Twilight «««½
PG-13, 122m. 2008
Cast & Credits: Kristen Stewart (Isabella Bella Swan), Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen), Billy Burke (Charlie Swan), Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen), Nikki Reed (Rosalie Hale), Jackson Rathbone (Jasper Hale), Kellan Lutz (Emmet Cullen), Peter Facinelli (Dr. Carlisle Cullen), Cam Gigandet (James), Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black), Anna Kendrick (Jessica Stanley), Michael Welch (Mike Newton), Christian Serratos (Angela Weber), Gil Birmingham (Billy Black), Elizabeth Reaser (Esme Cullen). Screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg based on the book by Stephanie Meyer. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke.
“I know what you are. You’re impossibly fast. And strong. Your skin is pale white, and ice cold. Your eyes change color and you never eat or come out into the sun.”
Such are the strange, troubling characteristics Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) says about her boyfriend, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson); the new kid in school.
It isn’t long before Bella calls him the one word he demands to hear her say out loud. "Vampire."
The characteristics Bella notices about Edward don’t only happen in Twilight. Vampires in movies have exhibited these same predictable traits in hundreds of horror films previous that I have gotten bored with the character and the storylines. I know exactly how the hero plans to kill a vampire in the end. If the Prince of Darkness doesn’t become a smoking fireball after being doused with drops of holy water, a cross, or getting a stake through his/her heart, or die as a result of staring at the sun, I would probably be disappointed.
What makes Twilight surprisingly original is it gives us a completely different take on how vampires live in today’s world. Apparently they don’t become fireballs when they step out in the sun. Their skin just becomes diamond-like. If I were a vampire-hunter, I’d probably look forward to the knowledge that once I killed one, I’d be left with piles of diamonds I could cash in. Women would just find their life-like image, “beautiful”, which is exactly what Bella says when Edward shows her what happens to him in the sunlight.
The film is based on a series of novels by Stephanie Meyer who might just be called the J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter series) of vampire stories given their popularity among young readers ages 12 and up. Not to mention the number of pages each of her four novels (Twilight, Eclipse, New Moon, Breaking Dawn) ranges from 500 to 700 pages. Were it not for the media coverage surrounding Breaking Dawn, Meyer’s final book released last August in the series in addition to the upcoming adaptation of her first book into a feature film, I would have never heard of this horror series. Then again, I don’t go browsing through the young readers section of the bookstore either.
Watching Twilight, I admit I was ready to dismiss this horror/romance as being only for the young girls and women in high school and college, which would include fans of the vampire genre and fans of Meyer’s books. Much the way I felt the Sex and the City movie (2008) was a “for women’s only film” for die-hard fans of the cable television series, fans of fashion, sex and a massive fetish for high heels.
Needless to say, I was right. On the surface, Twilight does only appeal largely to teenagers and I can understand why. What female in high school doesn’t dream about defying one’s friends and parents and dating the “rebel” either no one wants to associate with or doesn’t know much about? I could just hear the words, “How romantic” when Edward and Bella are alone in his room together and she turns on one of his music compact discs without knowing the title happened to be composer Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune.”
There is even a moment that reminded me of the scene in Superman: The Movie (1978) where the Man of the Steel takes Lois Lane on a romantic night flight throughout Metropolis. By comparison, Edward takes Bella on his back and goes flying throughout the forests of Washington state jumping from tree to tree like Tarzan.
I am one hundred percent certain the hearts of all those teenagers watching this movie melted when they saw the two alone near the end at Bella’s prom dancing under the gazebo; which happens to be where she pledges her undying love for him.
No, it wasn’t the romantic storyline that got me. What interested me was the background about Edward’s vampire family-life; thanks in part to Melissa Rosenberg’s adapted screenplay which is full of dry wit.
When a friend tells Bella how he disapproves of her going out with Edward, he says the reason he doesn’t trust him is because he looks at her like she is “something to eat.”
I found it humorous seeing Edward’s vampire family, none of whom have ever made a meal before, try cooking Italian when they meet Bella for the first time. Then there is their love for playing baseball during violent thunderstorms where they can hit the ball much farther than outside the average ballpark and thanks to their flying abilities, catch the ball miles away.
There is a subplot involving a group of rogue vampires (I think), one of who sees Bella as lunch because she is a mortal. There is also another group of characters; a family of werewolves who reside in the same area of Washington and don’t get along with Edward’s vampire clan; a squabble that has apparently been going on for centuries.
I am certain all this will make more sense to someone like me who will probably never read the books or will be too embarrassed to pick one up given the group of readers this series appeals to, but will instead see the films. The studio, Summit Entertainment, is now hard pressed into getting Meyer’s second book adapted for the screen as soon as possible. I have to wonder if the reasons to getting it done out are not two-fold though given that one, vampires don’t age and if this series goes on for the next six to eight years, the actors playing them will. Or two, the reason being to rake in a quick $120 million over the course of three weeks’ time like this one has done to date.
My interest in seeing how this series pans out will not be to see whether Bella becomes a tragic pawn in what might be a twisted horror rendition of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet where two rival families, one vampire and the other werewolf are at war with one another.
It will be to learn more about this decade’s old family who move from state to state, where there is not much sun, and can enroll in area high schools because they always stay the same age of 17.
Twilight is a vampire movie where like Bella, I was expecting to see a lot of dungeons and coffins. What I saw instead was a beautiful home in the middle of a forest surrounded by moats.
