Roh Reviews:
Shadowhunters by ABC Family Freeform
My rating: ★★.5
WARNING: THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
This show had so much anticipation around it and was hyped up so much during the moment it was announced. I was intrigued because I was sure that they would not be able to destroy the series like the movie did. I was correct in that assumption, at least.
So, backstory time of me with the book series: I’m not a fan. I mean, I was when I read the original trilogy, but then the author decided that she wanted to continue it and the fourth one came out and I was like ??? Then the prequel series came out and I was sort of like okay...this seems very similar but I read all three books. THEN I found out all the controversy surrounding the author herself and I was like: that’s it, I’m done. So, no, I never finished The Mortal Instruments book series (never even tried the fifth and sixth) because I wasn’t in the mood and won’t be in the mood to read The Dark Artifices or the others when they come out.
With all that being said, I wouldn’t completely give up on the first three books that held my attention the first time I read them. Not even after all these years. Which is the sole reason why I watched The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie and only got through it with lots of cringing and laughing (it was like when I watched The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and decided that I wouldn’t watch part 2 because I couldn’t handle it). When I saw that they were making The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes into a movie, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t going to watch it BUT then they cast Sigourney Weaver in the movie and I just had to watch it, if only for her. Lots of things happened (movie didn’t do well), saw the ideas for the sequel go up in smoke, and wasn’t surprised at all when it was no longer going to be made.
Shadowhunters, when announced, made me feel happy that the fandom itself was getting a second chance but sad because I don’t think that the book series was all that good at being translated onto the big screen. These thoughts made me step carefully throughout the production of the show. I didn’t know whether it would do great or not but I was willing to watch it and give it another shot, just for the original trilogy.
So, onto the review itself (I’ve seen the first two episodes):
Oh, god. The first episode left me feeling let down because it was all over the place. Although the second episode was much better, there was no forgetting the mess of the pilot. There was too many plot holes, which I waved away, because hey, it’s the pilot episode but the first twenty minutes of the series was a mess. It was a literal mess. Starting with Jace quite literally running into Clary, then randomly skipping to a few hours before, then skipping to a flashback of Clary and her mother, then skipping to Clary’s memories being taken away by Magnus, and then Pandemonium again. You can see, by my way of explanation, that it was all over the place. It was just...bad. Even before the show officially premiered (because of the trailers and sneak peeks), I knew I wasn’t going to be a big fan of the scripts because it seemed so cheesy and bad. I was correct. More than half the time I spent watching the first two episodes, I was cringing or downright laughing at the stupidity of the dialogue. I was expecting it, though, and was sadly not disappointed. But then I remembered: this is an ABC Family Freeform show, so I shouldn’t have expected anything less, considering all of their other shows. The music choice for the show was bad, too. If I hadn’t already felt like it was going downhill, then the acting itself just killed it for me.
I’d watched all the trailers and sneak peeks for the show when they came out. So, I was already dreading Katherine McNamara’s (Clary Fray) acting because it looked so forced and cringe worthy during the sneak peeks and trailers. What I wasn’t expecting: it was actually a smidge better than Dominic Sherwood’s...who was so two-dimensional...I had high hopes for him and they all fell short. Whether it’s because of his added facial expressions in all of his scenes make him look like he’s trying to hard or because he’s just generally not good, I don’t know. I was expecting so much from Sherwood but was let down.
Jocelyn Fray, the woman who I disliked in the books played by Maxim Roy, was surprisingly better written in the pilot because she actually tried to explain to Clary what was going on and why she did what she did but wasn’t given the chance. Isaiah Mustafa as Luke...I don’t know. There wasn’t much to go on other than he really is properly sticking to the Luke that was portrayed in City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) and I’m glad.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Emeraude Toubia. In all of the trailers and sneak peeks that were shown beforehand, it seemed like she always drew the short straw because she always ended up with the MOST cheesiest lines ever. Like, only ever her. Why? Honestly, though, I watched for the original trilogy but stayed for her, Alberto Rosende, and Matthew Daddario. Toubia’s acting was by far the best in both episodes and I feel that I’ll like Isabelle more than then I did while reading because she’s a proper three-dimensional character. Rosende was another great surprise, with his humour and general adorkableness. I feel like I really will like Simon more than I ever did in the City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) book because he’s not trying to get with Clary so much and because of Rosende himself. Daddario’s acting, though minimal in the first episode, was pretty darn spot on, especially in the second episode, of Alec throughout the original book trilogy. He was sarcastic, unwilling to befriend Clary, and a stickler for rules set forth by the Clave. Toubia, Rosende, and Daddario will definitely steal the show for me, I feel. Mainly because they seem so effortless and the most correct in their roles.
Dorothea Dot was another surprise. Although, I’m glad that we got to see a better friendship between her and Clary, and her and Jocelyn, than we ever did in the books, I honestly don’t know what else to say about her. Vanessa Matsui has potential, definitely, as an actress but I just don’t know... I’m glad that they are developing her as an actual character. Hodge Starkweather was another really big surprise, not because he’s young (he’s supposed to be the same age as Jocelyn, Valentine, and Luke), but because he’s so different. He doesn’t seem to fit the role of ‘mentor’ that was given to him in the books. I honestly am curious to see whether or not they will take the same road as the books and have him to what he did.
I realized I forgot to mention Alan Van Sprang as Valentine Morgenstern. Probably because I was not impressed, so far, by him as the antagonist of the series. I know Van Sprang can act (he was okay in Reign) but maybe it’s because of the scripts or because they brought out Valentine so early in the series, I was left very iffy about him. He wasn’t too horrifying as a character.
I think that fans of the book series will enjoy the many Easter eggs that were planted throughout the first two episodes, and the series itself.
Overall, though, the first two episodes of Shadowhunters seemed to be throwing so much at the audience and expecting the audience to pick it up quickly without proper explanations. It’s a pain (I know because my sister and I had to keep pausing the show to explain things to my brother who had never read the books). I get that it’s the first season, and only the first two episodes, which is why I won’t judge to harshly but come on creators. Some of the people viewing the show haven’t read the books and have generally no idea what is going on...so please, explain better and ease the audience into the world of Shadowhunters instead of dragging them in by there feet and expecting them to get a hang of things.
I will definitely watch the first season of the show but I don’t know whether I’ll continue after if it catches up with City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3) because I’m not interested in the story after that book.