Director Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown) helps bring Twilight to the big screen with Best-selling author Stephenie Meyer, attracting her legion of fans for the best-selling books of the Twilight series. Not having read the books, I felt at slight disadvantage when viewing the film, and consequently, did not enjoy it as much as the rest of my fellow viewers apparently did.
At its root, Twilight is a typical teenage love story. Before you stop there, it gets more interesting as the lovers are a human and a vampire. Like most teen romances, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) finds herself irrevocably attracted to the exotic and elusive Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). That’s where the similarity to the genre ends. Bella doesn’t jump through hoops trying to profess her love throughout the film, culminating with one final bid on Edward’s affection at the end. Instead, while trying to confront his odd behavior early on, Edward essentially let’s Bella know that the attraction is mutual, but if she was smart, to leave him alone.
Meyer’s vampires aren’t your run-of-the-mill variety. For starters, they don’t have fangs. They can be active during the day, and direct sunlight does not kill them, making their skin sparkle instead.
It took awhile to get used to the acting in the film. While the humans were normal, the vampires were a little odd, and stiff. If I hadn’t had the opportunity to sit with Laurent (Edi Gathegi) and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) earlier this week, I would have just chalked it up to poor acting. According to Edi Gathegi, the Cullens had to study humans in order to know what to do, how to think, how to act…all in order to fit in. Twilight took its time to get to the action, but I can’t exactly say it was a horrid wait. It kept my interest, even if just barely. The whole time, the film had the feel of constant preparation, as if this wasn’t the story, but just the introduction. I’m assuming that there will be a sequel or more based on Meyer’s books, so hopefully, like Harry Potter, it just gets better each go round.
I’ve heard from people that Twilight is the Lost Boys of this generation. I don’t know if I agree with that. Surely this film will resonate deeply with many of the readers, but to people that haven’t read Meyer’s books, this movie will have about as much impact as Serenity did for non-Firefly fans. You’re mileage may vary.
And if the Cullens ever break from their non-human diet, Alice is welcome to my blood anytime.
