TwilightRated PG-13
Running time: 2 hours 2 mins
Cast:
Kristen Stewart
Robert Pattinson
Cam Gigandet
Taylor Lautner
Ashley Green
Critical Consensus:
**1/2 out of *****
(43% Fresh Rating!)
Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:
* out *****
The Premise:
A teenage girl risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire. Based off the best selling novels of the same name.
MY REVIEW
Since I've never read any of the books in the series, I have to review this film from an unbiased perspective and review like it's just a random movie. With that in mind, I was not a fan of the movie. In reality the small budget of the movie ruined it, but that's just my personal opinion. If I had read the books, had invested time in these characters, my opinion would probably be more positive. Sadly, this is not the case. I apologize to the Twilight book fans, please do not think I am attacking you if you did like the film adaption. If fans of the book enjoy this movie, I am very happy for that, it's been a long time coming for them! And I also very much understand why you would enjoy the movie in that case.
The movie kind of starts off awkwardly and never really lets that go. What I mean by that is that nothing really fits snugly into place due to it's very weak production value. The scenery isn't as pretty as it should have been, it actually looks kind of fake. Not an unrealistic fake, just...I don't know. The scoring and random music they threw in every once in a while always seemed out of place. I've always been a very firm believer that music can make or break a movie. It truly sets the tone for most films. This music...just was so awkwardly placed.
You would think in a movie like this special effects would be something to ogle at...not so much however. Again because of the low budget they couldn't dare waste too much on the the visuals. When Edward steps into sunlight he's supposed to look beautiful with some diamond like textured skin. Yet when we see this, we can barely see a difference and it just looks cheesy. But that fits the pattern for the whole look of the film: cheesy. Nothing about it's visuals ever stands out. That sort of irritated me. I don't like low budget films that have stories meant for big budgets.
Speaking of the story, it wasn't bad. It had a very sweet love story that I believe is the main focus of this first book. I could be wrong though. So if it is, the movie stayed very true to that, and in terms of love stories it was pretty good. The film really stretched it out the whole length of the film and I liked that it did so. Other aspects of the story were kind of weak, such as the villain. He kind of comes in about half way through the movie, then dissapears then comes back a little bit later. When he does come back, he immediately wants to kill the main girl. I get it, he's a vampire who thirsts for blood, so I understand his motive. But I didn't get why he was so adamant about ruining Edwards life. But it didn't really matter, he was dead for to quickly. Not much of a good villain. The story kind of jumped from one point to another to quickly. It seemed badly edited but again, maybe the books were like that too so I can't call it out for that.
What I can say though is that the story ultimately lacked any true excitement. There was almost no tension, even in the love story. Love stories can have tension in film too, not just action and suspense. I never once really cared about any of these characters or their safety. Speaking of the characters, the low budget really scarred the film's performances too. Better actors could have been chosen. Kristen Stewart (Panic Room, Zathura) didn't seem like she knew what she was doing. I feel she stuttered through her lines quite frequently. But again, that could be the character and I just don't know. She was pretty bad though, if I'm being honest. Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire) was just way to dry. Oh and his facial expressions, especially the close up shots, were just creepy and uncomfortable. I understand he's supposed to be some super hot vampire dude, and I don't think he fit that role either. I think he may need a few more acting lessons. Who am I do judge right? I don't act right? Well guess what, these people DO act. This is their freaking job! Just like they expect us to be good at our jobs, we expect the same from them. They get paid a buttload of money to act and all these actors are on the verge of a strike...so you know what, I can judge. The acting in this movie was just bad. I'm sorry.
A quick note here: shouldn't a movie that has a big vampire cast, showcase the vampires a little more? I feel like we didn't see many of those fangs, or really any neck biting. The family of vampires all seemed like a nice, cozy little family with a few stuck up kids...but none of them really showed us their true vampire-esque abilities. Maybe a nice little tree climbing, or a really speedy run...but is that what we all really know and love about vampires? Even the bad guys didn't do much on screen vampire bad guy things. That just seemed a bit weird to me.
Again, I don't want to critisize the fans of the books. To them, this movie was a lot better than it was for me. They have invested their time with these stories and characters, so it's easier for them to float right into the movie. But now that I think of it, these movies shouldn't just be meant for fans of the books. A movie should try to be good to all people who like the particular genre. I feel the movie sort of catered to the fans of the books and in a way leaves us non fans in the dust. Like we feel cheated in some weird way. I'm very glad the book fans got what they wanted, but I would at least expect the courtesy of a film maker to also make their film appeal to other audiences.
Twilight is by no means an awful movie. I think this movie will be a great success to the die-hard fans of the series, but to people like me, I think it will brush on by as just another forgettable movie. I also think it will have great numbers in it's opening box office totals. Thanks to those teeny boppers out there!
The movie kind of starts off awkwardly and never really lets that go. What I mean by that is that nothing really fits snugly into place due to it's very weak production value. The scenery isn't as pretty as it should have been, it actually looks kind of fake. Not an unrealistic fake, just...I don't know. The scoring and random music they threw in every once in a while always seemed out of place. I've always been a very firm believer that music can make or break a movie. It truly sets the tone for most films. This music...just was so awkwardly placed.
You would think in a movie like this special effects would be something to ogle at...not so much however. Again because of the low budget they couldn't dare waste too much on the the visuals. When Edward steps into sunlight he's supposed to look beautiful with some diamond like textured skin. Yet when we see this, we can barely see a difference and it just looks cheesy. But that fits the pattern for the whole look of the film: cheesy. Nothing about it's visuals ever stands out. That sort of irritated me. I don't like low budget films that have stories meant for big budgets.