I have to wonder if in the next one, Edward tells Bella being a vampire is nothing like what you see in the movies.
©12/3/08
PG-13, 122m. 2008
Cast & Credits: Kristen Stewart (Isabella Bella Swan), Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen), Billy Burke (Charlie Swan), Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen), Nikki Reed (Rosalie Hale), Jackson Rathbone (Jasper Hale), Kellan Lutz (Emmet Cullen), Peter Facinelli (Dr. Carlisle Cullen), Cam Gigandet (James), Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black), Anna Kendrick (Jessica Stanley), Michael Welch (Mike Newton), Christian Serratos (Angela Weber), Gil Birmingham (Billy Black), Elizabeth Reaser (Esme Cullen). Screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg based on the book by Stephanie Meyer. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke.
Such are the strange, troubling characteristics Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) says about her boyfriend, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson); the new kid in school.
It isn’t long before Bella calls him the one word he demands to hear her say out loud. "Vampire."
The characteristics Bella notices about Edward don’t only happen in Twilight. Vampires in movies have exhibited these same predictable traits in hundreds of horror films previous that I have gotten bored with the character and the storylines. I know exactly how the hero plans to kill a vampire in the end. If the Prince of Darkness doesn’t become a smoking fireball after being doused with drops of holy water, a cross, or getting a stake through his/her heart, or die as a result of staring at the sun, I would probably be disappointed.
What makes Twilight surprisingly original is it gives us a completely different take on how vampires live in today’s world. Apparently they don’t become fireballs when they step out in the sun. Their skin just becomes diamond-like. If I were a vampire-hunter, I’d probably look forward to the knowledge that once I killed one, I’d be left with piles of diamonds I could cash in. Women would just find their life-like image, “beautiful”, which is exactly what Bella says when Edward shows her what happens to him in the sunlight.
The film is based on a series of novels by Stephanie Meyer who might just be called the J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter series) of vampire stories given their popularity among young readers ages 12 and up. Not to mention the number of pages each of her four novels (Twilight, Eclipse, New Moon, Breaking Dawn) ranges from 500 to 700 pages. Were it not for the media coverage surrounding Breaking Dawn, Meyer’s final book released last August in the series in addition to the upcoming adaptation of her first book into a feature film, I would have never heard of this horror series. Then again, I don’t go browsing through the young readers section of the bookstore either.
Watching Twilight, I admit I was ready to dismiss this horror/romance as being only for the young girls and women in high school and college, which would include fans of the vampire genre and fans of Meyer’s books. Much the way I felt the Sex and the City movie (2008) was a “for women’s only film” for die-hard fans of the cable television series, fans of fashion, sex and a massive fetish for high heels.
Needless to say, I was right. On the surface, Twilight does only appeal largely to teenagers and I can understand why. What female in high school doesn’t dream about defying one’s friends and parents and dating the “rebel” either no one wants to associate with or doesn’t know much about? I could just hear the words, “How romantic” when Edward and Bella are alone in his room together and she turns on one of his music compact discs without knowing the title happened to be composer Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune.”
There is even a moment that reminded me of the scene in Superman: The Movie (1978) where the Man of the Steel takes Lois Lane on a romantic night flight throughout Metropolis. By comparison, Edward takes Bella on his back and goes flying throughout the forests of Washington state jumping from tree to tree like Tarzan.
I am one hundred percent certain the hearts of all those teenagers watching this movie melted when they saw the two alone near the end at Bella’s prom dancing under the gazebo; which happens to be where she pledges her undying love for him.
No, it wasn’t the romantic storyline that got me. What interested me was the background about Edward’s vampire family-life; thanks in part to Melissa Rosenberg’s adapted screenplay which is full of dry wit.
When a friend tells Bella how he disapproves of her going out with Edward, he says the reason he doesn’t trust him is because he looks at her like she is “something to eat.”
I found it humorous seeing Edward’s vampire family, none of whom have ever made a meal before, try cooking Italian when they meet Bella for the first time. Then there is their love for playing baseball during violent thunderstorms where they can hit the ball much farther than outside the average ballpark and thanks to their flying abilities, catch the ball miles away.
There is a subplot involving a group of rogue vampires (I think), one of who sees Bella as lunch because she is a mortal. There is also another group of characters; a family of werewolves who reside in the same area of Washington and don’t get along with Edward’s vampire clan; a squabble that has apparently been going on for centuries.
I am certain all this will make more sense to someone like me who will probably never read the books or will be too embarrassed to pick one up given the group of readers this series appeals to, but will instead see the films. The studio, Summit Entertainment, is now hard pressed into getting Meyer’s second book adapted for the screen as soon as possible. I have to wonder if the reasons to getting it done out are not two-fold though given that one, vampires don’t age and if this series goes on for the next six to eight years, the actors playing them will. Or two, the reason being to rake in a quick $120 million over the course of three weeks’ time like this one has done to date.
My interest in seeing how this series pans out will not be to see whether Bella becomes a tragic pawn in what might be a twisted horror rendition of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet where two rival families, one vampire and the other werewolf are at war with one another.
It will be to learn more about this decade’s old family who move from state to state, where there is not much sun, and can enroll in area high schools because they always stay the same age of 17.
Twilight is a vampire movie where like Bella, I was expecting to see a lot of dungeons and coffins. What I saw instead was a beautiful home in the middle of a forest surrounded by moats.
I have to wonder if in the next one, Edward tells Bella being a vampire is nothing like what you see in the movies.
©12/3/08
No comments:
Post a Comment