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Twilight

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The Twilight Saga: Twilight

Buzz says:   MPAA Rating: PG-13
Current Showtimes: No showtimes available

Twilight is the first of four books that are hugely popular amongst teenage girls. The movie adaptation has been highly anticipated and is expected to be a box office smash. Thousands of girls all over the country flocked to the midnight showing, and I was one of them. So, did it live up to the hype? Let’s just say it was the funniest movie I’ve seen in a long time.

The movie is, for the most part, faithful to the book. For those who don’t know, Twilight is the story of the romance between sexy vampire Edward Cullen and klutzy human Bella Swan. The story is mostly the same, with some changes and omissions to save time. For the most part these are fine, but I do miss finding out about Carlisle’s past, and there is no mention of the fact that Alice can’t remember anything from her human life. These problems are easily overlooked, though, when considering the other serious problems with the movie.

It’s never a good sign when the entire theater is laughing hysterically at a movie’s most serious moments. In the book, the scene where Edward reveals himself in the clearing is an important part in the development of their relationship. Now, it’s a hilarious montage of Robert Pattinson grimacing and jumping around in trees. Edward’s sparkling is barely noticeable and accompanied by ridiculous sound effects. The rest of the special effects are terrible, too. What is supposed to be super speed and grace just ends up looking comical. The hair and makeup are also ridiculous. They didn’t even try to disguise Taylor Lautner’s wig, which is a different color from his real hair.

Ignoring the obvious technical problems, I’m not quite sure where this movie goes wrong. Male vampires apparently show their concern by looking constipated, but other than this, the acting wasn’t bad. Robert Pattinson makes a good Edward, and there are several scenes where he’s positively drool-worthy. The chemistry between him and Kristen Stewart is good, but something still seems off in their relationship. The story seems too sped up. The audience doesn’t get to see Bella and Edward really talking to each other and getting to know each other. They fall in love abruptly, and Edward comes off as a big creeper. I think Catherine Hardwicke’s direction is to blame for the abundance of moony-eyed looks in place of actual interaction between the two characters. In the end, though, the movie fails because Twilight doesn’t have a story that translates well to film. The writing was never good, but when it’s onscreen, it becomes more obvious how terrible lines like, “So the lion fell in love with the lamb” really are.

Fans of the book will enjoy the movie as long as they don’t expect much. Anyone who goes to see it should go in expecting to laugh a lot at the most inappropriate times. It’s enjoyable because it’s funny in a way that keeps you laughing the next day, but I can’t say that I would recommend the movie.