Twilight: heart-thumpingly good or D.O.A?
Well, well, well. It's been a long time since I have been so eager to see -- and dissect -- the film manifestation of a popular book. That, of course, is one of the joys of reading books and then seeing their metamorphoses onto the big screen: not only do you get to talk at length about the book, you can talk at length about the movie too. And let me just say, the Twilight movie is going to give fans enough to talk (and argue) about to last several vampire lifetimes.
So let's dissect the corpse of the Twilight movie, shall we? Warning: SPOILER ALERT If you haven't read the book or seen the movie yet, proceed into the following with extreme caution.
What worked:
1. The visual transformation from Phoenix to Forks in the first few minutes of the movie
The visual difference between the Phoenix Bella leaves behind (gold, brown, sunny, dry) and the Forks she arrives at (rainy, dark, cloudy, gloomy) is striking and exceptionally well done. An example of how, in less than 15 seconds, a movie can convey things that, in a novel, can sometimes require a whole lot of description.
2. Bella receiving her truck
Although this scene is nothing like the book, I thought it did a great job introducing Billy and Jacob Black and showing Bella's pleasure with her new/old truck. In addition, I thought both of the Blacks were well-cast.
3. Charlie
In my opinion, Charlie's performance was the best of the entire movie: he perfectly embodied that complicated mixture of reticence, protectiveness, and awkwardness that so characterizes single fathers. I liked how he never appeared on screen without one (or more) of the following: a beer; a gun; his uniform. Visually, these all combined to reinforce the feeling that he is a man used to living the life of a confirmed bachelor, and who is happy but at a loss how to deal with a teenaged daughter he barely knows.
4. Mike and Jessica
In Twilight's book manifestation, Jessica reminded me so much of the harmless but brainless girls I knew in high school, I felt like I was 15 again; her portrayal in the movie was dead on. Mike's character was also well done: nice, but just a bit dopey.
5. Edward Cullen
Overall, I thought Rob Pattinson made an admirable Edward. In the first half of the movie, he makes his discomfort at being around Bella palpably obvious, and later, he manages to look at her with the perfect mixture of longing, reserve, and sadness. In my opinion, the holes that pop up in Edward's portrayal are due more to shoddy and clunky screenwriting, not to a lack of talent on Mr. Pattinson's part. Despite the screenwriters shortcomings, however, Pattinson managed to deliver many of his lines with the same confusion over his conflicting feelings for Bella that I imagined when reading the book.
6. Edward and Bella in biology class
Again, not completely faithful to the book (to be frank, little of the movie is) but excellent in showing how Edward and Bella are incredibly uncomfortable around each other. Both Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson have excellent facial expressions in this bit; one of the few bits of the movie that people laughed when they actually WERE supposed to be laughing.
7. The near-miss mugging scene
This was more frightening visually to me than it had been reading about it in the book (it did also involve more skanky guys though as well). The hand-held camera method of filming worked well here.
8. The Cullens
I thought the casting for the Cullens was exceptionally well done, particularly Alice who not only acts but looks exactly like her literary counterpart. OK, Jasper weirded me out a bit, but with just a bit of a tone-down of the wide-eyed-staring look and some dialogue from the book (any dialogue at all from Jasper would have been nice) he'd have been just fine.
9. Bella meeting the Cullens
Yes, yes, I know that the house in the movie is nothing even remotely like the Cullen house in the book; however, I felt that in spirit and feeling, this scene was really very good. The good intentions of the Cullen family (excepting glass-bowl-shattering Rosalie) are evident and successfully replicates the feeling the book gives of Bella's first visit to their house. And the Edward/Bella Clair de Lune dance bit in Edward's room was sweetly romantic. Although I did not like the leaping through the trees bit that followed it, the piano music that Claire de Lune segeways into when they are in the trees, then back at the house with Edward playing the song on the piano is quite nice.
10. The baseball game
Frolicky good fun.
11. The prom
Although many of the details of this scene were altered, the overall effect is, again, sweetly romantic without being sappy. It was also nice to hear much of the dialogue that was in the original story used here.
What didn't work
1. Bella's voiceovers
Technically, I understand why they chose to include these: to quickly orient the moviegoers and to give a nod to the first person narration of the books. However, they just did not work for me -- they did not add enough emotion, depth, or insight to really shed any light on Bella personally and I think the movie would have been just as well without them.
2. Bella's character
Watching the movie made me positively nostalgic for the books. The Bella of the books is self-confident, stubborn, assured, independent, sarcastic, and careful to hide her feelings (especially any sadness) from both of her parents, as well as being a good cook (it was a real mistake to leave her cooking for Charlie out of the story.) The Bella of the movie, however, is incredilby fragile and clearly unhappy from the first glimpse of her on the screen; in that respect, she bears little to no resemblance to her literary twin. The screenwriters seem to have confused the portrayal of a deep, nuanced character with vocal monotony and perpetual gloomy seriousness. Frankly, I don't place the blame on Kristen Stewart who, when given a bit of leash (such as in the hospital scene when she becomes nearly incoherent at Edward's suggestion that he go away) shows she can put on a good show. I think it is primarily the fault of the screenwriters that Bella generally comes across as a blood-drained corpse.
3. The meadow and mountaintop scene
Anyone passing outside of the theater during these scenes could hardly have been blamed if they thought that Twilight was supposed to be a comedy -- the entire theater erupted into helpless laughter during these horribly handled scenes. Awkward and overly dramatic dialogue, sappy music, and a tendency towards prolonged shots of Edward and Bella staring into one another's eyes were supposed to heighten the feeling of romance between the two, but all they acheived was a lovey-dovey scene that failed so miserably it was truly painful to watch.
