Rating:
3 out of 5
Short version: Twilight really is strictly for fans of the book – while not terrible, it’s far from great.
Screen Rant reviews Twilight
So it’s finally here.
Twilight, at least for a select group of ladies, has been THE most anticipated movie of 2008 – and their wait is finally over. The question is: Was it worth it?
For them, yes.
For the rest of us? Eh, not so much.
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Twilight opens with the introduction of our heroine, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). She is in sunny Arizona with her mom and new stepfather, and as they prepare for a long road trip she decides that she’d rather go up to Washington state to stay with her estranged father, Charlie (Billy Burke). He lives in the small town of Forks (population 3,000) and is the local sheriff.
She arrives in the middle of the school year so although it should be hard to make friends (and it’s implied), she manages to connect with a group of kids who are far more welcoming than she is ready to be welcomed. They give her the scoop on who’s who and they soon point out the Cullens, an odd assortment of very pale-skinned guys and gals. To make things weirder, they are apparently foster brothers/sisters yet they are “couples.” They’ve been taken in by the local Dr. Cullen and his wife.
One of the group is of course, Edward (Robert Pattinson). His story is that “no girl is good enough for him.” Of course Bella is immediately fixated on him, although the feeling is apparently very much not mutual. As a matter of fact when she is assigned to be his lab partner, he seems to be repulsed by her.
Edward leaves for a few days, and when he returns his mood towards Bella has changed considerably. He’s now polite and at least feigns interest. She (mostly) gets over being offended and tries to get to know him although he still doesn’t want to get close to her. Almost immediately he saves her from being killed in a car accident in a scene that’s been shown in the trailer. She’s no dummy and doesn’t miss the fact that he was across the parking lot, got over to her in a flash and was able to keep a van from smashing into her (to the point that he left a dent in the door with his hand). [Note slight sarcasm there, folks]
Anyway, we soon meet Dr. Cullen (Peter Facinelli) at the hospital, whose makeup job is so incredibly white that he looks like the Cesar Romero version of the Joker. He is none to pleased about Edward (I guess I can’t call him “Ed,” huh?) possibly exposing who he really is to save Bella’s life.
One thing leads to another and the burgeoning romance is on its way, with a side trip to a confrontation with the “bad” vampires who actually kill humans to feed (go figure). You see the Cullens only drink the blood of animals. The bad guys have been responsible for a number of gruesome murders in town recently. One of them decides to target Bella and thus we get the final confrontation which finally brings us some decent action.
So what’s good?
I thought that the stars and supporting cast actually did a really great job. Bella’s friends were engaging, funny and they played their roles very naturally. Billy Burke was low key and very good as Bella’s father, Kristen Stewart did a decent job, and I have to say that despite his severely sculpted eyebrows and uber-funky hair that I liked Rob Pattinson’s portrayal of Edward Cullen. I don’t know how closely the way he played the character matched the version in the book, but I thought that his uncertainty and awkwardness in light of how powerful he really was made him quite charming.
There were quite a few moments of unexpected humor in the film that I enjoyed. Nothing huge or slapsticky, but just little things that were enough to actually make me laugh out loud (which some comedies this year didn’t manage to make me do). Really the performances made this worthwhile for me.
So what wasn’t so good?
For a non-fan, it was really a pretty bland film. It seemed very slow-moving at times, and let’s face it – it’s a pretty “stock” teen romance movie. There wasn’t anything really special here outside of the fact that it had, you know… vampires.
Nothing really eye-catching as far as cinematography or interesting shots, and one think that really struck me as bad were the visual effects. When the film had its first “super-speed” effect, where the bad vampires corner one of the locals, it was so poorly done that I think I actually gasped out loud. I mean there was this incredibly cheesy blur that I can’t really describe except to say that anything you see on an average episode of Smallville is done far better.
Imagine my shock at the end of the film when in the credits I saw Industrial Light & Magic listed among the visual effects companies. I can only guess that they were responsible for some other effect and not the one I just mentioned (which was terrible throughout the film).
Towards the end the teen-romance-cheese-factor pegged the needle in the aftermath of the big battle in a scene between Edward and Bella. That was about the hardest scene in the movie to sit through, and pretty much from there until the end it was quite sappy and reminded me of a typical teen TV series on the CW.
