Twilight

Last Thursday, when my friend came to visit (prior to the San Diego trip), she coerced me into watching the Twilight movie. And while I made a big show about it beforehand (by apologizing to my Xbox for putting it through this), I did make an effort to go into the movie with an open mind. I feel like I did a good job too. And so, because I feel it's necessary to do this, I'm going to write my candid, honest review of the movie:

It wasn't bad. I actually kind of liked it. Now, I haven't read the book that it's based off of, though I am vaguely familiar with the story, since my sister and close friends are all freakishly obsessed. And I'll be honest too... the things I had the most issues with in the movie were things that I'm pretty sure come FROM the book.

Which brings up an interesting paradox, because while I don't like them, I do like that the movie keeps them, because book-to-movie adaptations should remain faithful. So I personally let those things slide, while others may not.

Things I did like:


  • I thought that overall, the music was pretty good. There was a good blend of scored music with actual songs, and for the most part, they all fit their scenes pretty well.

  • The movie recognized that it is part of a series, and was made as such. It can stand on it's own, but there are some aspects of the movie that, if this movie was intended to be a one-time thing, could (and in that case, should) have been changed. But since the movie is not a one-time thing, I like that they kept these things in, even if they seem out of place to somebody like me, who isn't familiar with the series as a whole

  • I like that in the climactic fight, the main female character actually gets legitimately injured. It's too easy to just forget about her in a scene like that, and focus on the vampires fighting, but I'm glad she actually took serious damage. Made it seem slightly more realistic.

  • The overall feel was good. I felt that it flowed nicely, and explained enough to keep me in the loop, while not really sacrificing important things to those who have read the book (that's the impression I've gotten from friends).

  • The author had a cameo. I think that's a cool shoutout to fans (though I wouldn't have caught it if my friend hadn't pointed it out to me.


Things I didn't like:

  • The movie was obviously a "low-budget" film (so-to-speak). Most of that was spent on special effects, so there were other areas that suffered at times. The one thing that drove me crazy was the makeup on the vampires. They're supposed to be pale-faced, but too often it looks like the characters are wearing pale makeup. That is to say, it's so obvious that they're wearing makeup that it's hard to believe it.

  • Some of the scenes with Edward (the main guy) bothered me. Maybe this is a book thing, but the acting seemed kind of life-less at times. Other times, however, it worked really well.

  • I don't like that so much of "traditional" vampire lore is just thrown out in the story. This is a book thing, so I don't fault the movie, but it still bothers me.

  • The early part of the movie seemed like it was trying to almost be a pseudo-horror movie. Some of the camera angles, the music choices (this is the part where I disliked the music), and general atmosphere seemed to clash with the whole supernatural-romance story aspect.

  • I still think the story, in and of itself, is kind of weak. There's no real conflict throughout most of it. We meet the villain near the end, and everything speeds up from there. It's almost like the pseudo-horror aspect early on is there to try to give the first 2/3 of the movie some kind of substance. Again, this is a book issue, but still.


Still, I did enjoy it. I've heard the books come off as kind of amateurish (in regards to the writing style and such), which is one thing that wouldn't translate to the movies, so I'm still not sold on reading them. But perhaps I'll give them a try at some point.

That is, AFTER I re-read Harry Potter. I've got books 6 and 7 in my room now, and they definitely get the nod over Twilight.

1 comments:

Courtney said...

aww. i have not seen the movie yet... blame it on the whole living in africa thing. but i also have all the books with me here in africa. read them!! they are amazing. if you find vampires with super-pale and marble-cold skin incredibly romantic and sexy, i guess. so yeah... maybe don't read them.

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