‘Twilight’
I’ve read Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series long before the fan frenzy started and spread like vampire venom. Initially I was hesitant to read the books because they catered to tweens, but glowing reviews from the New York Times, Washington Post, and the fact that it stayed on the former’s bestseller list for several months in 2007 piqued my curiosity. (Also, I was a fan of Harry Potter—and this franchise originally targeted juvenile readers not even hitting puberty, so.)
Like any warm-blooded female, I immediately fell in love with Edward Cullen. I wanted him to ditch that wussy Bella and bite my neck, and we would live out the rest of eternity driving a red-hot Porsche. But since fate had other things in store for both of us, I didn’t take it personally.
Edward and Bella’s saga was mesmerizing; the classic case of an alternate universe that was the stuff great stories are made of. Boy and girl Meet Cute in high school, fall in love and go to the prom together. But the guy happens to be a vampire who’s 107 years old and the ordinary, mortal girl is in danger of being his next meal every time he holds her hand. It’s the type of premise that requires one’s imagination to work overtime, but it actually works.
So when I heard that Hollywood was going to do a movie based on the first book, I was thrilled. It was understandable to envision various actors for the roles of the two titular characters. Brandon Routh of ‘Superman Returns’ immediately popped into mind to play perfect, chiseled, statuesque Edward. I half-hoped the pale, brunette lead on the TV series ‘Wildfire’ would audition for Bella, because she had sort of a shy, isolated feel about her.
Nevertheless, I could hardly wait to see the screen adaptation. I twisted my boyfriend’s arm months ago to accompany me to watch Twilight upon its release, and we were planning to watch it on Dec. 1, a holiday. But as it turned out, I couldn’t wait that long, so I found myself taking a half-day leave last Friday just to catch the mid-afternoon screening at ATC. It didn’t matter that I was by myself, or I was playing hooky. I simply needed to watch Twilight.
It’s hard at first to determine why I found the movie to be disappointing. Maybe it has to do with the fact that if a story is based on a book, the reader has a clear understanding of the essence of the characters—the way they think, speak, move. Kristen Stewart is a visual Bella without any problem. She pulled off her character’s lonely, reclusive and clumsy nature and her mumbly manner of speaking. The problem was that she was so intent on portraying Bella’s monotonous personality that it completely overwhelmed everything else about her character. Take the pivotal moment when Edward came into her life, for example. Meyer’s Bella encountered a rapture once she met Edward. It was like she found a reason to live, an otherworldly passion she had never before experienced in her life. It was complicated given Edward’s background, and she was confused, but overall she believed she found the love of her life.
Stewart was unable to translate that essential part of Bella onscreen. She came off as stiff and lifeless in all the scenes where she was supposed to portray shock, fear and love. When Edward admits he’s a vampire, she hardly looks like she just received the most surprising news of her life. When he shows her what he looks like in the sunlight, her murmured reaction of “You’re beautiful” was as flat as the words typed on the script.
Robert Pattinson as Edward turned out to be surprisingly good, especially next to Stewart’s Bella. He is not exactly the perfect visual of Edward, but then again, I don’t think any real guy can look like him, Hollywood actor or no. I have to give credit to Pattinson for literally seeing his effort to epitomize the character. You can see his inner struggle for control. His intense eyes are beautiful, and the glowering looks he sends a clueless Bella is believable. I can believe he is a vampire, and an attractive one at that. In fact, the first time Pattinson appeared onscreen, all the teenage girls (and gays) in the theater started shrieking, much to my amusement. (Similar shrieking and howling ensued during the romantic scenes)
I liked the actors who played the Cullens. The actor who portrayed Carlisle fit him to a T. Esme was lovely. Alice was the only one who looked remotely graceful. Emmett was a cocky hoot whose screen presence was enough to make me chuckle. Rosalie wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the book described, but Nikki Reed certainly had Rosalie’s hatred towards Bella down pat. And Jasper… looked disturbed.
I wish the movie had gotten more material from the 500-page novel. It featured a great soundtrack, but it didn’t mask the fact that they used it to fill in the empty and unnecessary parts—like Edward climbing the tallest pine tree in the forest with Bella on his back. We’ve already seen him display his amazing strength and inhuman speed in earlier scenes, so why the need for a human monkey scaling trees with rock music playing in the background? I wish they had provided more dialogue to Jacob. His critical conversation with Bella on the beach was clipped and devoid of any real emotion (but then again, that could just be Kristen Stewart).
Sadly, for all its hype and impressive advertising campaign, the movie lacks bite. It’s mediocre at best. The supposedly fascinating vampire angle is hardly explored, and the screen versions of Edward and Bella lacked any real depth. The crucial discussion of immortality in the book was merely mentioned in the movie. And there are a few scenes that will make you reach for your phone and check for messages.
But at the end of the day, if you’re a fan of the book, you should still see the movie. I know that the expectations of the screen adaptation of a great book is high and at times, unrealistic. But there have been fairly good movies based on books—the Harry Potter series, for instance. Chevalier’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ screen adaptation riveted me as much as the book did, and ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ was even more hilarious than Fielding’s novel.
When I texted my boyfriend that I found the movie to be a waste of 170 bucks (during this economic recession of ours, no less), he teased me that even if ‘Twilight’ didn’t excite me, he bet I would still watch the sequel when it comes out. And he’s right. 
