I jumped on and subsequently fell off the Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series bandwagon. My introduction to Twilight was by someone who stated that Twilight was her new Harry Potter. I ran to read it and could not put it down. After getting books two and three through inter library loan (gotta love your library!) my opinion began to change.
For those who are ignorant to the whole Twilight phenomena, let me give you a brief synopsis.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Bella Swan moves to Forks, Washington and falls in love with Edward Cullen who is a vampire.
Things you need to know about Bella: She is a klutz who is just reuniting with her dad after a childhood of not really being together.
Things you need to know about Edward: He is a vegetarian vampire. He and his family hunt the blood of animals and not humans.
This is the bare knuckles version of the story but if you are not a 13 year old girl, her mother, a library type who works with 13 year old girls and their mother then this is all you need to know about Twilight.
Now, for my nitpicking:
(This next statement belongs in the ‘me, Tarzan; you, Jane file but stick with me)
One of the things that drew me to Twilight was the one thing that I began to detest. In the book, Bella makes stupid, idiotic decisions which require being saved by Edward several times. I sorta dug this. I like a ballsy woman, heck, I even think I am a ballsy chick but it was nice to see a damsel being rescued. (a little nice). However as the books go along, Bella requires more saving than me typing a paper for school and I kind of got tired after a while.
What was the deal with Robert Pattinson? I will admit that I thought he was adorable as Cedric Diggory but he was downright creepy in this movie. His facial expression was a cross between embarrassed (had to be the hair) and dismay. And why the Elvis ‘do? His hair looked like he had been electrocuted.
What is the big draw towards Edward? Call me cynical (at the ripe ol‘ age of 35) but Bella and Edwards love seemed…awkward. It seemed as if they had to be in love because that’s what was written but there was no chemistry between Bella and Edward. I couldn’t see the attraction but hey, woman who had a broken marriage here. My opinions are shaded a bit bitter. My cousin works at KOP mall and said when Robert Pattinson was there signing autographs, the girls went wild.
The vampires disappointed. When I read the books, I had Alice pictured as a young Winona Rider like waif but the actress who portrayed her did not have that ethereal look that I had Alice associated with. In fact, all of the vampires looked as if they all just needed some iron and they would be OK. Carlisle looked like Dr. Carter from ER in a blond wig. They vampires are supposed to be from “another time” but they all just seemed like kids from the cast of an CW show.
The danger didn’t seem real. Although I read the books and knew that Bella could possibly have the life sucked out of her by these vamps, I never felt that she was in danger. Edward seemed more ‘touched’* than anything. I was not afraid during the showdown scene where he is fighting James (the vampire out to get Bella).** I was a bit afraid of Alice and the way she broke his neck. But Edward only scared me because he looked as if his hands would be cold and clammy.
Blech!
Not enough Jacob Black! Although when I did the imdb search and found that he was a few years older than my niece; shades of Amy Smart and Mary Kay Letourneau…
[shudder]
I thought he was adorable. I have always liked the Jacob character better than cold Edward. And Bella does him so wrong in the books. She uses him and then tosses him aside when Edward comes about. But for the movie he seemed more like an add on instead of a main character.
The baseball scene was cool. This is one scene that I cannot complain much about. Alice was a cool pitcher although (nitpicking here) I didn’t really see why they had to play in the rain. I didn’t hear a loud crack when the ball was hit but then again, I just don’t like baseball.
What was the deal with the way Edward ran? It looked like he was on a treadmill and they cut and pasted him in each running scene. The vampires are supposed to be superior to humans in strength and speed but Edward just seemed silly and cartoonish.
I did enjoy watching the movie and will re-watch once it comes out on DVD (to be borrowed from your local library!). I cannot say that I am anxious for the next one but if my niece wants to go see it, I can probably be persuaded.
-r
*touched is a Nellie-ism that means that a person is just a bit off, something is not quite right.
**Perhaps this is because I am desensitized to violence?
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