The audience full of Twilight fans seemed to enjoy it a lot and gave it a thumbs up, so I guess it’s achieved its goal. I’m curious to see if it does well enough at the box office to generate a sequel (which I’m thinking would actually be better than this film).
So take all that for what it’s worth – I’ll leave the decision of whether to see it or not up to you.
Oh, and yes (for the fans), Edward does “sparkle” in the film and Bella is clumsy. 
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182 Comments
The problem with this film was that it was in no way exceptional. Movies with terrible animations can be very good if the acting is great, or the story supports itself. Likewise, movies can be entertaining simply because of amazing explosions, gore, and overall combat. Twilight simply had nothing to offer.
The story: vampire romances have been done before, and this one looked like a cheesy teen romance made even cheesier with the addition of vampires.
The animations: terrible.
The acting: regardless of how well the actors portrayed the characters from the books, good actors make the movies feel like reality. This film was worse than some pixar films in that respect.
Honestly, i’ve never read the books, so i’m rating this as a simple movie viewer who was forced to watch by some friends, but it really was not very good. I enjoyed the preshow commercials more.
I am just so shock to be reading all of these negative reviews of twilight, that I don’t know what to say!!!
I just saw the movie for the second time tonight. I was a little bit disappointed in the character who played as Jacob(the guy from shark boy and lava girl) and the scene where his two ‘friends’ come up I wished that the character who is going to play as Embry*sp (the one on the left) would have stayed as Jacob (his charming smile and his love for twizlers) but latr on he would have had to cut his hair for the later films..I didn’t like the ‘running’ scenes as much as I would have liked, but the rest of the movie shoved a place into my heart. The only two other things that really made my eye twitch was 1. when they didn’t mention Alice’s past, and 2. when victoria spoke.. you ‘hear’ her speak in book 3 and she’s supposed to surprise you as having a high pitched girly voice that didnt suit her. >.>;; oh well. I wasn’t Victoria fan at all. but by the end of the 2nd time watching I was deadly in love with Edward, Jasper, and Carlisle- once you watch it more than once you get the feeling that the actors played very well into the roles. Bella could always smile more, and Victoria could look a little less trashy (as my fello companions put it) and I hope the ‘little’ details that brings the characters out more will be put into movie 2. But they dont mention how Bella sleep talks (cries) or that the piano song is pretty important.
i got a few comments from my comment here.. and i have decided for myself about the movie … the movie itself was destent i tried not to be so closed minded with the first 30 mins of the movies. i did not just look at it was a twilight reader and crazy obseser(even dow thats what i have become to be) i look at it from my both perspectives which is a really really big movie lover and cridict and a new reader and fan of twilight .. as a book it is flip’n sweet but as a movie it is ok . im not trying to dis the movie im just saying it could of been better .. it was pretty exagerated on most parts and when alil to fast . .. . . but remember guys that when you read there is no limits to ur emagination but in a real life movie.. as a movie cridict it was good; could of been better with some of the seens and how it was played out but as twilight reader it kinda sucked just a tad.. i still think it was an ok movie
Rachel, you bring forward a great point that I am sadden that I had forgot to included in one of my before comments. I too felt like I had just lost it and let go during the second viewing of the twilight movie. The first time you view twilight you look for the simalerities(bad spelling), and differentices(bad spelling) between the books and the movie, but by the second and third time viewing the movie, you just loosen up and go with the flow, or at least I did!!!
I watched the movie the day it came out, I agree that the movie was more for fans then anyone else, I went with my boyfriend and found myself explaining a lot of what was going on. I loved Edward Cullen, but sometimes his face shots were awkward. Bella was very good I would not want anyone else EVER to play her role(she looked like a natural beauty ), but she was not enough….of Bella(if you know what I mean). Over all, the cast could not have been better I loved Rosalie (in a love hate kind of way), Bella’s father played a perfect Charlie, Emmitt was emmitt, Jasper was awkward the way he always was(in the book), Alice was charismatic, Esme and Carlisle were perfect parents. But, I did expect a bit more (from the director). What I mean is, that in every book Stephanie Meyer did a excellent job at putting the readers in the shoes of the characters, the movie did not do this so well. I think a new director would be better, over all I will go to see every version of twilight if 10,000 twilights were made, but that’s just my love for the book, not my love for the movie. I hope they make a movie for the second book! I want to see how Jacobs going to look! Other then that Edward was sooooo sexy!!!!!