4. The running, jumping, flying bits, and pretty much any of the other "special effects"
Honestly, I think I would have rather they left these bits out than put such shoddy special effect work on screen. Much of the movie is truly visually stunning, particularly the beautifully green forest settings. It's difficult to appreciate the scenery however, when you are busy shielding your eyes from yet another leaping scene that is as excruciatingly painful as vampire venom coursing through your veins.
5. Jasper Cullen
While I thought the rest of the Cullens ranged from fine to great, Jasper was a complete disappointment. He somehow managed to metamorphose from the soothing, caring, and kind vampire of the book into a wide-eyed freaky looking dude. If I were Alice, I'd start looking for another guy.
6. The bedroom kiss
I was really disappointed by the addition of this scene. I feel like it does violence to one of the things that fans everywhere liked about Twilight -- its distinction between love, caring, and protectiveness for another person and sexual interest. Isn't that one of the big draws of Edward? It's a pity that the screenwriters did not simply reproduce the first kiss scene from the book. I think that would have translated very nicely to film without Kristen Stewart having to cavort about in her panties. At the very least, give us Rob Pattinson in his underpants, am I right?
7. The vamping around at the baseball game
I liked the baseball scene until Laurent (aka Bob Marley), Victoria, and James showed up and everyone started hissing and (for lack of a better word) vamping about. There were more than a few audible laughs in the theater at this point, which doesn't lend itself to a suspenseful buildup very nicely at all.
8. Alice and Jasper leaving Bella alone at the hotel in Arizona
So we're supposed to believe that while Bella is in constant danger now from James the tracker that Alice and Jasper would walk off into a different part of the hotel, leaving her completely alone? I think not.
9. The flashback scenes
Every single one of the film's flashback scenes -- Jacob telling Bella the history of the Cullens, Edward remembering Carlisle turning him into a vampire, Carlisle turning Esme into a vampire -- weren't just unneccessary, they were terrible. They looked hokey and, believe me, the audience reacted accordingly (insert snarky laughter here).
10. Parts of the ballet studio fight scene
While I thought a lot of the fighting bits were great, I wish to God that the Edward/James hissing match hadn't been included. Also, Edward's fear and reluctance when he is trying to decide whether to suck the venom out of Bella is exceptionally well-portrayed by Pattinson, but it takes on a slapstick-ish air when, as he is sucking out the venom, he starts on an extended flashback that includes everything from deer running in the forest to falling snow. I have to add that reading about Edward sucking out the venom was much more moving than seeing it on screen; perhaps it was just poorly filmed, but it looked to me more like he was getting ready to bite into a Thanksgiving drumstick than anything else.
The verdict
Twilight is a moving story that, for one reason or another, lost practically all of its charm in the conversion from paper to big screen. Despite a promising cast and some really stellar performances, particularly from Bella's father and Edward, Twilight fizzles at best and is laughable at worst. Whether it is due to shoddy screenwriting, laughable special effects, or off-color performances, I'm not sure. One thing that is certain however, is that if Summit really does plan on filming all of the rest of the books in the series, they would do well to spend some serious time figuring out where Twilight went badly wrong.
Interested in taking part in a Twilight movie debate? We need 3 debators for each side (Team Loved It and Team Disappointed); there are still slots available, especially for Team Disapppointed.
Take a look at Take Part in a Twilight Movie Debate for the list of qualifications and how to apply. Huzzah!
Until then, take a look at what other Twi-hards think at Twilight movie reviews: read what the fans are saying.
Comments
I think that this critique is right on. We were three wives dragging our husbands to this movie promising Hobbit quality characters, and action scenes not unlike Iron-Man. The husbands were a good foot or foot and a half taller then the 300 or so other movie viewers. I haven laughed so loud or long in years. All the sighs,giggling, and the theater's warning to kick anyone out if they were caught texting messages were priceless. I'm old, and was very dissapointed with the film,but the evening was wonderful! My Stephanie Meyer books, however are sitting on my special shelf next to Tolkein, and Harry.
PVE
Also I would strongly recomend that this be a female outing.
Your critique is right on. I felt the movie left out alot of key points from the book which I felt would of showed more of the struggle for Edward towards Bella. My daughter and I were looking forward to the blood typing scence which was left out and the mind reading of Jessica. I think alot was really left out who cares if it turned into a 3 hr movie like Harry Potter did, you got to get the details and feeling across.
Last night, waiting for Twilight, I felt like I had mistakenly got in line for the girls bathroom. There was barely a guy in sight, with a few exceptions. And that’s sad because Twilight could have given guys the action adventure they crave, while flaming the fire in women’s hearts for a guy who cares more about them than their underpants. Sadly, the movie didn’t capitalize on those two things, though it had tremendous potential to do so.
The problem wasn’t the book’s primary dynamics. The problem was that the screen writing didn’t capture what women and men universally want, while avoiding the things that make a movie just a chic flick or just a guy movie.
The Twilight book showed that women really want to see a man who is devoted to a woman for who she is. They want to see a man who can’t get enough of that woman, who can’t spend enough time listening to her or being next to her.
Ok, fine, women want to be craved. But how can you lure the ladies and still draw in most men? Action. Have more scenes of Edward protecting Bella – yes, adding content as masterfully as Peter Jackson (et al.) did in Lord of the Rings.
The difficulty of making the Twilight book into a movie is that the book relied heavily on dialogue, not action. This works great in literature, but it would make for a 12-hour movie that no Twilight book fan would want to see. So... convert the book’s main undercurrent-issues into action that speaks louder than words.
Unfortunately, the movie spent a lot of time building up to things that disappointed its audience, while failing to give the audience what it wanted. It reminded me of a book that’s written for the author, not the reader. It makes me think that a heavy hand forced certain decisions that many knew wouldn’t work.
But we can save the series even if we can’t save the first movie. Hire Peter Jackson et al. and give them a free hand to write and direct the next Twilight movie. And after they work their unrestrained magic, we’ll watch lines of men and women wind around movie theaters with credit cards clutched in their hands.
Well, I loved the movie. I went to the midnight show and again to the 8:05 pm showing. I loved it more the second time around. Sure it's very difficult to take a novel and translate it to the screen, but I thought they did a great job. I'm sure the sequels will be even better because they have the experience behind them.
I too think that your critique is dead on. I saw the movie twice yesterday and was completely disappointed at the portrayal of the book. In my opinion, the writers were more focused on producing a "blockbuster" and lost track of the things that made the book so beloved. I wasn't a huge fan of Pattinson's version of Edward and felt like he got him all wrong. The biology scene was laughable and his "I'm about to puke" expression was horrible. I didn't like the casting for any of the Cullens, especially Jasper and found myself cringing whenever he was on screen. I'm getting annoyed just thinking about it the movie, so I'll shut up now. To sum it up, the movie was tolerable but definitely not when I was expecting.
I really believe that your critique mirrored my thoughts. I have been, basically, obsessed with the twilight books since the beginning of this year. I really believed that the movie was going to be almost as good as the book and that I'd want to watch it over and over again. But I was very disappointed with how they put all these scenes in, in a choppy way. It kind of just seemed like they were rushing the movie. I'm not saying that the actors did bad (i loved everyones performance, especially Jasper. I loved Jasper :]) I thought that the screen-writing was faulty. But hopefully they learn from their mistakes when they start filming the next movie. (I heard that they already have the screen-writing part almost finished for New Moon, but I PRAY that they trash that one and start over!)
okay, those are my thoughts :)
oops! Sorry about me being clumsy with my computer and trying to refresh this page one too many times!
I feel slightly bad about my opinions, knowing that the actors did not deserve any of this. I would blame the entire crew; the dialogue, the crappy scenes of the vampires running, the characters, etc.
I found A LOT of things wrong with the movie.
1.)Frankly, the biology scene was awful. Edward's performance was over the top, and the wind causing the papers to ruffle was silly. I don't believe Edward is supposed to have an english accent, but he should've kept it in the movie. When he first spoke and the way he looked at her caused me to believe that he was mental.
2.)The crash scene. It made me mad that they'd show the flaws of the movie in the commercials. Edward does not just jump over the truck and mosey off, he stays with her.
3.)How Bella finds out he's a vampire. That whole lead up was stupid. She doesn't tell Mike she's going to Jacksonville, and that's not even how she tells him that she won't be in town. When she's in Port Angeles, that car scene was WAY too much. And in the car, Edward seems crazy and that's when she should've found out. Instead, you get an intense version on top of the mountain where Edward becomes a lunatic and runs all over and sparkles like there's no tomorrow.
4.)Jasper. He was flat out creepy. They should've done something different with him.
5.)Was it just me or was Bella paler than the vampires themselves?
I basically think they should get rid of the movie and redo it with the help of fans and a whole new crew.
If I were Stephanie Meyer, I would be extremely upset.
ok well i've seen the movie twice now
and both times i've cried,laughed and loved pretty much every scene.
I do agree with some of your opinons such as the baseball scene when jasper said you brought a snack and the hissing begins, I think that was cheesy.
But besides that, I think they did a fantastic job with the movie.
We knew from the beggining that it was going to be different from the book, it's imposible to take a 500 page book and turn it into a 2 hour movie without leaving some parts out and recreating some other scenes to become different. it worked best with the movie.
I respect that everyone has there own opinons about the movie. But I personally think it was very well done and i'm looking forward to seeing it for a 3rd time. All of the actors/actresses were DEAD on and I couldn't be more happy with the overall production.
I agree mostly with the review. However I would disagree with the kissing scene. Other than Bella should have been in pj pants, that scene should the emotion of which Edward really wanted to be careful yet want her so bad. Same with Bella. Bella did her best to maintain a still posture but when Edward went to kiss her a second time her reaction was expected. And when Edward reacted by pushing her back and getting more agressive, you got the feeling that he was losing control and to confirm it by leaping away from Bella graining control over himself again.
Tehn I think the movie did poorly in character developement. Charlie, Edawrd, and Rosalie where the only character that I felt were really. Everyone seemed to have a cheesy, slapped on stereotype. Mike, Eric and Tyler where goofy and intersted in Bella. Angela nerdy. Jessica ditsy and incharge. I was especially disappointed with the cullens developement.
It was nice to see the book in motion, but overal poor character development and cheesy.
honestly i feel like the movie was a bit rushed... but hey thats what you have to do when you put a 400 pg boo in a 2 hr film. they could haveslowed it down just a bit... i liked it for what it was, its own interpretation of the book. no movie is as good as its book. i plan on seeing it again so i can be more open this time instead of critisisng it...
honestly i think you were dead on about the movie. It may have made loads of money from everyone wanting to see it, but it was poorly done. I wish somehow someone had come storming in and slapped stephenie meyer on the face and asked her how the hell could she do that to her characters? honestly If i do see her at a book signing here in washington I will definatly make my complaint known. And Bella in her undies? seriously, it just shows only sexual attraction there, not the real love this book is about.
