Film review: Twilight
Monday, November 24th, 2008I never see movies on opening weekend. I don’t like crowds, and I particularly don’t like sitting next to strangers. I also generally only go to the theatre for action films. For the rest, I wait for the DVD.
Yet, this past weekend, I went to see Twilight, the romantic fantasy about a 17-year-old girl who falls in love with a vampire. I’m 38 and I went with two girlfriends-who are also both in their 30s.
Nearly 95 percent of the other chairs were taken up by girls who didn’t know a wrinkle from an age spot, and the other 4 percent were used by their mothers.
It wasn’t a movie that had been written for women our age, but we braved the crowds of opening weekend because we’d read the book (also not written for women our age) and we could not wait to see how Bella, Edward and the other characters would be portrayed in the movie. As I walked into the theater, I worried that I would be disappointed. After all, reviewers had given the film the rating equivalent of an iron stake (which, if you are not a fan, is not how Stephanie Meyer’s vampires can be done in anyway).
And when Edward (played by Robert Pattinson) made his first appearance, I WAS disappointed. He wasn’t the Edward I’d pictured, swooned over and pined for as I’d read the book. (The 13 year olds in the theatre, by the way, experienced no such disappointment. As my heart sank, they applauded.)
But Pattinson as Edward soon grew on me, quite a bit actually.
Oh Edward, what do you see in Bella anyway? I’m so much better!
Um, sorry, I just got a little flustered. Won’t happen again. Promise.
Some reviewers have complained about the lack of sex in this movie. They even went so far as to suggest that the long stares, short kisses, and gentle caresses between Edward and Bella would not be enough for a modern moviegoer. Such reviewers thought women like me-women who grew up with Flashdance and an Officer and a Gentleman-would feel bored.
To that, I have just one question: Are these reviewers truly hot-blooded humans? Just asking.
When Edward finally kissed Bella? The young girls and grown women in my theater clapped, hooted, and whooped. When he pulled away? One woman yelled, “Rewind!” Yes, that’s how enthralled we all were. If Edward and Bella had dared touch one another any more, I’m sure we’d all have fainted from the excitement.
Some reviewers also have criticized the film for sticking too closely to the book. Um, it is based on a book, you know, one that happens to be an international best seller. That’s like complaining that a Harry Potter flick is too Harry Potter.
Unlike nearly every person who has reviewed this film, I have to say: I loved Twilight. I just loved it. Kristen Stewart was the perfect Bella. Robert Pattinson the perfect Edward. Billy Burke the perfect Charlie and Ashley Greene the absolutely most perfect Alice. The only character I did not like was Justin Chon as Eric. I’d pictured Eric with much more acne. Sorry, I just had.
I loved the movie so much that I was disappointed when it ended. I sat through the credits. I waited, thinking that Edward himself just might walk into the theatre, pick me up, and carry me off.
Later, as I waited in line for the bathroom, I heard various 13 year olds saying, “Edward can bite me anytime.”
I thought, oh yes, he most certainly can.
Want to know your vampire name? I’m the Empress of the Ghastly, also sometimes know as the Scourge of the Flesh (at least that’s what my husband says). Check out the Vampire Name Generator.
Rate the film here, with my online poll, or leave a comment about what you thought about this film.
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