@Tina
I hope that works since im going to see this movie probably several times (I wont have to pay at all since all my friends instist on paying, which I dont mind
). I had no problem with this movie except the ones I listed before but no movie is perfect especially when its from a book.
@Sil
Very much agreed! I think im just trying to be positive about it since Stewart isnt one of my top ten actrors. She just dosent express herself… at all. If she could have brought a little more character to it I think it would have made the movie 10 times better!
I don’t think the movie was terrible, but i a soooo in love with the book that i for got to remember to not link the little parts in the book to the film. but i’m soooo confused, i am not sure if i should be happy because twilight was finally a movie or to be angry that the key parts in the book were screwed up.
(question? i can’t remember, did bella and edward(my man) stop at the police station on their way home in the book? or was that added in movie??)
@ Jess H
I agree if her acting was more passionate and showed the love for Edward better it would have made the movie better even it it was a cheap movie .
@ Anastacia
no it’s not in the book ! I hated it because the car ride home from Port Angeles is one of themost important scenes and where Bella truly finds out that he is a vampire , not when they ditch school( another added crappy scene) but I guess they added the meet with Carlisle at the police station to accomodate another added scene which was the nomads attacking around town which also does not happen in the book.
Well Vic, I saw Twilight with my wife on Saturday and I came away with thinking about the same thing you did. It was ok, not terrible, but not great.
Edward carried the movie for me. His awkward strength was motivating for me to continue to be engaged throughout the film. I loved that they relied heavily on the faces to convey the deep love they had for each other, as opposed to obvious physicality.
My wife will be uploading her review of the movie to Truth On Cinema in the next day or so to provide more of an in-depth look at the movie, ie from someone who has read the books.
I hope the sequels get darker and try to use some of the money towards better effects and acting lessons for some of the supporting cast.
Wow I don’t even know where to start with this.
I’m a pretty huge fan of the books (i’m curerently on the third one, “Eclipse”) and decided to go see the movie even though I knew I would probably be disappointed..
..but I couldn’t guess how disappointed.
I agree about most of what you wrote… bad, horrible, terrible (any other word you can find to describe bad) special effects.. It was probably the first thing I was looking forward to that completely shocked me when I actually saw it. The only part I enjoyed of the special effects is when Edward gets out of the car and zooms the other side to let Bella out. I think what disappointed me most of all about the special effects, though, was the way they made Edward “sparkle” in the sun… Its described in the book that his skin resembles marble stone.. and in my head i’m thinking specs of sparkles throughout his body but in the movie he looks like a glitter faery puked all over him. I think it was more over-the-top than necessary and took away from the beauty it was -suppose- to reflect. Oh and when Edward jumps to run with Bella, it looks like they are on an invisible cord.. how cheesy.
The acting was okay… I was most disappointed in Edwards character, but I think thats because I already had a preconceived idea of who he is in my own head. I was pleased with Kristens performance as Bella but I also think thats because she pretty much nailed the person that I made up in my head.
I couldn’t understand how Edward and Bella could fall so fast for each other in the movie. Since they left out a lot of details, they left out some interactions between the two. It was like they were complete strangers and then all of a sudden couldn’t stand to be apart with nothing in the middle to lead them to that point.
I was most surprised at how the meadow scene wasn’t a big deal or even portrayed like it is in the book. I read on the authors website that this scene is where the thought of the book was born. She dreamt about an ordinary girl standing with a ridiculously handsome boy vampire (who sparkled in the sun) and I think they were having a conversation.. the author notes that she started from this scene and wrote to the end then started at the begining to tie it all together. I would think this would be pivotal to the movie as well, buuuut apparently not… if you didn’t know the book then you probably wouldn’t have even paid much attention to that part or even remember it. I wonder how the author must think about this.
