Twilight

Genre:Romance/Horror

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Screenplay: Melissa Rosenberg based off the novel by Stephanie Meyer

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, Jackson Rathbone, and Taylor Lautner

Bella moves to a small Washington town to live with her father, completely opposite of her Arizona upbringing. Her first day of school was expected to be awkward, because she was new. She did not, however, anticipate encountering Edward Cullen, a mysterious and withdrawn individual. If only she knew how much her life was going to change after meeting him.

Yes, I am doing a review on this, and yes, I am a fan. At least, I’m not a crazy one. I was a huge fan of the novels. True, they are not nobel prize winners, but for young adult novels, they’re pretty complex. I chose the wrong time to see this film for the first time, opening night. My friends and I were surrounded by tweens, not the remotely entertaining kind either, and a bad interpretation of the book, for which I blame the director. When the film was over, I had cracked several jokes about the film, was done with obsessive tweens, and probably saw one of the worst special effect understanding of something that should have been so simple. I was bummed and exhausted, and not at all amused by the girls screaming in ecstasy how amazing the film was. Did we not just leave the same theater? I apologize. I really shouldn’t be that demeaning to the tweens. I was that age once also. As I matured, my drama tolerance disappeared, leaving me very annoyed and uncomfortable when I cannot avoid most of it.

Catherine Hardwicke did an amazing job with Thirteen. It was fantastic, and indie films are her forte. I believe that she was not exactly prepared for the differences of an epic and commercial, twilight is big enough to practically be a brand, film opposed to an indie film. Indie films are raw and very dramatic and rely heavily on the acting, story and direction to provide the harmony. Twilight is a genre flick, and one that she seemed to try to film like a heavily dramatic indie film. The story alone has enough drama in it that it did not need severe emphasis by specific shots or overacting. My example being the scene when Bella enters biology class, and Edward has his very awkward reaction. I am sure that we will continue to see great things from this director, but her choice for the direction of this film was not wise at all. The sequels surpassed this film, easily, and I only expect the last novel’s interpretations to be the best yet.

Ah, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, what can I say? I don’t think that they were terrible in this movie because they are terrible actors. I believe that they’re performances were not up to par, because that’s how they were told to act. An actor doesn’t usually have full control over apart. Some directors do let allow actor go with the flow, but the point is that the director has to allow it first. Whether the director told them exactly how to act or presented them with suggestions for the scene, this is what an actor is paid to do. Kristen Stewart has always been one of the actresses I have kept my eye on since her performance in Speak. I thought she had a lot of potential to be a phenomenal actress, something she continues to prove. I actually feel the same about Robert Pattinson. They both seem to have an honesty about them that is hard to ignore. Maybe epic, commercial films are not really the boat they should be jumping on right now. I think they should focus more on indie films for the time being to practice their craft before they jump onto another highly commercial film. I would like them both to be known for their talent first and not just Edward and Bella. I will admit that I can’t imagine anyone else playing Edward and Bella, though.

Sorry, Taylor Lautner will not be discussed for this film, because he may have been in there for a full five minutes.


I give this film 2 Buttery Kernals.

Coming Soon: The Witches of Eastwick