twilight movie review

ok, let me preface this whole post by saying, or reiterating rather, that I am a super huge Twilight fangirl. I loved the books (though some, like the first few, more than the others). I’ve been anticipating the movie for months and if you’ve seen my daily Delicious links, it’s pretty safe to say that it has been All Twilight All the Time over here at mub.net. So, now that the disclaimer is out of the way…

Would you like the short story, or the long story?

Short story: I love, love, loved the movie.

Long story (and it’s REALLY long): is under the cut. Alert, alert! Heavy spoilers coming! You have been warned!

So, M and I got in line for the 7:30 show last night around 6:15. There was another show at 7, and we thought that the people in line were waiting for that show. Turned out that the 7 o’clock people had already been seated. So we stood in line for 45 minutes till they let us be seated at 7. My feet hurt by the time we sat down, but we were pretty close to the front of the line, so we were able to get really good seats.

I was a bit apprehensive about all the fangirls. Seriously, it was probably 90% teenage girls, with the other 10% comprised of their moms and “older” people such as myself and M (read: people of legal age, haha). The theater was SO noisy before the previews came on–I kept thinking, I am never going to another evening show like this on opening day again! I hope they aren’t going to be noisy and talking during the whole movie…oh no.

So the previews passed, and when the Summit logo came on screen, we all knew IT WAS TIME. Some of the girls clapped and/or squealed, and I have to admit, I felt all excited inside, like a kid on Christmas morning. It was really bizarre. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to see a movie before, not in recent time and maybe ever.

Sidenote: I read the leaked copy of the script months ago, so I knew what most of the scenes were going to be like; however, they changed a lot since that revision of the script, thank goodness.

The first scene got the film off to a good start. We see Bella (Kristen Stewart) combined with voiceover, which allows us into her head like the book, which is narrated entirely from her perspective. Parts from the book, that would normally take several pages or even a whole chapter to describe (like the exposition), are nicely condensed in just a few minutes of the film. Let’s face it, at times Stephenie Meyer’s prose is just long-winded and in need of being put on the chopping block. I had been worried, with the medium of film and the time limit of 2 hours, that we wouldn’t get the same “feel” for the characters and story that we do from the book.

I was very pleasantly surprised.

Bella and Charlie’s relationship is really intriguing to watch. There is obvious tension and awkwardness in the book, but on screen it’s really apparent how disconnected they feel from each other when Bella initially moves to Forks. (Sidenote: Stephenie Meyer has a cameo in one of the early scenes with Bella & Charlie at the diner. Cute.) Over the course of the film, their interactions become more comfortable, and one of my favorite scenes of theirs was in the police station when Bella comforts Charlie following a death (that subplot is a means to an end which brings us to the nomad vampires).

oh yes, vampires, right! So the Cullens are introduced pretty early on in the movie, and I liked how their appearance wasn’t overly dramatic. For example, in the revision of the script I had read, it said that the Cullens walked into the cafeteria, in slow motion–I had envisioned this as a set of swinging doors opening and the whole group of them whooshing right in, like…really uber dramatic and cheesy. But that’s not how it happened. Each couple walks in first, while Jessica describes them to Bella. First Rosalie & Emmett, then Alice & Jasper, and finally Edward.

oh yes. Edward.

The fangirls literally squealed when Rob Pattinson walked onscreen, no lie. It was so funny! I thought I would be irritated by it, but it was actually kind of cute and I was glad I wasn’t alone in my giddiness.

From there, the story progressed pretty quickly to the infamous Biology lab scene. This scene played out differently than I read it in the book. When Edward catches Bella’s scent for the first time, he literally looks sick and ready to throw up or something, and it comes across as funny. I’m not sure if Rob meant for it to be funny, but the look on his face is just comical. Also, when Bella reaches over and sniffs her hair, trying to see if she stinks or something, that just pushed it over the top and I cracked up. It’s weird because in the book, the description of Edward’s reaction is so tense and angry, his eyes black with fury, that he strikes fear in Bella. In the movie, it was less like, “He looks like he wants to kill me” and more like, “What is his problem? Why is he reacting that way to me?”

I am SO glad that the pages and pages of “Edward disappeared from school for a week, I looked toward the Cullens’ table every day at lunch, only to see his chair empty, woe woe desperation woe” was reduced significantly in the film. We get the sense that Bella is confused, that she wants to confront him, but is saddened by his sudden disappearance. It’s just not “woe woe woe” like it is in the book. So when Edward does show up in Bio lab again, the story feels much faster-paced but I didn’t feel like much was being sacrificed in the adaptation. I liked how the film is more quickly paced.

Random sidenote: the film uses a lot of close-ups, and when we see close-ups of Edward’s (formerly black, now golden) eyes in Bio lab, I could totally see the outline of his contacts. I’ve worn contacts for years so it was obvious to me, slightly distracting but not overly so. The golden color looks kind of artificial (because it is, of course), but mainly during the extreme close-ups.

