Twilight... um?
March 2nd 2009 00:07
I could either have people wholeheartedly agree with me here or have the TwiFans (so they’re called apparently) coming after me with pitchforks and wooden stakes.
I’ve seen the Twilight movie twice (I know, I know) and though I did notice things the second time around that I hadn’t the first time, my conclusion was still the same; it’s so completely terrible that it’s good. Seeing the movie once did start me on a bit of a tear and I read the books, mostly because I wanted to see if they were as terrible as the movie (they’re worse) and also because as I’ve said before, I’m a lit student and I needed to make sure that my turning my nose up at the series was actually warranted. (It was.)
For those of you who don’t know the story (who quite possibly could have been living under a rock), it’s a vampire teen romance story. Bella Swan, an ordinary girl, moves to the middle of nowhere Seattle to live with her Dad and falls in love with a vampire named Edward. Now despite how far fetched this sounds, I’m more than happy to go with whatever theme a movie has. I’m not really a romantic sort of person, but if that’s the type of movie I’m seeing then I’m prepared to play the part of the girl and get caught up as the leading lady gets swept away. But this was so hard to get into and go along with. I think the biggest problem was that I never really felt like I was watching something real. Everything felt so contrived, so filmed that I never got caught up enough to believe it was happening. One of the best scenes, where Bella confronts Edward about his being a vampire, is also one of the most contrived scenes with the camera angles sweeping around the two actors then up into the trees, then long shots, then close ups. The way the two stand, Edward a few steps behind Bella, feels like they’re rooted to their marks and I don’t think a viewer should be thinking about marks and camera angles like that in the middle of a movie. At least, not the first time you see it.
Then there were lots of little things that threw me out. Like the vampires. The mother vampire, Esme, had so much white powder on her face that it extended a quarter of an inch into her hairline. Also, in the book the vampires are stunningly beautiful. Now while the cast is quite attractive, they are not the type of out of this world beautiful that the books describe. I have a friend who suggested that the cast of Gossip Girl would have been better suited to playing the Cullen family in this case. The vampire, Jasper, is perhaps the most hilarious character (and he’s so not intended to be). He spends a good portion of the movie doing a good impression of Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands. You know, that really surprised look he does?
The special effects leave a lot to be desired and if you go and see the movie after this review, my favourite effect is Edward running up a tree with Bella on his back. “Hold on spider-monkey.”
What I did like about the film was the sound track. I’ve actually had it on repeat on my iPod for quite a while. Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron and Wine is my favourite.
If you’re a teenage girl, you’ll probably love the movie on account of the fact that Robert Pattinson is quite adorable. If you’re a grown up, not at all romantic or a jaded lit major, you’re probably going to come and sit alongside me.
I’ve seen the Twilight movie twice (I know, I know) and though I did notice things the second time around that I hadn’t the first time, my conclusion was still the same; it’s so completely terrible that it’s good. Seeing the movie once did start me on a bit of a tear and I read the books, mostly because I wanted to see if they were as terrible as the movie (they’re worse) and also because as I’ve said before, I’m a lit student and I needed to make sure that my turning my nose up at the series was actually warranted. (It was.)
For those of you who don’t know the story (who quite possibly could have been living under a rock), it’s a vampire teen romance story. Bella Swan, an ordinary girl, moves to the middle of nowhere Seattle to live with her Dad and falls in love with a vampire named Edward. Now despite how far fetched this sounds, I’m more than happy to go with whatever theme a movie has. I’m not really a romantic sort of person, but if that’s the type of movie I’m seeing then I’m prepared to play the part of the girl and get caught up as the leading lady gets swept away. But this was so hard to get into and go along with. I think the biggest problem was that I never really felt like I was watching something real. Everything felt so contrived, so filmed that I never got caught up enough to believe it was happening. One of the best scenes, where Bella confronts Edward about his being a vampire, is also one of the most contrived scenes with the camera angles sweeping around the two actors then up into the trees, then long shots, then close ups. The way the two stand, Edward a few steps behind Bella, feels like they’re rooted to their marks and I don’t think a viewer should be thinking about marks and camera angles like that in the middle of a movie. At least, not the first time you see it.
Then there were lots of little things that threw me out. Like the vampires. The mother vampire, Esme, had so much white powder on her face that it extended a quarter of an inch into her hairline. Also, in the book the vampires are stunningly beautiful. Now while the cast is quite attractive, they are not the type of out of this world beautiful that the books describe. I have a friend who suggested that the cast of Gossip Girl would have been better suited to playing the Cullen family in this case. The vampire, Jasper, is perhaps the most hilarious character (and he’s so not intended to be). He spends a good portion of the movie doing a good impression of Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands. You know, that really surprised look he does?
The special effects leave a lot to be desired and if you go and see the movie after this review, my favourite effect is Edward running up a tree with Bella on his back. “Hold on spider-monkey.”
What I did like about the film was the sound track. I’ve actually had it on repeat on my iPod for quite a while. Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron and Wine is my favourite.
If you’re a teenage girl, you’ll probably love the movie on account of the fact that Robert Pattinson is quite adorable. If you’re a grown up, not at all romantic or a jaded lit major, you’re probably going to come and sit alongside me.
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