Twilight

Now I’m quite certain that we are two of the very few who had yet to see Twilight, but still if you haven’t seen the movie and are planning to, don’t read this review.  I knew nothing about the Twilight series so it was a lot of fun having the story unfold before me and not knowing how it would end. 

(Spoilers ahead)

Seeing Twilight today was not intentional, we were on our way to see The Day the Earth Stood Still, but we couldn’t find any parking.  So, we chanced it and drove to the dollar theater to see what was playing.  Twilight was starting about the time we arrived, so we decided to give it a shot.  Neither my husband nor myself have read any of the books in the Twilight series, but could tell enough from the trailers to know what to expect.  I didn’t, however, expect to like it as much as I did (which has been the case with quite a few movies lately). 

I knew the basic storyline going in, girl meets boy, girl falls for boy, girl finds out boy is a vampire.  With exception to a couple really cheesy action scenes, this movie was very enjoyable.  The story reminded me a bit of Disturbing Behavior in that it was the new kid in town finding out some strange things are happening.  The cast was very fresh so that made it easy to see them as the characters.  The location was beautiful, and a smart idea for the plot, Washington where it is always cloudy.  Leading into a cool twist on the whole sunlight theory, it doesn’t kill them it just makes them glow (so they can’t let people see them that way). 

It was a great teen love story.  You could feel each characters’ heart through and through.  They were today’s version of Romeo and Juliette.  One of my only complaints is that they bring in so many characters and then once the love blossoms, they pretty much drop everyone else down to short glimpses.  Wouldn’t it be a harder transition on friendships when you start dating someone that is an outsider?  They only briefly touched on this aspect of the story.  Did Edward become friends with more people than just Bella?  I loved how Edward wanted to meet Bella’s dad, but they didn’t mention anything else about the cold hands.  I would think that her dad would also have noticed that.  Maybe they go deeper into her dad’s character in the books, but there is more than meets the eye with him.  Also, are his friends werewolves?  That is what is implied, but if so why didn’t we get to see them in wolf form.  I was expecting it as her friend walks away from prom after warning her to stay away from Edward.  There is so much left unanswered, that of course there will be a sequel, but I hope that they hit on some of the loose ends from this story before jumping into the future stories. 

I loved the laughs throughout the film.  And, even though it wasn’t scary, there were some intense moments (the vampires meeting at the baseball game).  It was this generation’s Lost Boys I think.  I thought of Lost Boys a lot during the movie.  It was that same kind of feel, but not as dark.  That surprised me, I figured a vampire movie would be really dark, yet they somehow are able to walk the fine line between romantic comedy, drama, and thriller.  I expected much more gore than there was, but then again there might have been more than I remember.  You honestly walk away from the movie feeling as though you just watched a movie in the romance genre not horror.   What I loved the most is the conflict within Edward himself.  He loves Bella, but he’s still a vampire.  Even though he has been taught to feed on animals rather than humans, it’s apparent from the first time he meets her that his vampireish lust for blood may end up overruling his heart.    

Now like every other female in the world, I ♥ Edward Cullen!

Rated PG-13 for violence and scenes of sensuality.