Twilight

Having finished the 1st Twilight book by Stephanie Meyer at around midnight on Monday evening, I wanted to see the movie as soon as I could. I'd heard very mixed reviews, some claiming it to be the worst thing ever (mostly my friends that were hard core in love with the book) and some saying it was awesome (mostly my friends that haven't read the book). When literary adaptations come out, its hard not to hold their book up to them and judge them critically. Since the Harry Potter films, I have become better at lowering my expectations so that I am not disappointed in the film based on my favorite book. If you are going to see this film, be sure to go in expecting that it isn't going to be the next Casablanca or Citizen Kane. I went into the theatre just to be entertained, and just to see what the characters I had been reading about would look like in real life.

I'm sure everyone and their cousin is aware about what the Twilight book series is about by now, so I'm not going to dwell on summary this whole time. But for those of you who are out of the loop, girl meets boy, boy's a vampire, you get the rest. Meyer's take on the vampire world is very interesting as it shelves most of the general "vampire rules" and creates its own. For example, a stake, garlic, sunlight, etc. are not effective killers of vampires in this series. Long gone are the days of Buffy when you had to invite a vampire in for them to be able to enter your house. Edward (Robert Pattinson) is able to sneak into Bella's (Kristen Stewart) room without any difficulty.

I was a little nervous that the filmmakers would destroy the characters that I had developed in my head by casting people that were completely wrong in their roles. In most cases, I was pleasantly surprised. Edward and Bella were cast well. Stewart was good in her role that rivals her role in In the Land of Women in its level of teen angst. Now, to analyze the Cullen family... Let's begin with the parent figures. Carlisle (Peter Fasinelli) looked like the creepiest Ken doll that you could ever find, as his face looked like it was made of plastic: rather creepy, actually. For those of you that watch Grey's Anatomy, you'll recognize the woman who plays Esme (Elizabeth Reaser) as the dreadful Grey's character Jane Doe. I didn't like her on that show, and I don't like her in this film, as she is completely inappropriate for Esme. Alice (Ashley Greene) was casted perfectly. She was my favorite Cullen sibling while reading the book, and she is certainly my favorite in the film. Kellen Lutz does a good job at playing Emmet, while Nikki Reed was effective at playing the bitchy sister Rosalie, and finally Jackson Rathbone was actually quite good at expressing Jasper's inner turmoil as he tries to abstain from drinking the blood of every human teenager that he crosses. 

Just like in the book, it takes a while to get to the action in this film. I'm not saying that the first 3/4 of the film is boring, it just focuses on the developing relationship between Bella and Edward. For some of you out there (who haven't read the book) you might want to avoid this film, as much of it is just one angty teen scene after another. Adding more to the awkwardness are the terrible angles and one liners that fill scenes that are supposed to be sensual and romantic. Perhaps the second movie could be better if a new director, one who knows how to set up a scene without making it one ridiculous extreme long shot after another. Personally, however, I enjoyed this movie as much as I could. It's not perfect (but what film is?), but its entertaining. And isn't that all one can ask for when going to the movies?

My Grade: B

Release Date: November 21, 2008

Rating: PG-13 for some violence and a scene of sensuality.

Running Time: 2 hr. 2 min.

Director: Catherine Hardwicke