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Jan052008

Movie Review: Twilight

Posted by Jessica in Book Movies

You may have heard about Twilight’s failures. It’s true, the shaky visual effects, caused by a low budget, and the outpouring of high school angst, coupled with one too many cheesy lines, can be downright annoying, even to book lovers. But get past the oh-so-obvious wigs on several key characters and the “You are my life now” lines, and you might enjoy Twilight’s unique vampires, talented lead actors, and amazingly awkward (and therefore real) and endearing young romance.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should probably admit that I have read all four books in the Twilight  saga, and I am a fan. I am not an adolescent girl, and while I have found myself feeling a little overwhelmed by the sometimes over-the-top “high schoolness” of the series, I have managed to enjoy it as a twenty-something, despite its drawbacks. I went into the movie in fear, wondering if everything I had pictured in my head while reading the books would be destroyed.

Fortunately, I left the theater feeling satisfied. The uniqueness of Meyer’s vampires, who are not harmed by sunlight, never sleep (much less in coffins), and can live off animal blood, gives the story a new and separate life from what we’ve traditionally come to expect from vampire-human love stories. I certainly wish the movie would have explored the Cullen vampire family a bit more, but with time limits as they are, brief introductions sufficed enough to keep the story moving. Nonetheless, book lovers may join me in missing, for example, the explanation and discussion of Jasper’s special gift.

For me, perhaps the most impressive part of the movie stems from the performances of Robert Pattinson, also known as vampire loverboy Edward Cullen, and Kristen Stewart, the vulnerable new girl in town Bella Swan. Before seeing the movie, I’d had my doubts about both Pattinson and Stewart, but I must stand corrected—their performances embodied the spirit of the book’s main characters in a moving way.

I had seen and appreciated Pattinson in Harry Potter, which I think only made me question even more whether or not he could pull off the Edward that was so meticulously described in Twilight. But he most certainly delivered, giving the audience a near perfect balance of painful struggle and smooth chivalry. Pattinson has some especially stellar moments; specifically, I’m thinking of the scenes where Edward first speaks to Bella in Biology and the brief dialogue they have in the greenhouse. It is in these moments where the Edward of the book—who is experiencing so many emotions at once that he might as well be human—truly emerges.

I hadn’t seen Stewart in anything before, other than a brief, unimpressive stint on The Today Show, so I was scared about her interpretation of the beloved (and often times, terribly stupid and naïve) Bella. But her performance was spot on. The subtle awkwardness and understated nature she brought to Bella was exactly what I envisioned in the book (which may mean it left non-book lovers with giant question marks over their heads). For me, her shining moment (though she performed well throughout the film) came quite close to the end. Edward tells Bella, as she lay in a hospital bed recovering from the fight scene, that she must leave Forks and him to achieve a better, safer life. The emotional, choppy half-breakdown that Stewart performs here is utterly real and moving.

Together, these singularly strong performances lead to a chemistry between Pattinson and Stewart that I didn’t expect. The film excels at moments when they’re together and lags in moments when they’re apart—though I must admit that a few of the quick exchanges between Bella and her father were quite funny.

You can be sure I’ll be in line to see the sequel (New Moon) when it comes out, but I’ll probably be wearing my concerned face. Although I was most pleasantly surprised with Twilight (despite missing the several characters that were forced to remain on the periphery in this film, particularly Alice Cullen), the next three films pose enormous challenges that may stretch a low budget even further. Perhaps they’ll put some of the money made by Twilight back into the next three films so that we don’t have to discuss the visual effects failures in the next review.

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