Synopsis:
Bella Swan is a clumsy, kind hearted teenager
with a knack for getting into trouble. Edward
Cullen is an intelligent, good looking vampire
who is trying to hide his secret. Against all
odds, the two fall in love but will a pack of
blood thirsty trackers and the disapproval of
their family and friends separate them?
The Freak's Rating:
C+ : A phenomenon always stirs my interest.
I always figure, how can that many people be
wrong? For my birthday Jen bought a copy
of Twilight for me to read. I flew through
the first few chapters, then hit a wall.
The wall I hit was the "written for teenage
girls" wall. At a point in the book I
became tired of reading about Edward's eyes and
how dreamy they were. The author of
Twilight did a great job hitting her target
demographic. There just isn't enough
material to pull in those outside of it.
The film, on the other hand, has done a better
job.
There
are major flaws in this film, including a makeup
staff who can never seem to decide skin tones of
their stars. In some scenes, like the one
pictured above, skin tones are near-death pale
for both stars. In others, there is a nice
warm feel to all the actors, including the
undead. Other makeup mistakes include
applying unhealthy amounts of lipstick to Edward
in scenes. Had my screening been on film
rather than digital, perhaps the makeup could
have faded with the blur. Nowadays studio
production teams need to be aware that digital
showcases all the makeup errors. If they
are bad, which they were here, they look awful
in digital.
Robert Pattinson (Edward) was pulled for this
role based upon his performances in Harry
Potter, but his resume holds little else of
value. Pattinson spends much of the film
butchering lines and over acting.
Realizing these two leads are attached for at
least one more film and most likely two was
comforting on some level. With the sequel
still in production, feedback will be given from
others who agree with me on his performance (and
there are many). Even a mediocre agent
will jack up Pattinson's abilities with a coach
before he's finished with the second film.
Opposite Pattinson is Kristin Stewart.
Stewart first garnered my attention in Into The Wild.
She played a girl just coming into her own
hormonally, sex-crazed for a neighbor boy.
She did a perfect job of portraying teen angst.
In Twilight, she does an equally strong job
pulling out a similar character. Stewart
pulls off a perfect Bella in this film.
She has a beauty to her that keeps your
attention on her no matter what she does.
Though just a baby at 18 years old, she puts off
acting strong enough for you to see she'll be
around for a while.
The
book succeeds because it constantly focuses on
the romance between the characters and not the
actual plot. The film does an interesting
job of showcasing the romance between the two
leads, yet when it comes time for the plot to
thicken, it becomes more of a mixed drink than a
milkshake. Antagonists are introduced
interestingly enough, yet the climax of the film
rarely dances into suspense and tip toes around
being scary. This is a vampire film
people! Give us a scare!
Twilight is captivating because of the
storyline. Stealing much of the style of
The Lost Boys, the concept of introducing
something so powerful into the lives of
teenagers is a story we all can't wait to...wait
for it...sink our teeth into. The first of
what will no doubt be a popular film trilogy
will merit a repeat visit someday, but it is
difficult to recommend a film based purely on
style and little substance. Stewart's
performance is wonderful and the backbone story
is enough to make me anxious for the sequel, but
Twilight falls just short of recommending.
Sebastian's
Rating: B- : I really can't hate this movie.
It could have been better without the
over-the-top love sensation. The acting wasn't
terrible, But twilight doesn't appeal to me very
well. The fact that it didn't bore me to death,
probably makes me give it just a little bit
over the C+ border.
comment here
to add your review!