I loved it! Every great and horrible thing about it! Movies can never do to a book what you own imagination can...so why expected it. I was amazed that Hollywood did that well. I laughed at some of the sappy parts, some of the dorky dialogue, and the racing through the forests scenes...but I laughed at them in the book as well! Face it..unless it was a real vampire book where they suck everyone's blood...it was a bit hokey...but what a love story!
Got my heart beating...but the best...My husband liked it too!
See, I went in to the movie not expecting much, and that's exactly what I got. I wasn't too disappointed because I knew it wouldn't be very good.
I think that Mr. Robert Pattison did all that he could considering the script he had to work with. I'd say the same for Kristin Stewart. The character development between the two was... weird. In the book, Bella is literally Edward's LIFE. In the movie, this idea didn't come across too well. He didn't look overly concerned in the ballet studio scene when the supposed love of your life is lying there dying. And he looked deranged when sucking her blood.
He also didn't look nearly sad and upset enough that Bella was in the hospital.
Charlie was perfect. Jasper would have been perfect if he had some lines, but I liked how he always looked so scared and worried. :)
I could ramble on forever, but whatever.
Even though I loved the movie, I have to agree with your opinions. I was extremely dissapointed when the nurses office scene wasnt in the movie, and when edward was supposed to read jessicas thoughts.
Im praying that they put alot more time into the next movie.
Overall, I think the movie was a complete failure. I knew it wasn't going to be exactly like the book, but I didn't expect it to be this off. The actors were sometimes overdramatic (Edward in biology) which led to unintentional laughter. There were some scenes that I enjoyed like the meet the Cullen's home scene, but it wasn't that great.
The whole entire time, it felt that the movie was strained and nothing was portrayed. The scenes were also very choppy as if they just took pages from the book and pieced it together.
Edward was extremely harsh in the movie which is completely off from the book. Then in the harshness they would throw in lines from the book which are very sweet. This made it weird in the movie because they are mixing harsh scenes and dialogue with romantic dialogue which made it weird and confusing.
In all, I think that if I had not read the book first, I would've been extremely confused in the theater and think that I have seen one of the worst movies ever.
i love twilight a lot, but what i just read and what i heard from other people the movie seems really stupid. i haven't seen it yet but i heard that some of the scene would have been better if a preschooler whould have been in it. i feel sorry for stephanie meyer.
It just seems to me that the movie is missing so so much. What ever happened to the blood typing and Bella passing out on the sidewalk only to have Edward carry her? Edward waiting for Bella at a table during lunch? The meadow? They just forced everything into much to short of a time period. And the way that the book did get portrayed had the theater bursting out in laughter at parts that weren't so humorous.
It seems to be that all they really need to do to make this movie 100 times better was to have better screen writers. I just wish that they would redo the movie adding in all the important key parts!!
Honestly it sucked!!! Obviously it couldn't be better then the book, but this movie was just awful. They took out to many scenes, and instead added unnecessary ones. Like for example the diner scenes, or the incredibly bad random killings. Also the growth between Bella and Edward was rushed. I was so excited for an epic love story, but it never came. I think it was partially because of how awful the meadow scene was. The only scene i really loved was when Edward drove Bella to school, but that was only because Robert looked smokin' hott!
I couldn't have said it all better myself! However, I have to say I think Kristen Stewart was a huge disappointment too. I never liked the casting choice since she comes off so cold and lifeless in even interviews and she carried that same manner in the movie. I could tell she was acting and she never came off as natural at all. The facial expressions by several people were over the top. My sisters and I agreed it seemed like something we could have found on youtube. AND I was bugged about Charlie's reaction to Bella leaving. He didn't seem worried at all but just irritated. I don't know, it was all wrong. I say lets have somebody start over from scratch with a new screenwriter, director and some actors. Yikes!
You guy are crazy! The movie was AMAZING. Yeah, it was a little cheesy at times but for the most part it stayed true to the book. A lot of the dialogue in the movie was exactly from the book. They can't fit a 500 page novel into two hours of a movie! Its impossible. I think the reason why everyone didn't like Twilight because they expected it to be exactly like the book; however if you compare Twilight to Harry Potter, Twilight is definately more like the book than Harry Potter.
Of course people aren't going to like it cause when they read the book they already have a little movie playing in their heads and everyone's is different so when someone else's story comes to life and not the one you imagined, of course you're not going to like it. It's not like any of you could do a better job directing this film.
Twilight was a great movie, but as usual the books are always better. That's how it always is and how it always will be so get used to it.
To be perfectly honest,I knew the movie was going to be awful. Writers always think they know better than the author. From the moment I heard there was going to be a movie, I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, but as I found out the actors and saw the peviews, I knew I was going to be disappointed. Jasper looks emo, Bella is lifeless, Emmett is too serious, etc etc etc...
I didn't see the movie because I knew it wasn't Twilight. The screenwriters, un my opinion, were trying to make a Dawson's Creek with vampires instead of being faithful to the book. Like I said, they think they know better than the author. Really the only reason they made the movie was because they knew since the book was so popular, it would make a lot of money box office. So let's piucture a bunch of guys sitting in a room wondering what book they can destroy, and they stumble upon Twilight.
