WORST:
1. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (RIP-OFF)
The most (read: only) interesting part of this YA adaptation is how strikingly sticky-fingered and shoddily cobbled together it is. I had the displeasure of reviewing The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones back in August, and I fully regret those one and a half stars I gave it back then. There’s not an ounce of originality in the whole affair.
The franchise most obviously ripped off by the film is the Harry Potter series. Like Harry, protagonist Clary (Lily Collins) realizes that she has magical abilities one day and is promptly shipped off to an invisible castle populated by others of her kind. In this world, regular humans are called Mundanes, which is definitely not the same as Muggles (but totally is), and Clary casts magical runes, which are definitely not spells (but they totally are).
The love triangle from Twilight is also lifted, though less compellingly, but that’s not surprising, considering the books by Cassandra Clare that the film is based on were originally Twilight fan-fiction. From that series, the film steals vampires, werewolves and blatant misogyny. Meanwhile, twists in the final act steal from both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi for no discernible reason but do so with such mind-numbing stupidity that Clare must have been blushing in her seat. Finally, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones lifts scenes, characters and ideas from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X-Men, Ghostbusters and even Stargate.
It’s not just the worst rip-off of the year – sheer plagiarism and complete unwatchability make a serious case for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones as the worst rip-off of the century.
