and rescue her mother. At the secret headquarters for Shadowhunters, invisible to all Mundanes (normal humans), Clary and Simon meet Alec (Kevin Zegers) and Isabelle (Jemima West) Lightwood, a brother/sister duo of Shadowhunters, who form a team with Jace, and their leader/veteran retired Shadowhunter, Hodge Starkweather (Jared Harris), who is confined to the innards of the base after a curse was placed on him.

Hodge explains to Clary how her mother stole the Mortal Cup, a powerful and magical instrument, to protect it from Valentine Morgenstern (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Jocelyn’s former lover, and a Shadowhunter, who turned into a madman. Obsessed with power and control over all Shadowhunters and evil forces, Valentine planned to use the Mortal Cup to complete his goal, but with Clary’s mother incapacitated (to protect the whereabouts of the Mortal Cup, Jocelyn drank a potion that put her into a deep sleep), it’s believed the location of the hidden Cup is buried in Clary’s memories.

After he escapes the clutches of Emil Pangborn (Kevin Durand) and Samuel Blackwell (Robert Maillet), Valentine’s henchmen, and the same men, who attacked and kidnapped Jocelyn,  Luke returns to reveal himself as a werewolf, who works with the Shadowhunters (the Shadowhunters have a pact with the werewolves), because Clary will need all the help she can get to stop Valentine, and save her mother.

Lily Collins was lucky enough to land a spot in The Blind Side, but of  course, she was overshadowed by the critical acclaim for Sandra Bullock’s performance, and Bullock winning the Oscar for Best Actress and various other Best Actress awards. She hit a rough spot with that abomination Abduction (still haven‘t seen Mirror, Mirror), but despite the negative backlash for this film, I think Collins handled herself well in the leading role. With Headey’s character on the shelf for the vast majority of the film, and limited focus on the other  noticeable veteran in the cast (Jared Harris), Collins had the task of carrying the load as the main character. She’s not quite there yet, but Collins showed  some strong signs of potential here. With the story revolving around her, Collins showed poise and confidence as Clary, while showcasing an emotional side during Clary’s hard times throughout the film.

Bower is your typical pretty boy rebel/bad ass, who only shows his soft side to the ladies. Not a bad performance, but nothing too special either. Headey’s character doesn’t receive enough conscious screen time here, so it’s not fair to judge her performance (or lack there of). And Sheehan is believable in his role as the nerdy and awkward outcast. I don’t think it’s fair to judge Jonathan Rhys Meyers Valentine. His character doesn’t make an appearance until the tail end of the film, and no one else is really worth mentioning by name.

The Mortal Instruments delivered a few twists and turns I didn’t see coming. For starters, Jocelyn hiding the Mortal Cup in a tarot card was a unique surprise, because that’s the last place anyone would think of. And Valentine revealing himself as the father of Clary and Jace (real name Jonathan). The shock factor of Valentine’s reveal was strong, because before Valentine told Jace the truth, you could clearly see Jace and Clary were starting to fall in love, and things hit a peak after a Romantic night in a magical garden. Of course, this reveal might remind people of the famous scene in Return Of The Jedi, where Luke realizes Leia is his sister after a talk with Obi-Wan. Add in the awkwardness of Han and Leia being in a relationship, and the look of guilt and shock on Luke’s face, and you can easily connect the dots between both films.

The love triangle between Jace, Simon, and Clary? Yeah, it’s predictable. Simon is tired of being in the infamous friend zone, so he opens up about his true feelings for Clary. But Clary is drawn to Jace, and after that, Clary goes through the dilemma of being attracted to the more desirable guy, and the friend, who’s always been there for her no matter what. You can see it all coming from a mile away. Although, Mortal Instruments adds an unexpected layer to the love triangle, when Clary openly accuses Alec of having feelings for Jace. Alec responds by threatening her life, if she ever mentions the situation again. Some nice food for thought, and I can honestly say I didn’t see this coming.

As far as a critical reception goes, The Mortal Instruments has received a strong, negative backlash. Complaints range from The Mortal Instruments trying to be a Harry Potter or Twilight knock-off, the film borrowing elements from damn near every fantasy/action film over the past thirty years or so, and so on. Well, a lot of that’s true. The Mortal Instruments isn’t completely original, not by a long shot. But at the same time, I think it’s unfair to bash a film for mimicking other fantasy films/stories or borrowing elements from said films, because if we use this criteria to bash other movies like The Mortal Instruments, then we would have a pretty lengthy list of bad movies. And on top of that, it would be damn near impossible to rate any movie that resembles Mortal Instruments with a positive score, IF we use this criteria.

