Was this going to be any good? Will the series be any better that the flunk of a movie that came out a few years ago? Well...I'm going to jump straight to the point.. it was not as fantastic as I may have wished... but there is definitely hope!
Synopsis:
On her birthday, Clary Fray discovers a surprise concerning her life. The teenager is not who she thinks she is -- she comes from a long line of human-angel hybrids, called Shadowhunters, who hunt demons. After her mother is kidnapped, Clary is thrust into the world of demon-hunting. Clary relies on mysterious Jace and fellow hunters Isabelle and Alec to help her navigate the dark world. While living in this new world among creatures like vampires and werewolves, Clary's best friend Simon helps her uncover answers that could help her find her mother. The fantasy show is based on a series of young adult books by Cassandra Clare.
On her birthday, Clary Fray discovers a surprise concerning her life. The teenager is not who she thinks she is -- she comes from a long line of human-angel hybrids, called Shadowhunters, who hunt demons. After her mother is kidnapped, Clary is thrust into the world of demon-hunting. Clary relies on mysterious Jace and fellow hunters Isabelle and Alec to help her navigate the dark world. While living in this new world among creatures like vampires and werewolves, Clary's best friend Simon helps her uncover answers that could help her find her mother. The fantasy show is based on a series of young adult books by Cassandra Clare.
My rating so far:
My Review:
There I was, sitting on my comfy couch, open minded and completely anticipating the pilot episode of the Shadowhunters. I have seen the promos and previews before I watched the pilot, so I knew somewhat what to expect. *Pressed play*
There I was, sitting on my comfy couch, open minded and completely anticipating the pilot episode of the Shadowhunters. I have seen the promos and previews before I watched the pilot, so I knew somewhat what to expect. *Pressed play*
The first episode cuts immediately to the chase where we get to know Clary Fray as a 'normal' young teenager with hardly any structual information about her past nor her father. She lives alone with her mother with the occasional warm visits of a close family friend named Luke and her best friend Simon.
Things move fast and already on her 16th birthday Clary receives a Steele from her mother. A steele is something which demon hunters use to draw symbols on their bodies or objects in order to produce or extract certain powers or abilities. Clary is not familiar with this tool and is in fact completely unfamiliar to the Shadowhunter world, a role which she is destined to take on, and was primarily hidden from her for unknown reasons by her mother. The viewer, alongside with Clary, is already quickly introduced and plunged into this crazy world of demons, vampires and other fantastical creatures. Of course there were some tweaks and changes made when relating the episode to the book, but I guess some of these were necessary in order to jump start the season with a bang, straight into the action.
I think the directors did a not too shabby job creating the cast. What didn't pass me was that all the actors seemed all ridiculously perfect (body wise) and it almost gave me this feeling as if I was watching a competition of "who is hotter than the other". It took me two episodes (there are currently three in total) to really get used to Clary's character, and I still sometimes have difficulty comprehending why Katherine McNamara was casted for this role. Katherine McNamara is extremely tall and thin, looks older than the average 18 year old, and you can tell from ten thousands miles away that her red hair is fake fake fake (did they decide to dye her hair an hour before shooting the pilot or something??). I guess I personally viewed Clary in a different way when reading the book and that it just takes a little more time to warm up to her...
The two characters which I thought really hit the target was Simon and Isabelle. I always LOVED these two characters in the books and I think they did a pretty good job bringing them forth as the reader knows them from the books. Isabelle is known to be such a spunky, sarcastic, sexy and confident character. Her presence is always so strong in the books and I think they made a great decision casting Emerald Toubia to play her in the series!
Jace, Alec and Magnus aren't too bad either. I think they really hit the nail on the head with Alec, he's supposed to be this hunky, pissed off looking character (for good reasons, trust me) and I think they couldn't have found anyone better (hubba hubba!!). >>
The acting was in the beginning slightly crummy and cheesy. If I need to compare this with the acting level in the movie, I would definitely say that the actors in the movie performed slightly better. Now slowly moving on to the third and forth episode, their acting skills seem to settle in more and I can see they are definitely starting to feel more confident in their character.
One thing which I actually love and appreciate from the tv show is that they try to stay as true to the books as possible (so far), and I even notice they took over some quotes!
SO, if you enjoyed reading the series then I would definitely recommend watching the Tv show. It did not ruin my opinion on the books whatsoever, so what do you got to lose :)
Have you seen the first three episodes already? If so, let me know what you think! And if not, let me know what's holding you back :)
Happy Saturday everyone!
