Twilight reviewed
So I’m a tad on the late side with this review, seeing as I only watched Twilight a week before sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon hit cinemas. However, as there may be latecomers to the party out there, or people just curious about the fantasy-romance phenomenon that has sucked in millions of girls and women the world over, I thought I would write up a review anyway.
Based on the first of author Stephenie Meyer’s bestsellers, Twilight centres on teenager Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) who goes to live with her father after her mother remarries. This involves moving from Phoenix, Arizona to the wet and gloomy town of Forks in Washington State, where shy loner Bella is suddenly the centre of attention. While several high school boys compete for her affection, Bella surprisingly finds a kindred spirit in the form of classmate Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) – who just so happens to be hunky, brooding, and a vampire.
Although Twilight is far from good, I actually found the film to be superior to the book in several important aspects. For one thing, the viewer doesn’t have to contend with Stephenie Meyer’s stylistically awful prose. For another, the film makes it far more obvious why Bella would gravitate towards Edward as opposed to the other boys at her school. His behaviour stands in stark contrast to their juvenile shenanigans and general immaturity. And finally, although they are nowhere near the vampires of True Blood, Twilight’s trio of villainous blood drinkers are considerably more menacing, and have considerably more attitude, than their literary counterparts.
Although Twilight haters are more likely to pick up on this point than fans, the film adaptation really accentuates how far Bella and Edward’s relationship is removed from reality, especially when compared to its handling in the book. What little eroticism there was on the page – for example, Bella stroking Edward’s exposed, sparkling body – has been stripped away in the movie, making the couple’s relationship appear even more chaste.
This in turn transforms Edward into the ultimate fantasy lover for women: a man who is powerful and potentially dangerous, but is still also in complete control of his appetites. He loves Bella for who she is, as opposed to lusting after her body, and is content to sit for hours just watching her or listening to her talk about herself. He is even the one who pulls away from their first passionate kiss; not Bella. It’s all incredibly delusional, and depending on how easily you succumb to the fantasy, you with either find yourself swooning or snickering at the events onscreen. Either way, Twilight’s depiction of love is enjoyable for the viewer – be they a romantically naive 11 year old, or a cynical adult whose heart has been kicked around the block a few times.
In terms of performances, Kristen Stewart’s Bella is fortunately far less annoying than Bella in the book. Robert Pattinson meanwhile isn’t as stunningly handsome as his character is supposed to be, but he’s otherwise fine in the film’s first half. However, once Edward reveals his true nature to Bella, Pattinson is forced to deliver some truly cheesy lines, and the audience is subjected to several sequences of the vampire piggy-backing his human girlfriend around the forest at shoddily depicted superspeed.
Much like the book, the Twilight film collapses in its final third. Once the cringe-worthy baseball scene begins (apparently good, society-integrated vampires love baseball!), it’s all downhill from there. In fact, if the ending of the book felt rushed and contrived, it’s only worse here in a film where events are condensed further to squeeze as much as possible into a 2 hour running time.
The end result then is a film that is neither very good or an all-out turkey. Twilight has enough entertaining moments to keep it watchable, but ultimately the end result is a distinctly forgettable “meh” piece of cinema.
Based on the first of author Stephenie Meyer’s bestsellers, Twilight centres on teenager Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) who goes to live with her father after her mother remarries. This involves moving from Phoenix, Arizona to the wet and gloomy town of Forks in Washington State, where shy loner Bella is suddenly the centre of attention. While several high school boys compete for her affection, Bella surprisingly finds a kindred spirit in the form of classmate Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) – who just so happens to be hunky, brooding, and a vampire.
Although Twilight is far from good, I actually found the film to be superior to the book in several important aspects. For one thing, the viewer doesn’t have to contend with Stephenie Meyer’s stylistically awful prose. For another, the film makes it far more obvious why Bella would gravitate towards Edward as opposed to the other boys at her school. His behaviour stands in stark contrast to their juvenile shenanigans and general immaturity. And finally, although they are nowhere near the vampires of True Blood, Twilight’s trio of villainous blood drinkers are considerably more menacing, and have considerably more attitude, than their literary counterparts.
Although Twilight haters are more likely to pick up on this point than fans, the film adaptation really accentuates how far Bella and Edward’s relationship is removed from reality, especially when compared to its handling in the book. What little eroticism there was on the page – for example, Bella stroking Edward’s exposed, sparkling body – has been stripped away in the movie, making the couple’s relationship appear even more chaste.
This in turn transforms Edward into the ultimate fantasy lover for women: a man who is powerful and potentially dangerous, but is still also in complete control of his appetites. He loves Bella for who she is, as opposed to lusting after her body, and is content to sit for hours just watching her or listening to her talk about herself. He is even the one who pulls away from their first passionate kiss; not Bella. It’s all incredibly delusional, and depending on how easily you succumb to the fantasy, you with either find yourself swooning or snickering at the events onscreen. Either way, Twilight’s depiction of love is enjoyable for the viewer – be they a romantically naive 11 year old, or a cynical adult whose heart has been kicked around the block a few times.
In terms of performances, Kristen Stewart’s Bella is fortunately far less annoying than Bella in the book. Robert Pattinson meanwhile isn’t as stunningly handsome as his character is supposed to be, but he’s otherwise fine in the film’s first half. However, once Edward reveals his true nature to Bella, Pattinson is forced to deliver some truly cheesy lines, and the audience is subjected to several sequences of the vampire piggy-backing his human girlfriend around the forest at shoddily depicted superspeed.
Much like the book, the Twilight film collapses in its final third. Once the cringe-worthy baseball scene begins (apparently good, society-integrated vampires love baseball!), it’s all downhill from there. In fact, if the ending of the book felt rushed and contrived, it’s only worse here in a film where events are condensed further to squeeze as much as possible into a 2 hour running time.
The end result then is a film that is neither very good or an all-out turkey. Twilight has enough entertaining moments to keep it watchable, but ultimately the end result is a distinctly forgettable “meh” piece of cinema.
Comments
When the movie first came out I actually asked my 11 and 13 year old cousins what they thought.
The 13 year old girl loooooved it. Of course.
The 11 year old boy was a bit less keen though...but absolutely loved the baseball scene.
I think sometimes we forget who the film is catering for.
For the record I hated the baseball scene in the book; maybe slightly less so in the film because it was more tongue-in-cheek. Everyone seemed to be treating it as a joke.