The Mortal Instruments is loaded with enough dazzling visual eye candy to bring out a few “oooohhh” and “ahhhhh” moments, and there’s a handful of  surprisingly entertaining fight sequences throughout the movie. Plus, they’re able to mix in some decent humor every now and then, and fans of the Ghostbusters films should appreciate the wink to the original film. I’ll openly admit this here and now, I went in to The Mortal Instruments with a very negative mindset, but I found myself having a lot of fun with this one as the story developed.

Rating: 6/10

Looking for a change from Batman, Spider-Man, and Iron Man? Then get know the world's newest superheroine Freechelle Fantabulous for only $0.99 by following the link- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in my book of short stories, also only $0.99-  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

And don't forget to like both of my Facebook pages, because the Mitch MacReady 2 Facebook page includes quotes from both ebooks that can't fit into Tweets-

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The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones (2013) (Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains minor spoilers, no major plot details, surprises, or reveals are mentioned in this review**

Living in New York City, Clary Fray (Lily Collins) struggles to comprehend a strange and bizarre obsession with seeing mysterious symbols in various places. Clary’s mother, Jocelyn (Lena Headey) realizes her worst fears have come to life, but before she has a chance to explain the truth to her daughter, Jocelyn is attacked by an intruder.

At a night club, Clary witnesses a man named Jace Wayland (Jaime Campbell Bower) use his sword to kill a man, but Clary’s frightened screams are met with confused looks, because no one else was able to see the murder. Why is Clary seeing symbols? Why is Clary the only one, who can see Jace? Clary’s determination to find the truth will lead her on a journey into a mysterious world to fight supernatural forces. And with the help of her best friend, Simon Lewis (Robert Sheehan), Jace, and others, Clary will uncover secrets that will change her life forever.

Lily Collins was lucky enough to land a spot in The Blind Side, but of  course, she was overshadowed by the critical acclaim for Sandra Bullock’s performance, and Bullock winning the Oscar for Best Actress and various other Best Actress awards. She hit a rough spot with that abomination Abduction (still haven‘t seen Mirror, Mirror), but despite the negative backlash for this film, I think Collins handled herself well in the leading role. With Headey’s character on the shelf for the vast majority of the film, and limited focus on the other  noticeable veteran in the cast (Jared Harris), Collins had the task of carrying the load as the main character. She’s not quite there yet, but Collins showed  some strong signs of potential here. With the story revolving around her, Collins showed poise and confidence as Clary, while showcasing an emotional side during Clary’s hard times throughout the film.

Bower is your typical pretty boy rebel/bad ass, who only shows his soft side to the ladies. Not a bad performance, but nothing too special either. Headey’s character doesn’t receive enough conscious screen time here, so it’s not fair to judge her performance (or lack there of). And Sheehan is believable in his role as the nerdy and awkward outcast.

As far as a critical reception goes, The Mortal Instruments has received a strong, negative backlash. Complaints range from The Mortal Instruments trying to be a Harry Potter or Twilight knock-off, the film borrowing elements from damn near every fantasy/action film over the past thirty years or so, and so on. Well, a lot of that’s true. The Mortal Instruments isn’t completely original, not by a long shot. But at the same time, I think it’s unfair to bash a film for mimicking other fantasy films/stories or borrowing elements from said films, because if we use this criteria to bash other movies like The Mortal Instruments, then we would have a pretty lengthy list of bad movies. And on top of that, it would be damn near impossible to rate any movie that resembles Mortal Instruments with a positive score, IF we use this criteria.

The Mortal Instruments is loaded with enough dazzling visual eye candy to bring out a few “oooohhh” and “ahhhhh” moments, and there’s a handful of  surprisingly entertaining fight sequences throughout the movie. Plus, they’re able to mix in some decent humor every now and then, and fans of the Ghostbusters films should appreciate the wink to the original film. I’ll openly admit this here and now, I went in to The Mortal Instruments with a very negative mindset, but I found myself having a lot of fun with this one as the story developed.

Rating: 6/10

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