By Nadia Ranaputri
I usually don’t compare books to their adaptations. I do prefer to judge the movie on its own, but with this? I definitely have to compare it to both the book and its previous film adaption.
On the other hand, the show did pretty well in depicting her brother, Alec Lightwood (played by Matthew Daddario). Alec Lightwood seems the most interesting and the most grounded out of the rest. It mostly comes from Daddario’s performance, bringing sense and moral to the other Lightwood.
The acting tends to dip itself too deep to the soap-opera side
of things, which I don’t tend to enjoy. Once it's out of the water, the performances tend to come out flat, and has no in-between that balances the effect of them.
It’s also completed with tropes and clichés that do happen in the novels. But here’s the thing about novel adaptations. Sometimes they don’t translate well in movies as they do in the novel. The Mortal Instruments is a fine example of that. I like the novels. They’re good fun, even with all the tropes; but when you put it to life on screen, it doesn’t have the same grip that the novel had. The show falls victim to showing clichés and tropes that sometimes repeats itself to the point where I roll my eyes more than once in just one episode.
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| Source: Entertainment Weekly |
This review was requested by my friend TM Fazar, who I watched the show with. Also, I apologize to all the Mortal Instruments fans out there, especially the ones who like the show. I like the novels, and the film was alright, but the TV show? Well....
If you haven’t heard of Shadowhunters, you’re forgiven. Shadowhunters
is the TV remake of The Mortal
Instruments: City of Bones and is based on The Mortal Instruments book series by Cassandra Clare (which I have
read before). Since City of Bones
didn’t do well in the box office, Constantine decided to put the beloved
fantasy story to the small screen.
Shadowhunters
practically has the same premise as its predecessor. Clary Fray is your average 17 year old girl living in New York. She draws in her spare time, and hangs out
with her best friend Simon. Life was pretty simple for her. Until it basically
turned upside down (nope, not Stranger
Things related, sorry) on her 17th birthday. While spending the
night of her birthday with her friend Simon in a nightclub, Clary witnesses a
supernatural event that only she could see. Top the night off with her mother
going missing, and a stranger who introduces her to the side of the world that
she never knew.
I usually don’t compare books to their adaptations. I do prefer to judge the movie on its own, but with this? I definitely have to compare it to both the book and its previous film adaption.
Kate McNamara as Clary is just a step down from Lily
Collins in my opinion. It isn’t a major step-down, though. But if you compare
the Kate McNamara’s portrayal to Lily Collins, Collins’ portrayal wins the
latter. Both Collins’ and McNamara’s Clary depicts her as confused teen, which
is also an aspect of Clary’s traits in the first novel, since she’s new to the
world of Shadowhunters. Despite that, I can’t help but prefer Collins’ grounded
portrayal a little more.
As for Jace Wayland? Okay, look. This is definitely
an unpopular opinion, and everyone will hate me for this, but I do not like
Jace. From the book, the film, and the TV show, I cannot bring myself to like
Jace as a character. I never did like him. Dominic Sherwood‘s portrayal is fine, and I
can’t complain fully. Here’s the thing, what I can say though, is this: both Clary
and Jace in the TV show aren’t as captivating as the portrayals in the film, as
the film’s portrayal felt slightly more mature and grounded, unlike the TV
show’s soap-opera-like acting.
The character whose characterization and traits felt
butchered the most to me was Isabelle Lightwood (played by Emeraude Toubia). She was my favorite character (still
is, actually) from the book series. She had a complex characterization and her arc
always seems the most interesting out of all the other characters in the
series. She can be sassy, witty, and snarky without ever banishing the more
serious and thoughtful side of her. But in here? Butchered. She sasses and
snarks her way into banishing her most interesting traits. The film did a better
job at putting this badass Lightwood on screen, while the TV series just
downright ruined her character. I don't blame the actress, but her character was poorly written and shows her as a literal sex object, when she never was that in the series.
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| Source: Pinterest |
On the other hand, the show did pretty well in depicting her brother, Alec Lightwood (played by Matthew Daddario). Alec Lightwood seems the most interesting and the most grounded out of the rest. It mostly comes from Daddario’s performance, bringing sense and moral to the other Lightwood.
Harry Shum Jr as Magnus Bane was also as interesting
as Alec. In fact, both Alec and Magnus have pretty good arcs and personalities.
They have fascinating chemistry together, and I was more invested in their arcs
rather than the show’s two main protagonists.
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| Source: Fanpop |
It’s also completed with tropes and clichés that do happen in the novels. But here’s the thing about novel adaptations. Sometimes they don’t translate well in movies as they do in the novel. The Mortal Instruments is a fine example of that. I like the novels. They’re good fun, even with all the tropes; but when you put it to life on screen, it doesn’t have the same grip that the novel had. The show falls victim to showing clichés and tropes that sometimes repeats itself to the point where I roll my eyes more than once in just one episode.
One of the positives that I can say from this show
is that it provides a good introduction to the world that Cassandra Clare has
laid out. The world interwoven with supernatural beings is a great concept, and
the show tries its best to present it to us. The show succeeds in this for the
most part, they have good substance to add in the introduction of these worlds. What’s funny is that the other worlds and beings such as Downworlders
are much more vibrant and fascinating than the sometimes tedious world of
Shadowhunters.
In terms of the show as a whole, I understand that
it is aimed for YA. I actually liked the book, even when I have to admit that
the book series does have its tropes. I know that most fans of the book and the
film do enjoy the show, and maybe you will, too. But for me, it’s nothing much to
gawk at.
Stars: 2/5
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