Twilight (2008) Movie Review

I saw Twilight twice over the weekend, each time with a person who hadn't read the book(s), and can happily report that, despite the film's sometimes glaring flaws, we all enjoyed it.

THE PLUSES:

-The casting was 50% spot-on, with Kristen Stewart as Bella, Billy Burke as Charlie, Kellan Lutz as Emmet Cullen and Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen all very well-cast, image-wise. The trio of "bad" vampires are adequate too. As a fan of the book series, I had serious doubts about Robert Pattinson as Edward before the film was released, but I was very happy to be proven wrong -- as the heart of the film, Robert does a remarkable job portraying Edward's pain and self-loathing, as well as his passion and yearning for Bella Swan.

- The chemistry between the leads is vivid and palpable, which is a good thing, since the whole premise of the story is based on the undeniable, irresistible chemistry between two star-crossed would-be lovers.

- The soundtrack is excellent, with the music definitely adding rather than taking anything away from the action in the film.

- The film is visually appealing with its scenery and mostly interestingly shot. The extreme close-ups make for a very intimate feel, especially between the leads.

THE MINUSES:

- The casting was 50% spot-on. Which means that half of it wasn't, unfortunately. I found most of the high-school circle of friends to be seriously miscast and lightweight. And the other Cullens are truly distracting in their failure to live up to their descriptions in the book. Nikki Reed as Rosalie Hale looks a bit too robust to be a vampire and is not at all believable as the startlingly stunning creature who could render all males (except Edward) helpless with her beauty, sorry to say. Peter Facinelli's white make-up makes him look like one of those white-powdered, foppish English gentlemen from a period flick. And Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Hale isn't quite sturdy enough to portray a one-time Civil War soldier/killer. The closest he gets to gravitas is looking as though his contacts hurt. Taylor Lautner is all right as Jacob, though I'm wondering how he's going to beef up enough to play the later Jacob when New Moon comes to pass.

- The special effects were...well, pretty awful. The supposedly superfast moving and running, the leaping to trees, the sparkling skin in the sunlight, etc. were all sub-par, though the climactic fight scene was a bit better and the vampire baseball game kind of fun. But it helps to remember that the director was working with a very low budget, which couldn't have been easy when special effects were needed to work well.

- The makeup. Oh...the makeup. With all the closeups, seeing Robert Pattinson's red lipstick and dark eyeliner (not to mention his contact lenses!) and Kristen Stewart's blue shadow above and beneath the eye was, again, distracting. The close-ups do help to produce a feeling of intimacy, but if care isn't taken, that intimate feel can be destroyed by a lack of attention to detail.

- Much was left out of the film when it came to exposition and characterization. Some of that is due to time constraints, but a few scenes could have been added to make the relationships and motivations a bit clearer. The Cullens themselves are a mystery, as is Bella's strained relationship with her dad.

Overall, despite the flaws, I thought the movie was entertaining, fun, touching, and thanks to its two leads, very watchable. It's a pure-and-simple popcorn movie, and as long as you don't take it too seriously, or expect too much, you can spend an enjoyable two hours immersing yourself in the love life of a teenager and her "vegetarian" vampire.