Publications
Partners
This review was first published in 2008.
MOVIE:
Twilight
WHERE TO WATCH:
OUR RATING:
2/5 Stars
WHAT IT'S ABOUT:
Sixteen-year-old Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) moves from sunny Phoenix to the tiny mountainous town of Forks, Washington, to live with her divorced father Charlie (Billy Burke) after her mom decides to go on the road with her new husband. At her new school she makes fast friends, but becomes intrigued by her lab partner, the beautiful, broody and oh-so-mysterious Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), one of the famous Cullen clan – a makeshift family with pale skin and a suspicious aversion to sunlight. When Edward inexplicably saves Bella's life in a freak accident, she begins to question just who and what he is – and the two become involved in a deeply passionate love affair that's one part addiction, one part supernatural teenage lust.
WHAT WE THOUGHT:
You have every reason to quench your curiosity and book your tickets to Twilight just to see what all the fuss is about. For anyone who has read the series of books by Stephenie Meyer (of which this is the first) will know precisely why gaggles of teenage girls, their mothers, brothers and boyfriends have all gone ballistic over this tale of star-crossed love between a teenage girl and a vampire.
It has all the elements of the Romeo & Juliet legend - she's virginal and pretty, he's brooding and mysterious in a gothic, swashbuckling sort of way, and their destiny seems to have been written in the stars. It doesn't hurt that they make a pretty damn great-looking pair onscreen. In fact, much of the young cast are nothing short of striking, particularly the members of the undead Cullen clan. There's blonde and bitchy Rosalie (Nikki Reed) who resents the fact that her "brother" has allowed an outsider into their sanctified family, the pixie-cut Alice (who can see the future), the family patriarch Dr. Carlisle Cullen (Peter Facinelli), as well as some other worryingly pale Cullens we don't get to see or hear from much.
But central to the Twilight tale is the intensely passionate relationship between Edward and Bella. She's the soulmate he's been searching for for the best of a century, and his sullenness somehow sings to Bella's lovesick heart. And their onscreen chemistry (a massive contributor to the insane fandom the book and movie have garnered worldwide) is scorching enough to send sparks into the next galaxy. But as great as Pattinson is to look at (and he really does have a fascinating kind of beauty) his perpetual moodiness can be rather taxing. Pattinson just hasn't found quite the right balance between enigma and broody teenager, and the audience is never quite sure what to make of Edward. Lucky for him, then, that his teen co-star Stewart, so magnetic in Sean Penn's Into the Wild, is such an infinitely watchable actress, capably personifying the fear, curiosity and longing of young love.
There are some pivotal scenes that attempt to demonstrate just how special Edward is. He has the ability to fly and read other people's minds but the visual effects budget must've been on the thin side because you've definitely seen more convincing depictions of supernatural ability on TV shows like Smallville and Heroes.
Director Catherine Hardwicke seems to have sacrificed much of the substance which made the book so compelling, for plenty of sensory style – from the Cullens' cavalcade of flashy sports cars and picturesque mountain retreat, to the cool nu-emo rock soundtrack.
And for an action-adventure movie, the pace is all over the place. Hardwicke awkwardly juxtaposes the blossoming romance with the horror and violence that cannot be divorced from the vampire legend, as much as she tries to. Much of the narrative unfolds in fuzzy bits and pieces that never quite gels. And some cringeworthy lines ("You're like my own brand of heroin," Edward whispers to Bella) should perhaps not be tried at home.
Twilight is also guilty of perhaps one of the coldest, most "WTF?!" ending of any movie released this year. And then it gets worse with the sloppily edited closing credits. The lack of cohesion is frustrating when one considers just how brilliant this movie could have been. So it comes as no surprise that Hardwicke has not been re-hired to direct the highly anticipated sequel New Moon (due in 2010).
Let's be honest. Twilight wasn't made with the clued-up horror or fantasy fan in mind. It's more Gossip Girl than Nosferatu, but – even though it'll likely cause you to tear your hair out – go and see it, if only for the electric vision of doomed love that is Edward and his Bella.
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:
