Jamie Campbell Bowerhas risen to fame ever since he joined the cast for the fourth season ofNetflix’sStranger Thingsand became a series regular after that. Alongside some well-known actors in the industry, like Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, and Finn Wolfhard, Bower has continuously surpassed any expectations and delivered some of the best scenes in the popular series on Netflix. As Vecna, the antagonist in Season 4 and the upcoming fifth and final season ofStranger Things, Bower has made quite an impression, and his dedication to his role leads to the assumption that he has had a lot of experience already.
What many don’t know (or maybe forced themselves to forget) is that theStranger Thingsstar had a lead role in one of the worst YA movie adaptations of all time. The fantasy movie from 2013,The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, which was directed by Harald Zwart and based on Cassandra Clare’s novel series of the same name, shocked an entire fandom with a terrible 13% Rotten Tomatoes score. Without further ado, let’s take a look at whyThe Mortal Instrumentswas so bad, and how Jamie Campbell Bower couldn’t save it.
‘The Mortal Instruments’ Movie Was Doomed from the Beginning
Turning globally loved YA fantasy novels into a movie is an equally exciting but also nerve-wracking process, because an entire fandom has formed a close connection to the story’s world and characters. News of the movie adaptation of Cassandra Clare’sThe Mortal Instrumentsnovels was received with both joy and nervousness.When the movie finally premiered in 2013, though, expectations were crushed, trust was broken, and hope was lost.The Mortal Instrumentsfailed on many fronts, and there was no coming back from it. The franchise was canceled, and it wasn’t a surprise, considering that it was called one of the worst YA movies ever made.
One of the main issues was world-building itself. Lovers of the novel series got the chance to fully dive into the world of Clary and the other young shadowhunters. This allowed them to understand the existence of demons and all the other creatures everyone knows from mystical stories more profoundly. Seeing that the books and themovie feature supernatural creatureslike demons, shadowhunters, werewolves, faeries, warlocks, vampires, and the Downworld in general, it can easily cause some confusion. It is essential to carefully build a world to let viewers immerse themselves in it. Unfortunately,The Mortal Instrumentsrushed through valuable moments and skipped over opportunities to paint a better picture of the fantasy world. On top of this, the CGI was almost as painful to watch as the lack of chemistry between the cast.
Manybook-to-movie adaptations that were doomed to failleft out striking moments in the plot or massively changed specific events.The Mortal Instrumentschanged one of the most intense parts of the books, and fans were not happy about it. In the first book, it is revealed that Clary and Jace, who were each other’s love interest from the beginning, are siblings. Readers were left in the belief that the two truly are siblings and went through the discomfort of witnessing the undeniable attraction between the two main characters until the end of the third book.
The movie took a different approach, as it revealed to the audience that Clary’s father, Valentine, had only tricked them, and they would eventually find out about it.It took away from the suspense, the uncertainty, and the thrill for the readers and non-readers. The lack of detailed world-building, terrible pacing, bad CGI, missing chemistry, and changed plot all added to the downfall ofThe Mortal Instruments.
As amazing as Jamie Campbell Bower is as Henry/Vecna inStranger Things, he failed to bring across the main character, Jace, inThe Mortal Instruments. Either Bower had yet to develop proper acting skills, or he simply wasn’t the right choice for the role, becausehis portrayal of Jace Wayland sadly felt pretentious and flat. Avid readers of Cassandra Clare’s novel series undoubtedly had high hopes for the character of Jace, in particular. In the books, the young, thrill-seeking shadowhunter was intriguing and often slightly (or very) arrogant, but he also revealed a deeper, more emotional side, which fans were certainly eager to see in the movie as well. Jace needed depth, and Bower failed to provide it.
Jamie Campbell Bower ticked many boxes when it came to Jace’s appearance. The slim, yet muscular figure, the angelic face, blonde, wavy hair, and delicate features arguably helped him land the role in the (back then) highly anticipated YA movie adaptation. In some ways, the actor also managed to bring across some ethereal elements and the main character’s arrogance, but somehow he didn’t quite hit the mark.
With that said, thefailure of the book-to-movie adaptationisn’t solely Bower’s fault — let’s not forget the ridiculous tidbit added in about Bach being a shadowhunter who hid demon-repelling notes in his music.The Mortal Instrumentswas a failure in many ways, but perhaps it simply wasn’t the right time and the right cast. After all, the 2016 seriesShadowhunterswas received comparatively well, as it had the chance to build the world and characters of the beloved novel series over three seasons.
The Mortal Instruments: City of BonesandShadowhuntersare available to stream onNetflix.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