It almost feels like the movie wasn’t “loved” enough to be put together properly… as if every single person who worked to put this movie together were -forced- to do it and didn’t really take it to its true potential. I could think of a million things that should have been different… IE ..in the book, Bella has to think of a way to escape from Alice and another (cant think of if its emmet or jasper) in the airport so that she can go meet with james to save her mom… in the movie she just walks out… it would have been more interesting if they stuck to the book in that aspect. Everything from then on was too easy and didn’t really have a climatic point. You don’t read about the fight with james and the good vampires, and i’m glad they added it to the movie, but it still could have been done a little bit more interesting.
I think there will be a sequel to this movie just because the hype of the movie probably brought on more fans than it would have brought without it, but I wouldn’t doubt that it doesn’t make it through all four books (which I heard is suppose to be happening). I think the sequel will be more exciting than the first if they can do it right..
aaah so much more I could say. I’ve been waiting to get this all off of my chest. (haha) I’m glad i’m not the only one who feels this way about the movie..
Anastacia, The police station scene was a add in!
I saw the movie last night and was EXTREMELY disappointed. The characters were very bland, especially Bella..the special effects were horrible…and I certainly couldn’t feel the attraction and love between Bella and Edward (the book did an amazing job, but the actors in the movie killed it!)…this film had such potential…it’s unfortunate it turned out the way it did….Maybe by the time New Moon comes out, they will have learned from their mistakes.
But Stephenie Meyer, WAY TO GO with your book!!!!! It was amazing!
Thanks Tina , im gonna go see it again this weekend and im gonna try really hard not to be close minded . [:
do you think it gets better or worse the 2nd time you see it??
David B , chill out yo i mean come on it just what everyone thinks where not tyring to be asses it just the movie could of been better.. what the movie ment to u could of ment something way differant to someone esle..
when i went back to school on monday my teacher asked how the movie was cuz she always saw me reading the books in her class.. i told her i was dissappointed cuz it didnt really go the way id expected and i was pretty upset and she told me GOOD! i was like what? r u for real? and she said yes im glad u didnt like it.. ( i couldnt belive she said that my mouth was open and everything ) i told her i got the tickets a month ahead just to be able to see this moive on friday and to come back disappointed was just a real let down.. they she told me well the reason im glad you didnt like it is that means you read it well, you understood the charectors and where they were coming from . u did not just read the book lived it in your mind and thats what a good book is suppose to be capture ur attention. its better to read a book then watch the movie sometimes cuz your have no limits to your imagination.
Hey Vic, The begining of your article is wrong. Bella doesn’t just decide on a whim to go to Washington. Obviously it is explained in the book but, she also explains it to Edward in the movie. She goes to live with her father so that her mother can go on the road with her husband who is a minor league ball player. I saw the movie twice and enjoyed it the second time round much more than the first. Unfortunatly, the audiance reaction really affects my own experience and the second time the crowd was much better. I agree with much of your review but all in all I really enjoyed it!
Wow please thank your teacher for what a great way to say something so important to the world of learning, rachel!!!(they she told me well the reason im glad you didnt like it is that means you read it well, you understood the charectors and where they were coming from . u did not just read the book lived it in your mind and thats what a good book is suppose to be capture ur attention. its better to read a book then watch the movie sometimes cuz your have no limits to your imagination.)
And to comment on your other comment for me. I would have to say that seeing the movie the second time really didn’t do that much of differenice, but at least the movie was more intertaning than the first view of the twilight movie!!!
@Kim
I never said Bella moved to Washington on a “whim.” Here’s what I wrote:
“She is in sunny Arizona with her mom and new stepfather, and as they prepare for a long road trip she decides that she’d rather go up to Washington state to stay with her estranged father, Charlie (Billy Burke). He lives in the small town of Forks (population 3,000) and is the local sheriff.”
I didn’t give the reason for the road trip but I did say that it was due to their trip that she decided to move.
Vic
Vic, why is all of your comments boxed in red???
Just wondering!!!
@Tina
Because I am the author of this review.
Vic
Well like I said I am already enlisted to see this movie mabey three more times but im not complaning. Rachel, your teacher has got it down to the point.