So they say, "Let's use as little money as possible making this movie, because we know people will go and see it because the book is so popular."
Personally, I am avoiding the Twilight world until the movie is long forgotten, because there are going to be people who think they know what they're talking about when they've never even read the book. It makes me want to throw darts at their faces.
But I'm starting to get off-topic. Anyone who reads this and has not seen the movie, I strongly advise you not o.
i feel so much better after reading your review. i knew that the movie could never live up to the magic of the book, but i never expected such a flat-out failure.
unlike a lot of the fans, i wasn't too upset that certain scenese weren't included..that's to be expected. however, i wasn't impressed with the added scenes - the audience could have understood that forks is a small town without the diner scenes, and the human killing spree was totally unnecessary.
that being said, the scenes i would have liked to see were the blood-typing, the lunch conversations, and finding out about alice's history - that fully explains james's vendetta.
i felt that the confessions scene was terrible - kristen stewart sounded like she was reciting a recipe - not passionately divulging that she knows what edward truly is.
if i hadn't read the book, i would have been completely confused. the biology scene was supposed to be tense, not humorous. i found myself laughing more than once at scenes that were supposed to be suspenseful or serious.
i enjoyed seeing charlie and billy black interact, and the frame filled with graduation caps was a nice surprise. the casting was mediocre for some, but i feel that most of the characters were portrayed true to form. i loved alice and would have liked to see more of her..emmett was the lovable big brother that i imagined him to be.
overall, i really missed seeing the intense connection between bella and edward. i feel that kristen and robert had the potential for amazing chemistry on-screen..the choppy screenplay abandoned them and left them flailing in a sea of teenage angst. i felt like bella was clinically depressed, not portrayed as the brave, selfless old soul that she is. edward seems perpetually angry and not at all convincing.
i'm hoping against hope that the following book adaptations are much more thought out and give the audience that epic love story that it desires.
I thought the movie was good. It had a very calming affect to it. I really liked the Cullens and especially Jasper. He had wild hair and his skin looked very pale, very vampirish.
Jesse
I loved this movie and I can not wait for the next installment.....I was very disappointed with the special effects but I keep telling myself the budget for the first installment twilight had to be small and jasper OMG!!!! he freaked me out a great deal.....I wish the movie showed more of Edward and Bella kissing and how she would stop breathing each and everything they kissed......I did like the hospital scene in the book more than in the movie....all in all I've very pleased with the movie, so far I have seen it twice.
wow, you really took the words right out of my mouth. i'm not sure i could even put into words the extreme disappointment i feel for this film. i loved the book and i know that not every book-turned-movie is the best, but at the same time, the movie should FOLLOW the book and not jumble it around! things didn't happened when or how they did in the book. the meadow was planned with edward, not just a walk after school, originally being a trip to seattle as an excuse to get out of a semi-formal, not the prom. she never had tickets to jacksonville... ? what? the meadow scene was so completely wrong, i can't even stand it. the kiss was suppose to follow but didn't. instead, it happened in her bedroom. i liked the kiss, itself - the hesitation and him telling her not to move - but that's now how it was. the random killings, not in the book. the hissing and growling seemed to sound more like background noises than actually coming from the vampires. that whole confrontational scene, oh my god... embarrassing. bella leaving alice and jasper wasn't how it was in the book, and how she got to james wasn't how it was in the book either... basically, if you really took the time to dissect this movie - i mean really dissect it - you'll see that it is really NOTHING like the book. it's understandable to change a few details here and there but to change actual events is another. a perfect example would be the tree climbing/jumping sequence. it was NOT in the book and could've been eliminated in order to bring in some needed events, like bella cooking for charlie every night. hello! that was part of who bella was! she cooked him dinner every night (give or take) until she was married!
what did i like about the movie? although charlie didn't seem like the charlie i read in the book, i think he was my favorite character. the gun scene and "bring him in" was so funny. jacob and billy weren't all that bad either, except that scene where the complications chapter was, was nothing like the chapter. the cooking part, although it wasn't in the movie, a nice addition. i thought it was funny and showed that they were trying to make bella feel welcomed. the baseball game wasn't all that bad, either, and fun to watch.
the best scene was the last scene, when they were talking about bella wanting to be a vampire, and what she dreams about, and then him kissing her neck. it felt so unbelievably real to me and i think it had to do with the scripting here compared to the rest of the movie - it was most like the book! the looks on their faces really said a lot, as well. rather than looking so sad, angry, or scared like the rest of the movie, they looked really connected and i could believe that they did want to spend forever together. my opinion: they should've cut to credits after he kissed her neck. it would've been perfect, and possibly could've make up for SOME of the wrongs in this movie. ;)
i'd like to also say that the harry potter movies are the pages brought to life, and it is amazing to see because things you couldn't imagine are now imaginable because of being able to see them. the first few books were a little... eh... because of it being new, and unknown at the same time. they were a little cheesy, starting off, but give them a different director and more money and they were golden. the potter books were also hundreds of pages long, but watching the movies are like reading the books in a smaller version. they stayed so true to the book, except for the deletion of scenes that didn't matter. j. k. rowling would have never let her magical story be portrayed in a way that didn't make sense, so i blame stephanie for this catastrophe.
i'd like to also say that the harry potter movies are the pages brought to life, and it is amazing to see because things you couldn't imagine are now imaginable because of being able to see them. the first few books were a little... eh... because of it being new, and unknown at the same time. they were a little cheesy, starting off, but give them a different director and more money and they were golden. the potter books were also hundreds of pages long, but watching the movies are like reading the books in a smaller version. they stayed so true to the book, except for the deletion of scenes that didn't matter. j. k. rowling would have never let her magical story be portrayed in a way that didn't make sense, so i blame stephanie for this catastrophe.