Speaking of the story, it wasn't bad. It had a very sweet love story that I believe is the main focus of this first book. I could be wrong though. So if it is, the movie stayed very true to that, and in terms of love stories it was pretty good. The film really stretched it out the whole length of the film and I liked that it did so. Other aspects of the story were kind of weak, such as the villain. He kind of comes in about half way through the movie, then dissapears then comes back a little bit later. When he does come back, he immediately wants to kill the main girl. I get it, he's a vampire who thirsts for blood, so I understand his motive. But I didn't get why he was so adamant about ruining Edwards life. But it didn't really matter, he was dead for to quickly. Not much of a good villain. The story kind of jumped from one point to another to quickly. It seemed badly edited but again, maybe the books were like that too so I can't call it out for that.
What I can say though is that the story ultimately lacked any true excitement. There was almost no tension, even in the love story. Love stories can have tension in film too, not just action and suspense. I never once really cared about any of these characters or their safety. Speaking of the characters, the low budget really scarred the film's performances too. Better actors could have been chosen. Kristen Stewart (Panic Room, Zathura) didn't seem like she knew what she was doing. I feel she stuttered through her lines quite frequently. But again, that could be the character and I just don't know. She was pretty bad though, if I'm being honest. Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire) was just way to dry. Oh and his facial expressions, especially the close up shots, were just creepy and uncomfortable. I understand he's supposed to be some super hot vampire dude, and I don't think he fit that role either. I think he may need a few more acting lessons. Who am I do judge right? I don't act right? Well guess what, these people DO act. This is their freaking job! Just like they expect us to be good at our jobs, we expect the same from them. They get paid a buttload of money to act and all these actors are on the verge of a strike...so you know what, I can judge. The acting in this movie was just bad. I'm sorry.
A quick note here: shouldn't a movie that has a big vampire cast, showcase the vampires a little more? I feel like we didn't see many of those fangs, or really any neck biting. The family of vampires all seemed like a nice, cozy little family with a few stuck up kids...but none of them really showed us their true vampire-esque abilities. Maybe a nice little tree climbing, or a really speedy run...but is that what we all really know and love about vampires? Even the bad guys didn't do much on screen vampire bad guy things. That just seemed a bit weird to me.
Again, I don't want to critisize the fans of the books. To them, this movie was a lot better than it was for me. They have invested their time with these stories and characters, so it's easier for them to float right into the movie. But now that I think of it, these movies shouldn't just be meant for fans of the books. A movie should try to be good to all people who like the particular genre. I feel the movie sort of catered to the fans of the books and in a way leaves us non fans in the dust. Like we feel cheated in some weird way. I'm very glad the book fans got what they wanted, but I would at least expect the courtesy of a film maker to also make their film appeal to other audiences.
Twilight is by no means an awful movie. I think this movie will be a great success to the die-hard fans of the series, but to people like me, I think it will brush on by as just another forgettable movie. I also think it will have great numbers in it's opening box office totals. Thanks to those teeny boppers out there!
To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Twilight*This is the 147th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.
Ok so you are right... This book was geared to the fans of the book so HAD you read them you would understand that the Cullen family aren't the typical vampires.. Lol.. But seeing how as I read the book I definately saw it differently from you cause I already knew the story line. They could have definately chosen a better Edward. He may have not had the looks to be Edward but I thought he played him very well.. Except for the few times where is accent came out. By the way, did you notice that? I would have enjoyed it much more if there weren't any screaming girls.. You would not have believed it.. They started screaming when Jacob first appeared then Edward. Oh and at the very beginning when Twilight just appeared on the screen.. It may not be a movie for people who have not read the books because you wouldn't be able to understand it fully.. They definately rushed it but I would have to say that I was actually quite happy with the movie.. I thought I was going to be disappointed and you know I won't lie I was a little upset but not gonna lie to you.. I loved it.. So hopefully it has a good opening weekened.. I am acutally going to end up seeing it tomorrow night with my cousin so hopefully there aren't more screaming girls.. Lol..
ReplyDeleteThe film was pretty good. Surely some of the special effects such as the intense speed and Edward's amazing glimmer seem under-done, but there is only so much Hollywood can do for these things. Hope they'll spend more time on the next movies and roll out better details and follow the novel a little closer.
ReplyDeleteTo Jaccstev- I totally agree that there is only so much Hollywood can do. But right now I hate Hollywood. The actors have no right to even think of going on strike, especially at a time like this. So if actors can be that mad about contracts and money, I surely think Hollywood has the extra cash to spend on movies like this that need big budget attention. I'm guessing they thought this movie wouldn't do that well so why give it the right look?
ReplyDeleteNow fans of the books certainly won't care about any of that, they will love the movie just the same. And deservedly so, I'm very glad fans enjoyed the movie!! However the movie should also appeal to people like me, and they didn't do a good job at succeeding in that regard. That's my main beef with this movie. Nothing to do with realism or anything like that. The movie just didn't pull out all the stops to be a good, entertaining movie for people who never even heard of the books.
To Crystal- I totally know how you feel about the screaming audience! Sometimes it adds to the movie though. Remember when we saw The Mist and when that crazy lady got shot and the audience went crazy?? Yeah, that was great!
But I'm really glad you enjoyed the movie!! You deserved that, you waited SO long! lol. You kept telling me how excited you were, so I'm glad you weren't totally dissapointed!
And yeah, I don't know how well they followed the book, but to people like me, the story just seemed choppy and all over the place. And there was virtually no real excitement or tension...or no real danger either. Grrr!
Oh and I think this movie will make plenty of dough! Don't worry about that! Have fun in Cali Crystal!!