I have to say, I love the chemistry between Rob and Kristen. I knew it was going to be good, judging from the trailers and clips I’d seen online. They just click. Their back-and-forth banter during the mitosis scene is great, and exactly captured the spirit of that scene from the book. When they’re walking down the hall after that scene and Bella asks Edward about his eyes changing color, and he says, “It’s just the fluorescents,” and he walks down the hall…I found myself watching him just walking away; it was kind of fascinating. He walks down the hall, kind of hunched over, self-conscious and insecure–not the suave, debonair Edward from Twilight the book (Bella’s perspective)–he’s more the self-loathing, tortured Edward from Midnight Sun (Edward’s perspective). His walking away from her is a retreat, because he sees himself as a monster, a freak. He knows that Bella is starting to catch onto him, and he runs away because he is afraid. Pretty different from the “glorious/god-like/perfect Adonis” description of him from Bella’s perspective.

After that is the pivotal “Edward saves Bella from the van of doom” scene, which has been slightly overplayed in the trailers, but is still awesome.

I really love how Rob played Edward. I’ve read many of the critics’ reviews, and some of the comments are that he overacts, that he’s cheesy or campy. I disagree. He’s supposed to be tense all the time, because Edward is constantly resisting the urge to kill Bella and drink her blood. He’s supposed to look tortured around her, because he is.

Which brings me to Kristen’s interpretation of Bella. I think she did a really good job–Bella is such a tough character to play, not necessarily because the character is so complex, but because so many fans are emotionally invested in her as a character. Readers project themselves onto Bella, so there was no way to please all the fans with her performance. I’m bummed that so many fans are anti-Kristen, because I think she is a good actor. I don’t find her wooden at all; I think she is subtle in all the right places and emotional in others (like when she leaves Charlie’s house prior to the confrontation with James). I think Kristen had a huge challenge because of the fan reaction to her casting. So did Rob, but over time the majority of the fans grew to love (and I mean love love LOVE) him as Edward. I wish that people would pay more attention to Kristen’s performance and not write off her subtlety as bad acting, because that’s not what it is.

In the progression of the film, Bella & Edward have “light” moments, brief humor–and I loved those parts. At times the story (both in the book and film) is SO intense, but those lighter moments are a relief.

Also, many of the comic moments come from the supporting characters–Jessica is snooty but not overly so, Angela is cute, Mike is the little puppy that he is in the book, and Eric and Tyler are pretty hilarious.

Speaking of supporting characters, that brings me to Jacob (Taylor Lautner). Now, I was extremely skeptical of his playing Jacob. I just felt that he didn’t have the right look and I didn’t know how he would come across onscreen. I was surprised! Taylor has good chemistry with Kristen–though not as good as Rob’s, ahem go Team Edward –and I can’t wait to see that developed in New Moon. I think it’s going to be really fascinating to see the progression of Bella & Jacob’s relationship in the film sequel. I had been so skeptical of Taylor’s being cast as Jacob, but he played the part well. Also, as someone who has never been on Team Jacob, I think seeing that story played onscreen will give me insight into their relationship that I didn’t really connect with from just reading the books.

Back to Bella & Edward, though–I probably don’t need to say that the Port Angeles scene was fantastic. I felt that sense of panic when the four guys corner Bella and circle her, and then out of nowhere comes Edward’s Volvo…it was pure win! Then the subsequent scene in the car, and the restaurant scene–their exchanges were exciting to watch.

Something I read online prior to seeing the film, was that Rob’s song “Never Think” plays during the restaurant scene. I thought this would be distracting–hearing the actor speaking whilst simultaneously hearing him singing–but it wasn’t overpowering. It seemed like a nice fit, a good place to put his song.

The forest scene (shown extensively in trailers), the “I know what you are” scene, was almost perfect. The thing that distracted me and disappointed me the most? The meadow “reveal” scene, unfortunately.

Here’s the thing: yesterday morning I had read online that someone had posted the reveal scene on Youtube, complete with sparkling Edward! But I resisted valiantly and didn’t watch it! I really wanted to be surprised–so when I saw Edward sparkle for the first time in the theater, I was rather disappointed. In the book, he is described as sparkling like diamonds–and I imagined it as sunlight hitting the facets of a diamond, shooting sparkles and color in every direction. I know, I know–the whole concept of the Great Vampire Sunlight Sparkle is kind of ridiculous and there was basically no way to pull it off successfully. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be–various reviews had described it as “sweating profusely,” “human disco ball,” and “excessive glitter lotion,” but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It did seem kind of cheesy, though, and was disappointing.

Something else I didn’t like? Basically all the special effects. The vampires’ super speed looked cheesy, like TV show special effects (read: low budget). I understand that the film was made on a lower budget by Hollywood standards, but the speed and not-quite-Spiderman-esque tree climbing weren’t my favorite moments from the film.