Ok, i don't think the movie was terrible. I jsut think i would have liked it better if i hadn't read the book first because the book is so great. Lets see. I think Emmitt was played great, i think Alice was placed the best, Carlisle was great to, Esme was good but didn't have many lines to compare to. Rosalie was good. Edward was great to. Charlie was funny, Billy didn't have many lines but he was good. Jacob seemed even more likeable in the movie. Bella was ok. I just don't think that they conveyed enough emotion for her. As for any of the high school kid characters they all seemed more immature that 17 year olds are. Oh yeah and Jasper. I think that the way they made him make faces was weird but i think that Jonathan could have done a great job if he had more lines as opposed to face. Jasper is supposed to be like all brooding, and mysterious, not creepy.
Ok scenes. I would have much rather had the whole restaurant scene play out like it had in the book where Bella tells Edward she knows then not later. I would have like to see the love develop more than just jump right into it. Instead of seeing the meadow scene be tense in the way it was i would have liked to see it play out like in the book where it is more romantic. I loved their house. I loved the scene where Bella first meets the family. I loved where they played baseball. I think the fight scene in the ballet could have been better. MY least favorite scene in the movie was the biology scene. It showed edward grabbing his nose and stuff. I didn't like it. You would have portrayed the scene like in the book. Make him have a clenched jaw, hands in fists, closing his eyes that kind of stuff. I also would have liked to have seen the blood typing scene and Edward stay with bella after the accident. I would have like to have seen at least one scene where he is waiting for her at a lunch table. I would have liked for there not to have been the killings.
Over all i think it was an ok movie it jsut wasn't the book is all. I do hope that they continue with the rest of the series, however i hope that they take these reviews and use them to make the future movies better!
I was soooo disappointed in the movie. Where was the love story that was portrayed in all of the books??? I felt like I was watching a Tarzan like movie, you Bella, Edward love Bella...(imagine Edward smacking his chest and pointing). I hope if there are more movies to follow, that Edward and Bella's emotions are portrayed accurately.
I just have to say that the movie was better than I thought it was going to be, I was worried, they were going to ruin it. Alot of you were expecting it to be just as good as the book and thats just IMPOSSIBLE, I agree it seemed rushed and the dialogue wasn't that great, but all in all it was good and captured the feeling of the book. More than anything, I am glad I got to expeirience the movie and see my favorite book in action!!! I am praying they make the sequels! I am worried if you people don't stop tearing it apart they might not try. I would hope that you would agree that "something" is better than "nothing" If you remember right Bella and Edward's relationship was very guarded, he was trying not to kill her and she was trying to hide her feelings from him. She actually seemed more into him in the movie. You have to separate the fact that we new what she was thinking, but she didn't express herself to Edward at all, to the point he has no idea how much she really loves him till the last book. So please just drop your high expectations and just enjoy the movie, it is definitely worth seeing! And if you haven't seen the movie don't let these reviews stop you!! Of course it's not as good as the book, but it really is good! :)
I just have to say that the movie was better than I thought it was going to be, I was worried, they were going to ruin it. Alot of you were expecting it to be just as good as the book and thats just IMPOSSIBLE, I agree it seemed rushed and the dialogue wasn't that great, but all in all it was good and captured the feeling of the book. More than anything, I am glad I got to expeirience the movie and see my favorite book in action!!! I am praying they make the sequels! I am worried if you people don't stop tearing it apart they might not try. I would hope that you would agree that "something" is better than "nothing" If you remember right Bella and Edward's relationship was very guarded, he was trying not to kill her and she was trying to hide her feelings from him. She actually seemed more into him in the movie. You have to separate the fact that we new what she was thinking, but she didn't express herself to Edward at all, to the point he has no idea how much she really loves him till the last book. So please just drop your high expectations and just enjoy the movie, it is definitely worth seeing! And if you haven't seen the movie don't let these reviews stop you!! Of course it's not as good as the book, but it really is good! :)
I just have to say that the movie was better than I thought it was going to be, I was worried, they were going to ruin it. Alot of you were expecting it to be just as good as the book and thats just IMPOSSIBLE, I agree it seemed rushed and the dialogue wasn't that great, but all in all it was good and captured the feeling of the book. More than anything, I am glad I got to expeirience the movie and see my favorite book in action!!! I am praying they make the sequels! I am worried if you people don't stop tearing it apart they might not try. I would hope that you would agree that "something" is better than "nothing" If you remember right Bella and Edward's relationship was very guarded, he was trying not to kill her and she was trying to hide her feelings from him. She actually seemed more into him in the movie. You have to separate the fact that we new what she was thinking, but she didn't express herself to Edward at all, to the point he has no idea how much she really loves him till the last book. So please just drop your high expectations and just enjoy the movie, it is definitely worth seeing! And if you haven't seen the movie don't let these reviews stop you!! Of course it's not as good as the book, but it really is good! :)
Rachel I have to say that I completely agree with you. The romance that had so many of us readers hooked to the book left us floundering about when the movie was finished! I felt like the screenwriters focused solely on the physical attraction between Edward and Bella, and not at all on what they really felt in the book. Where was the witty banter? The book discussions? The intelligent sarcasm? To me, the way Bella's character was portrayed in the film made her seem unintelligent, frail, and depressed! (Did she smile even once?) Without all of their personality quirks that made them truly love each other, the film just ended up being sappy; which wasn't at all helped by the redundant extreme close-ups in which they looked "longingly" into each others eyes. I really don't understand how the screenwriters could have missed all of this when it's what the entire book is based on.
