Based on the Stephanie Myers novel of the same name, Twilight centres itself around the life of 16 year old Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). After her mum remarries, Bella decides to move back with her father in the rainy town of Forks, Washington. She has always been a bit of an outcast, never really fitting in with the trendy crowd and having very little interest in the boys of her hometown in Arizona. However, at her new school she is instantly attracted and intrigued by Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a pale and mysterious boy who seems to be equally interested in her. Then one day in the parking lot, Edward saves Bella’s life in a feat of superhuman speed and strength. Instead of freaking her out, this just adds to his appeal and she pursues the truth about Edward resulting in him revealing to her that he is a Vampire. But he is a good vampire
who has learned to control his lust for human blood and is able to gain is nourishment from wild animals. He is also able to run at blinding speeds, has limitless strength and does not age – all traits he shares with the rest of his foster family of vampires who live in the hills of the town.
So an unlikely and somewhat dangerous love affair blossoms between Bella and Edward and things are sailing along smoothly until a nomadic trio of vampires invade the Cullen family’s turf killing a number of residents and threatening their peaceful existence in the town. Things are made worse when one of these visitors makes it his personal mission to hunt down and kill Bella once he literally gets scent of the fact she is of humankind. This is where the action kicks in and it becomes a battle between the Cullen’s and the unwelcome visitors.
I have not read the book so I cannot comment on the faithfulness to the source but if box office figures are anything to go by, the fans have been pleased with the results. I do know it is 500 odd pages long and I am sure more substance could have been put into this script, especially when there so many painfully long scenes where the leads are just gazing into each other’s eyes or just looking forlorn. On the acting front I think the leads are impressive and show some great potential for future roles and there is some solid support particularly from Bella’s father played by Billy Burke.
Technically the film does look quite good but not as spectacular or as it should and I think this is down to the fact that director Catherine Hardwicke’s roots are in gritty indie films (Thirteen) and also that cinematographer Elliot Davis has never tackled anything as epic or grand in scale as this story demands. Another thing that might of helped would have been a bigger budget as some of the special effects fall into the ‘made for TV’ category and do not fare well on the big screen – they had approx $37 million to work with which is at least a quarter of most sci fi /fantasy films made nowadays. A factor that will undoubtedly improve in the sequels considering it doubled this figure at the box office in the US on its opening weekend.
There is little doubt in my mind that the teen female audience that Twilight targets will adore it – I actually heard sighs from girls in the audience when Edward fi rst appeared on the screen and there was applause when the credits rolled. But for the rest of us it is way too long for its own good and is a bit of a chore to endure.
Review by Mark Snelson
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