Movie adaptation of the first part of the Cassandra Clare fantasy saga. Starring Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower.

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Clary Fray (Lily Collins) is a typical teenager. She hangs around the streets of Brooklyn with her best friend Simon (Robert Sheehan); her nagging mother Jocelyn (Lena Heady) mainly gets on her nerves. When she witnesses a murder, Clary is suddenly catapulted into a previously unknown world, where she is helped by shadow hunters like Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower) - a group of half-angels who have been fighting demons for millennia.

This movie adaptation of the bestselling young adult series by Cassandra Clare is out for a piece of the Twilight/Hunger Games pie. The plot is pure, unoriginal formula that too often borrows from its predecessors. The best example: Clary joins up with werewolves to battle evil vampires. But the strength of Mortal Instruments lies in its heroine: Clary is smart, strong, and independent. In contrast to Twilight's Bella, she makes her own decisions and doesn't let herself be carried along by events.