Our fine, fanged friends are finally on the big screen, bringing with them overwhelming excitement.
Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is the new girl in town. After moving from Phoenix to Forks, Washington, her adaption to her new life includes a new school, new friends, and a dramatic change in weather. In school, everyone seems friendly, except Edward Cullen (Robert Patterson). At first cool and unresponsive, Edward suddenly takes an interest in Bella. As she begins to know him, she realizes that he possesses certain peculiar qualities that can only be explained in one way: he is a vampire. As a romance sparks between them, Bella begins to learn about Edward’s life.
The book? Great. The characters? Well developed. The literary Edward? A dreamy vampire. The movie? Terrible. The character development? Non-existent. The televised Edward? An average looking, overly-forceful vampire.
The expectations were high. Millions of fans had been long awaiting what they expected to be a great recreation of one of their favorite books. They were sorely disappointed. Fans who had read the book had their own perception of the characters, and with four books of the characters, they had plenty of time to form their opinions.
As it turns out, those characters that fans had the greatest expectations of did not even come close to meeting them, while some secondary characters turned out much more entertaining than we expected. Point in case: Edward. While we all knew he wasn’t the warmest guy (literally and figuratively), he maintained the same level of high, uninviting intensity throughout the entire movie. Viewers didn’t immediately fall in love with Edward as they were supposed to.
The other main character, Bella, also did not make as great an impression on us. Her character development was non-existent, and she showed very emotion. Kristen Stewart’s acting was nothing spectacular and left readers bored with her monotone personality.
On the other hand, such characters as Charlie, Bella’s dad, and James, the evil vampire, were much more likeable in their televised versions. Charlie was not with a sense of humor in the books. In the movie, his subtle jokes added a hint of humor, especially with his insistency that Bella always have a can of pepper spray with her.
James played the part of vicious vampire with much more conviction than any other actor had in portraying their characters. I enjoyed his sniff as he caught a whiff of human scent. While certainly not a prominent character, viewers all remember his excellent acting.
The vampires in general did not fit the description Stephanie Meyers provided. None of them seemed as inhuman (in the sense of being noticeably different) as described in the book, nor were their personalities as developed as Meyers intended. Readers were drawn into the lives of vampires, but viewers were left unfulfilled by the impersonal vampires they saw on screen.
The script was poorly written, and made many important scenes awkward. The scene where Bella’s suspicions of Edward’s true identity were confirmed was one of the worst in the movie. Rather than a moment of understanding between the two of them as the book describes, the scene seems forceful, as Edward demands she say what he is, and then forcefully tells her about his life. Edward has much less of the gentle grace we associate with him, and seems more like a violent killer, which he proclaims to be over and over again.
Even the special effects did not attract fans. The unique abilities given to the vampires could only be described as corny. Also, the camera seems to switch from one odd angle to the next. While switching the view is ok, the camera doesn’t need to constantly circle the characters.
Twilight grossed over $69 million on the day of its release. Herds of screaming fans waited in line, having bought their ticket weeks in advance, to see the opening of Twilight on Friday at midnight. Many experienced a letdown . We probably should have expected it. Movies based off well-loved books rarely meet our expectations. And yet, though we know we are going to be disappointed, fans, myself included, cannot resist seeing these films, and will see as many sequels as the producers can make. It looks like Twilight is no different.
Rating: 2/4
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