Twilight (2008)

O Masterpiece
O Excellent
X Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / November 30, 2008

My friend Merinda Pearce said it best when she explained, “Even though ‘Twilight’ is a love story about teenage vampires, it’s a lot better than it sounds.” Despite my initial skepticism, Merinda was correct. “Twilight” is adapted from Stephenie Meyer’s book of the same name, an addictive series that has seduced many female readers (including my wife).

Though I haven’t read the book, the movie is intriguing — without a doubt — and the film’s success (and presumably the book’s) lies in its ability to make us increasingly anxious about what will happen next. We’ve all heard numerous vampire stories, which makes “Twilight’s” fresh appeal somewhat surprising.

While her mother and step-father travel to Florida for spring training, 17-year-old “Bella” Swan (Kristen Stewart), of Phoenix, moves to the tiny town of Forks, Washington (population 3,120) to live for a time with her father, Charlie Swan (the uncannily likable Billy Burke), who serves as Forks’ chief of police.

At Bella’s new high school, she encounters the mysterious, pale-faced Cullen kids, who turn out to be vampires, unbeknownst somehow to everyone else in the community. A mutual and eventually romantic intrigue befalls Bella and one of the Cullens named Edward (Robert Pattinson). But when a blood-sucking vampire and a human fall in love, things become dangerously complicated.

And the precarious circumstances of the unlikely couple’s relationship comprise the bulk of the film. Edward hungers for Bella’s blood, but he is well aware of the magnitude of such a dating faux pas. Edward’s family also finds his new girlfriend … tempting. Then there are other local vampires who aren’t so well mannered.

The best aspect to “Twilight” is its ability to make us as curious as Bella is about Edward’s vampirism. A remarkable incident occurs that initially tips Bella off that Edward is very different from the boys down in Arizona. But at the risk of evoking the wrath of die-hard “Twilight” fans, I was disappointed by the way the movie breaks its own spell when we’re shown poorly depicted demonstrations of vampiric power.

Unfortunately, “Twilight’s” portrayal of a vampire’s physical abilities (which is precisely when we need Hollywood’s illusory magic the most) is ridiculously unconvincing. Watching Edward leap about, scaling trees is comparable to a high school stage production of “Peter Pan.” I kept looking for the wire.

The worst aspect to “Twilight” is its performances. Perhaps the actors are not the ones to blame. I have read excerpts of dialogue from Meyer’s book, and at times, the cast may have had little to work with. But I suspect the real culprit is director Catherine Hardwicke, who also directed “The Nativity Story” (2006), “Lords of Dogtown” (2005) and “Thirteen” (2003).

For instance, during Bella’s first few encounters with Edward, poor Robert Pattinson’s performance is laugh-out-loud ludicrous — again, something I blame on Hardwicke’s instruction (or lack thereof). I’m sure the book describes a similar scene, but Edward just keeps staring at Bella — “real hard.” Honestly, I was worried the kid was going to pull something from straining so much. … And incidentally, shooting a person’s movements at a slower speed so they’ll playback in fast-forward, merely looks like fast-forward, not super-human speed.

Otherwise, the film’s casting works. The Cullen vampires are beautiful people, as the book prescribes. Kristen Stewart, who is somewhat reminiscent of the “Gilmore Girls’” Alexis Bledel, makes a fine Bella. Pattinson’s Edward is a faint mix between Jason Priestley and New Age pianist Paul Cardall — especially during his piano scene. And Cam Gigandet’s (“Never Back Down”) James is genuinely unsettling.

Vampire movies have been around a long time; the German film, “Nosferatu” (1922), is the earliest one I was aware of, but according to a vampire history Web site, a British film called “The Secrets of House No. 5” (1912) was the first one. (Tod Browning and Bela Lugosi’s “Dracula” didn’t come out until 1931.)

In any case, vampires have been in the cinema for decades, and their attributes have been fairly consistent, until recently. The overlooked “Cronos” (1993) throws a different spin on vampirism, for example. And “Twilight” is quite liberal with its vampiric “rules” and limitations. But much like zombies, who have become frighteningly fast in recent years, I guess vampires have to evolve, too.

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke
Kristen Stewart / Robert Pattinson / Billy Burke
Romance / Thriller 122 min.
MPAA: PG-13 (for some violence and a scene of sensuality)

U.S. Release Date: November 21, 2008
Copyright 2008: 327