Alright, I need to get some work done so I'm going to keep this short. I bought the Stephanie Meyer books--starting with Twilight--for Tara as a birthday gift. I figured they might work as a sort of gateway drug to geekiness (yes, I'm bringing her over to the geek-side). It worked. She really got into 'em; within 3 days she'd read all 500 pages of the first one and was diving right into the second. Needless to say, she also got really excited about the Twilight movie. In fact, she was so excited that, for once, SHE was the one who wanted to hit up the midnight showing of a movie. I'm so proud.
Anyways, this is just gonna be my take on that movie. Let me start off by saying that I've never read the books. I knew going into the movie that it was vampires and romance and...yeah. I love vampires but the romance side, not so much. Regardless, I wanted to go because Tara wanted to go. And seeing as she loves the books, I went in with an open mind.
Now, I want to start off by saying outright that I didn't dislike the movie. It wasn't a BAD movie. It just wasn't my kind of movie. My hopes, going into it, were that this would be a romantic movie (playing to the female audience) and a vampire movie (playing to both the male and female audience). Instead, what I got was a romance that had not very much vampire-y stuff, or, rather, the vampire side wasn't showcased to the extent I would have liked.
I think the movie suffered from a few things, one being the pacing. The beginning is very slow, then the last half hour ratchets things up a bit. It's romance, romance, romance, slight action, romance.
If I'd have gotten what I wanted there would have been a good romance (again, for the ladies), and some bad-ass vampire action (for the men). Instead, even the vampire side was romance. The one scene that started to get me interested was the baseball scene. At this point we're really getting a chance to see the interesting side of the vampires. Sure, Edward already showed up he's fast and strong, but it was all done in a sulky, mopey "i'm not glamorous, i'm a monster" tone. The baseball scene showed them using their extraordinary power to have fun and it made me have fun too. Then the tension gets bumped up a notch when the baddies show and this brings me to my favorite scene within my favorite scene. Slight SPOILERS: when the baddies make a move to attack Bella, the entire Cullen family immediately moves in front of her, protecting her. Later, Carlyle says that Bella is part of their family now and that they take care of their family. This was the most, uh...moving?...part of the movie in my opinion. It was finally stepping beyond the self-importance of the main characters (Edward and Bella), who, yes, were interested in each other, but that still carried an idea of selfishness. Instead, this was a family of vampires who could have just done nothing but decided that if this girl was important enough to their son, she was a part of the family, vampire or no.
Then there's the final showdown. I'm just gonna sum it up in one [hyphenated] word: anit-climactic.
Beyond that, the dialog was pretty corny at some points. Also, it felt as if the filmmakers didn't think the audience would be able to put stuff together on their own so they blatantly told us things.
Still, for all my gripes, I can see how a lot of people will like this movie. Let me stress again, it just wasn't MY TYPE of movie. If you like vampires and really want a romantic movie, check it out. If you're hoping for Blade, 30 Days of Night, The Lost Boys, or even Interview with the Vampire, well, watch one of those.
Again, I kind of hammered this thing out so I'm sure there's a bunch of grammar problems and I know I could have re-worded things into a more succinct fashion. Sorry, you're just going to have to sort it out on your own. ;) Maybe I'll touch it up another time.
Anyways, this is just gonna be my take on that movie. Let me start off by saying that I've never read the books. I knew going into the movie that it was vampires and romance and...yeah. I love vampires but the romance side, not so much. Regardless, I wanted to go because Tara wanted to go. And seeing as she loves the books, I went in with an open mind.
Now, I want to start off by saying outright that I didn't dislike the movie. It wasn't a BAD movie. It just wasn't my kind of movie. My hopes, going into it, were that this would be a romantic movie (playing to the female audience) and a vampire movie (playing to both the male and female audience). Instead, what I got was a romance that had not very much vampire-y stuff, or, rather, the vampire side wasn't showcased to the extent I would have liked.
I think the movie suffered from a few things, one being the pacing. The beginning is very slow, then the last half hour ratchets things up a bit. It's romance, romance, romance, slight action, romance.
If I'd have gotten what I wanted there would have been a good romance (again, for the ladies), and some bad-ass vampire action (for the men). Instead, even the vampire side was romance. The one scene that started to get me interested was the baseball scene. At this point we're really getting a chance to see the interesting side of the vampires. Sure, Edward already showed up he's fast and strong, but it was all done in a sulky, mopey "i'm not glamorous, i'm a monster" tone. The baseball scene showed them using their extraordinary power to have fun and it made me have fun too. Then the tension gets bumped up a notch when the baddies show and this brings me to my favorite scene within my favorite scene. Slight SPOILERS: when the baddies make a move to attack Bella, the entire Cullen family immediately moves in front of her, protecting her. Later, Carlyle says that Bella is part of their family now and that they take care of their family. This was the most, uh...moving?...part of the movie in my opinion. It was finally stepping beyond the self-importance of the main characters (Edward and Bella), who, yes, were interested in each other, but that still carried an idea of selfishness. Instead, this was a family of vampires who could have just done nothing but decided that if this girl was important enough to their son, she was a part of the family, vampire or no.
Then there's the final showdown. I'm just gonna sum it up in one [hyphenated] word: anit-climactic.
Beyond that, the dialog was pretty corny at some points. Also, it felt as if the filmmakers didn't think the audience would be able to put stuff together on their own so they blatantly told us things.
Still, for all my gripes, I can see how a lot of people will like this movie. Let me stress again, it just wasn't MY TYPE of movie. If you like vampires and really want a romantic movie, check it out. If you're hoping for Blade, 30 Days of Night, The Lost Boys, or even Interview with the Vampire, well, watch one of those.
Again, I kind of hammered this thing out so I'm sure there's a bunch of grammar problems and I know I could have re-worded things into a more succinct fashion. Sorry, you're just going to have to sort it out on your own. ;) Maybe I'll touch it up another time.