That being said, there is one moment when Edward takes Bella way up in a tree (following the infamous “You’d better hold on tight, spidermonkey” comment–which some fans hate since it’s not in the book, but I didn’t mind), when she says, “This isn’t real…this kind of stuff just doesn’t exist,” to which he replies, “It does in my world.” We then see various shots of them climbing the tree, looking out at the view, talking…and the camera pans out wide, and we see them become tiny spots in the treetop. That was a beautiful shot.

ok, so–I’m skipping over slight things, like Bella’s introduction to the Cullens and the vampire baseball scene–which were fine but completely overshadowed in my mind by the EPIC KISSING SCENE. haha. So I know that the original version was shot differently–a wide shot of the two of them on Bella’s bed, which Stephenie Meyer considered too racy for her taste, so Catherine Hardwicke (the director) cut it to close-ups. ok…fine. That being said, the kissing scene was so good, our theater practically combusted, LOL. No really–there is such a buildup to the kiss in that scene, from Edward’s “Be very still…don’t move…don’t move!” to the actual kiss itself. (See previous comments about Rob & Kristen’s chemistry.)

It was kind of a buzzkill when the bad vampires showed up, but the film continued to move at a fast pace. The epic ballet studio fight scene was pretty good–when James breaks Bella’s leg and Edward swoops in and tackles him, I may have yelled, “Kick his ass, Edward!!” um…yeah. lol

The part of the scene that was most intense, for me, is when Edward has to suck out the venom from Bella’s arm. That was REALLY intense. More so than I expected. The look on Edward’s face is…crazed?…and spot on. During that scene, there is a montage of flashbacks, while Bella is basically dying…but then Edward pulls her back from the brink, and Bella’s voiceover is perfect: “Death is easy…peaceful. Life…is harder.” And then she wakes up in the hospital. That part was fantastic.

Sidenote: Rob’s song “Let Me Sign” is played during the venom sucking (that sounds really odd, but you get the picture) and it seemed an appropriate place for the song.

Bella’s reaction in the hospital after the confrontation with James is amazing. She basically freaks out when Edward hints at the idea that she would be safer without him in her life. At that moment, she is Bella from New Moon, and I could already see the seeds of her downward spiral being planted at that moment.

It was a brief shift, then to the scene before they go to prom. The tension between Edward & Charlie was all win. And then the scene with the three of them, when Bella walks downstairs in her prom dress (and walking cast!) was so perfect.

The prom scenes were, for lack of a better word, rather magical. I love, love, loved hearing Iron & Wine playing while they danced under the gazebo, though it was a little too convenient how the other couples just happened to leave as the song and scene went on, leaving Bella & Edward alone. The moment when Edward tips Bella back, as if to bite her neck but really to kiss her gently, was rather beautiful.

Also, there is an awesome staredown between Edward & Jacob toward the end of the movie, during the prom scene–it was like a showdown, haha! Loved it!

The film is absolutely being set up for New Moon. The interaction toward the end between Edward & Jacob is foreshadowing the rivalry that we’ll see for the rest of the series. Also, we get a hint of Edward’s growing possessiveness over Bella. When Edward sees Bella & Jacob talking at prom, he steps in and ushers her away, saying, “I leave you alone for two minutes, and the wolves descend.” Comical in a way, but I definitely got a sense of that overly protective, possessive Edward we really see in later books. It was an odd mix of endearing mixed with creepy.

Something I thought was really poignant was the fan reaction before, during, and following the film–but mainly during. Whenever Edward spoke one of the key lines from the book–”You are my life now,” “So the lion fell in love with the lamb,” and even just, “Hello…my name is Edward Cullen,” the fans (myself included!) had this palpable reaction, this cross between excitement and just plain silliness. But beyond that, there was the reaction whenever Bella & Edward had the slightest physical contact–the kisses, to be sure–but the more subtle things, like his arm around her the day they “go public” at school, the moment in the forest when he sort of pins her against a boulder (it’s very slight), and other subtleties like that. I guess it was just amazing to me that, in an age of so much oversexualization, that teenagers swoon over the touch of a hand, a gaze, a kiss.

I think that’s part of why the books, and now the film, have so much appeal–there is a type of innocence, a pureness to this kind of love, that people crave because it is so rarely seen. That’s not to say that Bella & Edward’s relationship doesn’t progress and become more intense, even more physical–but the buildup, the sexual tension, really is electric. And sort of rare and paradoxically, kind of pure at the same time. Their love is so many different things, but it’s really–in its concentrated form–pure and true.

I will say, though, that I really believe that the film was made first for the fans of the books. I don’t think that most people who haven’t read the books, and don’t love the books, will enjoy the film. M enjoyed it, but then he already knew the basic story since I had told him about it. I think that, if I hadn’t known the books already, parts of the film would have confused me, not connected. That being said, I can understand why so many critics dislike the film. But regardless of that, I think the majority of fans will enjoy it. I’m sure there will be people who hate it on a Breaking Dawn level, but I think for the most part the fan response will be positive. I THINK. lol

So, in summary…I really loved the film and thought it did justice to the book. I thought it trimmed excess where necessary, added some much-needed elements like more humor, and truly captured the essence of the book, the best things about the Bella & Edward story. I cannot wait for the sequels, but in the meantime, I plan to go back to the theater and see Twilight at least one more time–possibly more!

oh man…and now it is occurring to me that I sound like such a Twi-hard, haha. I think I’ve come to take these books, and now the film, so seriously, when the books were originally described to me as “mental popcorn”–so um, yeah, apparently the intensity of the story has made ME all intense. Great.