Also, let me make it clear that I do not place any blame for this on the actors. Given better material, I'm sure this film could have been amazing. However, the shoddy lines coupled together with the low-quality cinematography had me rolling my eyes whenever I saw one of the flashbacks; (and the meadow scene! I do believe I burst into laughter somewhere during that scene.)which could have been executed far better, without eliciting laughter from the audience.
I agree with Michelle completely; with what she says worked and didn't. I understand that the voiceovers were an attempt to translate the book, written in first-person narrative, to the screen. (Which is really difficult, if you think about it.) But in the end, I have to agree with the writer of this article who states that if there must be more movies, than they should be portrayed accurately, lest we all die of laughter during the next one!
One of my favorite parts of the entire book was: the meadow scene and the car ride back from Port Angeles. The Meadow scene gave you the feeling that everything in the World was perfect and nothing could pull the two of them apart, then the movie turned it into something not worth exploring. They took the best lines from the book and ruined the idea of their love. I hated the fact that Edward wasn't classic and perfect. The car ride home explained a lot about Meyer's interpretation of vampires and how everything worked. I really loved the warm feeling i got when they fell in love, after watching Twilight I think a classic animated Disney movie could make me feel better than that movie did. The relationship seemed to be more like a quick hook up in high school, no true love just silly teenage infatuation. I agree completely with you that it wasn't the actors (100 % at least) but the screen writers.
I totally agree with every single thing that you said. I personally loved the books and watching the movie was a major disappointment for me. I thought Bella was just spitting out her lines; it would have been nice if Jasper,Alice, Emmett, and Esme had more lines. Also the movie was way too rushed, I mean I know that you cant put everything in a 500 page book in a 2 hour movie but I mean the least they could have done is make it well paced. The whole rushing through everything really annoyed me and in a way made me want to cry because i love the book a lot and the movie ruined it for me. Also Bella is supposed to know how to cook. Why were the always eating at that place is what i really dont understand. The actors need to have more emotion and feeling into what they are saying -especially Bella. I also really thought that they added a lot of unnecessary scenes in the movie while they could have filled in that time with scenes from the book. For example I thought that they should have put in the scene where Bella faints in her biology class instead of the scenes where they were jumping from tree to tree. Was that even in the book? I think not.
Overall, the movie was -I'm sorry to say -poorly done. I hope that they can really see their mistakes in Twilight before they make New Moon. Let's just pray that the next movie is better done.
The very end when Victoria was at the prom and was looking at Bella and Edward dancing and it ended with her walking away was a very great scene. i love the beginning and the end of the movie. in my opinion, the movie should have been more like the book then what is was when everyone saw it. it was a good movie but when the reader is reading the book the visuals the person gets is even more better in their heads then it was on the screen. they should just ask Stephanie Meyer to write the next 3 books dialogues then the women who did for twilight. I read twilight more then 4 times and the movie kind of killed it for me but i still liked it not LOVED it. i just thought it would have been a little more like the book and i hope New Moon will be more like the book than something different. people who haven't read the books liked it even more than the people who have. The actors shouldn't be blamed for their acting. it was mainly the dialogue that just didn't make the movie the way everyone hoped it would have been. they should have used more of the materials from the book.
I didn't like the scene when Bella went home after the baseball game. she was suppose to have even more feeling in the movie. i just don't think that that was the actors fault the screenwriter should have used the book. she just didn't put as much thought to it than she was suppose to. even though i will be watching the movie again, i hope it will make me like it more then i do right now. and hopefully the DVD has the deleted scenes that the movie didn't and just has more scenes. i will be looking forward to the DVD but hopefully it just has more stuff then the movie in the theaters do. oh and where were Alice and Emmet? that was suppose to be the whole drama in the car. it was suppose to be an intents part of the movie and just a scene i just wanted to see in big screens.
And also i'm going to cross my figures very hard that New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn will make me LOVE it instead of like it. so all i can do is hope and wait for it.
i liked the movie it wasnt what i expected but it was a resembles to the book. I agree, the books has more insight and more details, but not all of this can be added to a movie , i do wish they would've add more parts like when she faints in biology class, or when edward tells her when was the first night he saw her sleep, or when james tells bella about alice.And i do think that since it was a low budget movie they couldnt do many things. Besides everything i liked the movie and i hope new moon gets a better reviews.Cant wait to buy the movie, i guess not everyone its gonna agree on the review different people have different perspectives so not everyone its gonna be completly satisfied.
i dont think it was thattt bad. i loved it personnally. i liked seeing it from 2 different views. i loved it all.
sorry but i did.
i dont think it was thattt bad. i loved it personnally. i liked seeing it from 2 different views. i loved it all.
sorry but i did.
I totally agree with you on alot of your review. I thought that the special effects were absolutly horrible and I thoguht that the movie went way too fast. I believe that they should have made that a longer sequence of meetings, akward moments, and arguments. I however do not agree with you on Jasper I thought he was hilarious and irresistably sexy when he tryed to control himself around human blood. Although I didn't picture him as being so uncontrolled I still found him charming and delightful to watch.
