Twilight

Ah teen angst. So poignant, so over-dramatic, so bloody. Yeah, I said bloody. Judging from the number of teen girls who looked like they wanted to massacre me as I walked down the street with my Twilight bag after the press junket, I’d say this movie is going to do very well. Teen vamps, heavy breathing, longing gazes and bloody fights certainly made the Stephenie Meyer books popular.

If you’ve been living in your basement or you’ve been ordered to stay away from teen girls, Twilight, starring the dramatically coiffed Robert Pattinson and a lovely Kristen Stewart in brown contacts, has become a cultural phenomenon. Walk past your local Hhttp://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/twilight-backlot-21.jpgot Topic and you’ll see what I mean. I admit it. I read the books. I actually enjoyed the first one and though the thought of being a teenager forever wakes me up in a cold sweat, it did remind me of how dramatic your first love affairs could be.

Closely following the novel, Twilight follows high school student Bella (Stewart) who has recently left her home in Arizona and flighty mother, to move in with her dad, Charlie, (Billy Burke) in Forks, WA. A bit shy and brooding, she is fascinated by thttp://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/twilight-backlot-21.jpghe beautiful Cullen family, who seem to keep to themselves and only show up at school on cloudy days. When she is seated next to Edward Cullen (Pattinson) in science class and he spends it glowering at her, she becomes a bit obsessed with the lovely thing. After he saves her from being crushed by a car, and obviously uses inhuman strength, she figures out what he is, and the love affair begins. As people in the town begin dying mysteriously and Bella gains an evil vampire stalker, the Cullen family must save her...and try not to eat her.

I will be absolutely honest and say that I did not expect to like Twilight. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a delicate and non-judgmental treatment of a teenage love affair. I suppose I should have. Director Catherine Hardwicke is hardly a stranger to the teenage condition, having directed the films Thirteen and The Nativity Story. Dramatic and poignant as the lovebirds get, it never moves into the land of preciousness. And visually, she creates virtually the same supernatural world that author Stephenie Meyer created. And in that world, vampires have no fangs, they don’t sleep and they...well, they sparkle in the sun. Sigh. Glittery vampires. Pretty sparkly ones that don’t have fangs. My inner-Buffy fan is revolting, but I have to say, even that didn’t take me out of the film. As screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg told reporters, it makes it more brutal. No pretty little holes in the skin. They just have to bite down.

Pattinson just oozes brooding and is perfectly cast. Both Hardwicke and Stewart told us (check out our interviews) that he was so concerned about giving the perfect performance, that it was sometimes difficult to get through a scene. He never comes off as cheesy or overdone though, and the chemistry between he and Stewart is palpable. She confirmed that he asked him to marry her at one point during filming. He told us that this does tend to happen to him on set and it’s not the first time he’s done it. Stewart, though she does look like her next sentence may make her vomit from stress, suits the role. Lovely and unassuming, uncomfortable with her dad and unafraid of a boyfriend who could be lethal, this is the Bella I remember from the novel. Evil vamps James, (Cam Gigandet) Laurant (Edi Gathegi) and Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre) are a menacing trio with some seriously stunning hair. The Cullens, Rosalie (Nikki Reed), Emmet (Kellan Lutz), Alice (Ashley Greene), Dr. Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), and Esme (Elizabeth Reaser) are a lovely bunch, as they’re meant to be. They didn’t have much to do in this film, but if the second book, New Moon, gets made (and they’ve all signed on for 3) we should get to see a lot more of them. And Bella’s wolfie admirer Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner).

My only complaint, and it’s a pretty big one, is that the pale vampire makeup only seems to reach their chins, while their necks remain human-flesh-toned. That is a glaring mistake and I’m stunned that no one bothered to at least fix that in post production.

If you can manage to get a ticket, and I believe the first two weeks of the film are already sold out, Twilight is absolutely worth a look. Just prepare yourself for the squeals of preteen girls and the shouts of “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob”. I’m going to go bury my Twilight bag before the little girls break down my door to get it.

Release Date: November 21st, 2008
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Billy Burke, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Taylor Lautner, Jackson Rathbone, Elizabeth Reaser, Cam Gigandet, Edi Gathegi, Rachelle Lefevre

Direction: B+
Writing: B+
Performance: B+
Visual Appeal: B+
Overall: B+

Dolies is the founder and editor in chief of Lascha.com ,a blog on Blogger tips ,tricks ,designer resources and many premium wordpress templates for free use.