Movie Review: Twilight
After being thoroughly disappointed in the fourth Twilight series book, Breaking Dawn, I had to pump myself up to see the movie adaptation of Twilight. I dragged my boyfriend along. He was reluctant, thinking it would be a sappy romantic flick. I expected the same.
He walked away happy. I walked away conflicted. I was pleasantly surprised by some supporting cast performances: Jessica (Anna Kendrick), Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), Rosalie (Nikki Reed) and Charlie (Billy Burke). These four left the strongest impressions on me. The remaining Cullens… not so much. Jasper (while pretty mute in the book) was made comical with some success (they took it a little too far after his first introduction – I expected a more menacing look rather than deer in the headlights). Alice was cute but hardly pixie-like, as I had imagined her. Emmett was nonexistant while Esme had a few superficial lines. The deficiency in depth is understandable; it mirrors the first book. It is noticable only because the relationship between Edward and Bella pales compared to that described in the book.
Bella sighs so frequently! Edward speaks haltingly. Yes, there is tension but it just didn’t convince me that a deep relationship had been formed. Indeed, there courtship was rushed. While the movie stayed true to the book… and there were definitely small things that only those who had read the books would pick up on (Edwards smirking at Jessica, “She feels slighted” – his questioning glace during the cafeteria sceen, “Why can’t I read this girls thoughts?” – the apple in Edwards outstreatched hands, “Temptation”), I felt there should have been more time spent on the forging of this relationship. After all, so much of what happens down the road is because Bella and Edward love each other so unconditionally. I just didn’t feel the chemistry!
The 120 minute running time could have easily been expanded to ease the transitions between story lines. My boyfriend, while delighted it wasn’t all sappy, missed a lot of the plot because it wasn’t reinforced.
All in all, a decent adaptation for the target audience. I believe the next film will have a larger budget after such a strong opening so I’m looking forward to a more polished sequel. Jacob looks promising as well! Who knows, they may alter the fourth movie (if it gets done) and improve it (anything will be an improvement really).
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I have to revise. After reading In and Out of Place, I have to comment on the third person perspective. Maybe I was asking for too much between Stewart (Bella) and Patterson (Edward). It was difficult for Edward to “figure Bella out” and that came across. But what I didn’t see was how he went from frustrated to love. Sure, there were a few lines (“I tell you I can’t read your mind and you think something’s wrong with you.”) that showed he appreciated her unique thought process, but when does that become love? And Bella was more aggressive with Edward than I imagined.
Now I think of it, my frustration lies in the delivery of the lines rather than the lines themself and in the pacing of the film. I wasn’t completely disappointed… I just wasn’t completely sold either. Edward and Bella – as the couple -never clicked for me.
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
*** This post contains SPOILERS ***
Do not continue until you have finished the book. You have been warned!
My sister, another avid Twilight fan, just called. The message she left went along these lines, “What is going on?! I want to kick Bella in the baby pouch.” She went on exasperated, “Oh my God.” I know how she feels.
So the meaning behind the cover is revealed. Bella is the white Queen. Her half-vampire, half-human child the red Pawn. In the end, Bella saves them all, without sacrificing a single piece.
It wasn’t that I was dissatisfied with how things ended. I was hoping for a happily ever after as much as the next googly-eyed blood sucker lover. It was how we arrived at that ending (and how long it took to get there).
Whole chapters could have been removed from the story (i.e. Chapter 17: What do I look Like? The Wizard of Oz?…). How many times does the reader need to be hit over the head to understand that Jacob will never have Bella and that Edward is incredibly hot. We get it. It took over 100 pages to get to the pregnancy for goodness sake.
Let me now address the shift in narration. Jacob takes over for about a third of the book (Bella is our regular narrator). Immediately, I disbelieved his voice. He had thoughts that Bella would have had. “For a second I was just a kid – a kid who has lived all of his life in the same tiny town. Just a child. Because I new I would have to live a lot more, suffer a lot more, to ever understand the searing agony in Edward’s eyes.” Sounds like Bella talking, doesn’t it? But no, it’s Jacob. I just didn’t think she gave him a distinct voice, not enough to warrant a change in narration. Perhaps a story written in the third person would have suited this series better?
Ok, the baby (and I’m not even going to address her terrible name, though “Nessie” is funny). The very unexpected addition that shouldn’t have been so unexpected. Of course, there needed to be a catalyst. Something to bring the Volturi down on the vegetarians. I certainly didn’t expect the baby but I should have (a similar taboo was “broken” in Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire).
What disappointed me as well was the swift introduction of the numerous vampires who sided with the Cullens and the short face-off with the Volturi. At least Harry Potter delivered at the end – an all out decisive war between freedom and domination. Meyer just won’t kill anyone. It’s like she refuses to sacrifice characters even if the story demands it (I say this with a certain authority as she confessed at her Breaking Dawn concert tour that she loved all her characters, good and bad. There wasn’t a one she loved to hate.) All Bella’s worries about her mortal friends proved pointless as well. Not a hair was harmed (sure Irina dies but who really cares – we never know her or her Denali sisters well enough to be invested) and Bella retained her family ties (as her human family remained ignorant of the truth behind her transformation). The Volturi escape to pick them off one by one later (sure, Alice can warn the Cullens but who will warn the nomadic vamps who temporarily joined them?). I want to see what would have happened had Aro decided to strike. He was arragont enough. He should have made a move, regardless of Bella (especially when he saw her barrier did not physically keep people out). It seemed out of character even, that one of the Volturi did not act.
So… there it is. A good series with a decent ending, but one I can imagine could have been much better (and shorter).