Overall I thoguht Twilight was a very good movie and portrayed my idea of the book from the characters in my head to the scenes of forks and La Push (with exception to the Cullen's house)to Bella's truck. The only character that bothered me was Eric I didn't expect him to be of Asian background lol. I loved it and would love to watch it again.
I believe everyone has different insights upon the movie but i didn't believe it was as great. For me it was ok, the book made it really fascinating although it did have a lot of great scenes in the movie, the actors could have portrayed more emotions towards each other. I also wish the movie was longer, and showed more of them falling for each other. Overall it wasn't a bad movie, but it could have been better.
The movie was okayish. I had really really low expectations for the movie so it didn't suck as much as I thought it would. I liked the acting of MOST of the characters. Kristen Stewart overdid her part in some scenes. Rob Pattinson was pretty good and man-pretty but his voice sounds a little weird when he tries to cover his accent but I appreciate the effort. Charlie was really good and I liked him better in the movie than in the book and I understood him better. The Cullens didn't get much screen time as they should have and Bella's friends should have gotten less. The friends did have some really funny scenes though. Jacob's wig made him look nasty. They messed up his part in the storyline. The flying was funny even though it wasn't meant to be. Some of the special effects were REALLY bad. I couldn't even see Edward sparkling. The movie was rushed and jumped around so much that if you didn't read the book you didn't know what was going on. I didn't like the flashbacks either. They should have kept to the book and given the Cullens bigger parts. Like Alice's story should have been told or the blood typing scene. Some parts that were meant to be funny actually were funny and others that weren't meant to be funny were. Also Stephenie Meyer's cameo was kind of stupid. Overall this isn't really like that book in a LOT of ways but it's still an ok movie. (You wouldn't be seeing these mistakes in Harry Potter)
The movie was okayish. I had really really low expectations for the movie so it didn't suck as much as I thought it would. I liked the acting of MOST of the characters. Kristen Stewart overdid her part in some scenes. Rob Pattinson was pretty good and man-pretty but his voice sounds a little weird when he tries to cover his accent but I appreciate the effort. Charlie was really good and I liked him better in the movie than in the book and I understood him better. The Cullens didn't get much screen time as they should have and Bella's friends should have gotten less. The friends did have some really funny scenes though. Jacob's wig made him look nasty. They messed up his part in the storyline. The flying was funny even though it wasn't meant to be. Some of the special effects were REALLY bad. I couldn't even see Edward sparkling. The movie was rushed and jumped around so much that if you didn't read the book you didn't know what was going on. I didn't like the flashbacks either. They should have kept to the book and given the Cullens bigger parts. Like Alice's story should have been told or the blood typing scene. Some parts that were meant to be funny actually were funny and others that weren't meant to be funny were. Also Stephenie Meyer's cameo was kind of stupid. Overall this isn't really like that book in a LOT of ways but it's still an ok movie. (You wouldn't be seeing these mistakes in Harry Potter)
I was also disappointed in the movie! It was choppy and the special affects, what special affects. I think this movie would have been so much better if it were done on a higher budget. I hope that the people in charge either learn from the mistakes on this first movie or are fired and others take their place that know how to take advantage of what can be done with such wonderful fantasy writting. A growl from a vanpire should sound unhuman.
I have not seen the movie yet.. but what people are saying is just getting me more confused... thank you for clearing up that stuff that is going to help a lot...-Thanks-
i just saw this movie a few hours ago. i am a diehard fan of the books, but i was dissapointed by the movie. it was good in every scene, except the important ones. they screwed up and left parts out. i hope the next one is better.
Dispite a few good scenes, (Baseball and meeting the Cullens...) I really didn't think it was great. Some parts, like flying, were cheesey and some actors, like Carlisle, didn't fit the part. I wish they had taken more scenes DIRECTLY from the book and made the movie at least a LITTLE bit longer. They seemed to be cutting conversations short which made them sound unreal (only some conversatons, like ones with Bella and Edward at school). The only part that seemed to have many lines from the movie was the prom, which they cut many parts out of. And, unless I'm mistaken, was supposed to take place in the High School gymnasium, NOT a casino that does not have the appearence of existing in Forks. The school also had issues like, being only in one building, and EVERYONE having nice cars, with the exeption of Emmetts jeep not being nice enough. Speaking of Emmett, why didn't they give him more lines? He was great! In fact, the only Cullen that I DIDN'T love was Jasper, who totally could have pulled off the character if they didn't make him look like he was on drugs. Overall, the Cullens were just fine. I think they should have kept the scene in the book where Angela told Bella about the Cullen's "hiking" obbsession instead of Jessica.(I liked both Angela and Jessica.) My last criteque for the movie was simply Jacob's hair. Do I need to say anything more?
Dispite all that, the first cafeteria scene introduced the Cullens well (which I enjoyed) and the baseball scene made me smile!
i just saw this movie a few hours ago. i am a diehard fan of the books, but i was dissapointed by the movie. it was good in every scene, except the important ones. they screwed up and left parts out. i hope the next one is better.
I feel the movie didn't live up to the book. They Left Out Little Details that i belive were imporant, such as how bella cooks for her dad, or alice getting balla ready for prom, or wearing a a skirt when she first met the cullens. I think they needed to progress on edward and bellas realionship instead of rushing it. Or the effects were really bad. I think the phsical aspects of the charectars fit perfect though. All in all the movie was a big dissapointment to me and i hope the next one will be better.
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