@Tina
Ive alwaysed found you enjoy a movie the second time around and im hopeing the same for this
Jess, you won’t be dissapointed the second time viewing the twilight movie. In fact later today, I will be viewing my third time of the twilight movie and I know for a fact the third time will be more intertaning than the second time and the third time will be much more intertanting than the first time view the twilight movie and I am still not done!!! I still have (after todays viewig of twilight) four more views of the movie to go!!!
@Tina
lol! Im in the same boat. Im seeing it again Fri and Sat and I dont know how many more times after that. I might just go myself as well just because I really did enjoy it the first time!
O,no Jess!!! I am not going to see the movie four more time, by myself. I am going with my friend that hasn’t seen the twilight movie yet, only because of vaction in flordia.
We were planning to see the movie together today, and Sunday and than I was planning on seeing the movie three more times, with whoever wants to go with me!!! Friends/family!!!
Oh thats not what I meant im seeing it with several times but I was plannin on going by myself too if none of my frends wanted to go with me. Im seeing it fri and sat with a couple of my firends who havent seen it and one my friend wants to see it again as well. i didnt think you wre seeing it by yourself. Not as much fun
@ Tina & Jess H
I actually saw the movie the first time by myself. I’m a dork really, but i am such a fan of the book and have sort of wrapped myself into this whole world that i felt wrong experiencing it with someone else. I was going with a friend until she said “i always love a good vampire movie” …that killed it for me because it was a lot more than that for me… soo i left her behind (lol like i said, dork) I was disappointed in the movie but apparently everyone is saying its good a second time around so i shall give it another shot…(too much of a fan not to i guess) and this time i’ll take someone with me (haha) ..i got a couple of my friends reading the saga so hopfully they will want to go see the movie soon.
Hello everyone,
I just walked in the house, and guess what I just saw again for the third time?
?
?
?
?
THAT IS RIGHT, TWILIGHT!!!
I must say the third time watching the movie is like watching the movie for the second time. I loved the movie,again not as crazy as a twilight fan should be after viewing the twilight movie, but I still loved the movie and again I will be watching the movie this coming Sunday, but I am starting to wonder, am I really seeing the movie for interst or for Edward and my answer would be( because only I can answer my own question)would be EDWARD!!!
I just don’t know how many more times I can sit through the twilight movie, before I really start to get bored(never would of thought that as a twilight fan, I didn’t think I would hear the word bored come out of my mouth containing twilight), tho I will soon find out!!! Won’t we???
(Remember each comment contains a viewing of twilight.)
Hey everyone! So I have yet to see the movie, but since I am going to have to take my little sibling before I get killed, I thought I’d take a look at reviews. I liked the book but wasn’t overly impressed with it’s writing style. The story though was adorable and left a nice little warm feeling. I was thinking that the movie would do the same, but I guess it’s going to have to wait until I actually see it. I am actually more curious about the effect of the movie on the teens that watch it. I work with teens and here are some of the interesting things that were brought up: http://saharsblog.wordpress.com/2008/11/27/the-puzzle-that-are-obsessions-or-wow-how-teenagers-love-edward-cullen/. I am looking forward to next week because yet another batch of teens I work with will have seen it and I will be able to talk to them about it too! Yay!
Saw twilight for the secound time, and it was so much better this time. I got over how it did not compare to the book in some cases and when I did that, in my eyes, the movie greatly improved. Im going to see it again next weekend with a friend hopefully and not see it again till it comes out on dvd. The reason im doing this is so I do not get bored with the movie and if I see it a million times I will start to getsick of it. I will be happy as a clam to wait till it comes out on dvd.
Tina, i didnt just see twilight a 2nd time i was it 3 times (not really by choice) but i think it was a lil bit better cuz its like you have to try to forget its a book and just a movie….. but i must say that the 3rd time i was kinda annoyed . i was just sitting there half way through the movie( god when is it gonna finish) but i did notice alot of stuff i had missed .. see when you see it the second time its kinda just like a kinda sorta dont wanna see it attitude cuz you were so upset about how much it sucked that you missed the lil detail that the directors think we’ll catch but dont untill like the 4th or so time you see it. .. no what i mean jelly bean ? ^_^
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