More A Teenage Romance Built on A 'Staring Contest" Than a Vampire Movie Itself.

Being a vampire lore enthusiast, I have seen a very good amount of vampire films. Of course, I would check out this vampire movie based on the best selling book by Stephen Meyer called "Twilight". Please understand that I have not read the book (yet) and obviously this type of movie would attract audiences based on the book's popularity and that this film does know its intended audience--teenage girls or hopeless romantics. I will try to be as objective as I can, I do admit that I am not fond of romantic films--all of them are so full of clichés and perfunctory elements that does un-interest me. However, I can comment on how well a film is made and its entertainment value.

Bella (Kristen Stewart) is a young girl teenage girl who had just moved into a small dreary town where there is an almost enormous daily amount of cloud cover and her dad (Billy Burke) is the chief of police, who's also divorced from her mom (who had also re-married). Bella meets the usual batch of school buddies and none of them really sparked her interest; that is until she met Edward Cullen (Robert Pettison), a mysterious young man who keeps to himself and hangs out with his family most of the time. One day, Bella is almost hit by a car and Edward amazingly deflects the accident. Shocked and curious, Bella figures out that Edward is in fact a vampire--inhumanly strong, fast, and immortal; but as with his "family", he gets sustenance only from the blood of animals. Plus, Edward is very much interested in her. The two begin an uneasy friendship that soon blossoms into love. Bella is accepted in Edward's "coven" of vampires and she is shown a world beyond her imagination. Life is good, until other vampires who are passing through complicates things….

Director Catherine Hardwick has two misfires in "The Nativity Story" and "The Lords of Dogtown", now, she tries to redeem herself with an adaptation of the very popular romantic novel. Expect me to say "romance" quite a lot, because "Twilight" only uses the supernatural elements of vampires ONLY as its backdrop or setting--the movie is for the most part about teen romance and throws away its development of subplots with "human-preying" vampires and even some of the established groundwork of vampire legend. Yes, sunlight has an effect on these blood suckers but it doesn't kill them (but just makes it obvious that they're different by looking pretty?) and they can enter your house without invitation. I don't really mind some of the changes and I kept an open mind.

The film's set-up is so full of cliché, and serves up the usual teen oriented tone. Then it abandons that premise and becomes more like a romantic flick. The teenage issues of popularity, high school politics, social issues and infatuations are hinted at but the movie focuses more on Bella's own issues such as "will Edward eat her or not?" and "will Edward really love her?". I know it sounds sappy and for the mature audience, it is. I meant it when I said that the vampire thing is only a backdrop--all the film is about the young lovers and any other stuff about vampirism is just a complication or some hurdle to overcome.

The vampires in "Twilight" are for the most part treated as "super-heroes" (has that "X-men" feel somehow) or some very cool and hip folks. They play baseball (vampires playing this sport during a thunderstorm is a nice touch), have very cool cars and own a very beautiful house. They even try to cook an Italian dish in order to show their acceptance for the mere human in their midst. Edward's coven is a bunch of friendly vampires who had established a pact with the native Americans who live in the reservation nearby. They're peaceful but I rather thought it would have been much cooler to go into the conditions and terms of this treaty and the film missed this opportunity (there are very subtle hints of "Skinwalkers" in the last act). As with any group of people, the vampire covens are different--some are satisfied in feeding off animal blood while others regard humans as their food. I guess I should be impressed but this actually came as no surprise.

The acting is decent for the most part. Kristen Stewart pulls a very strong performance as "Bella", although I have to admit I wasn't exactly interested in her character. Robert Pattison does steal the show as Edward the vampire. This role would definitely elevate Robert Pattison to "teen heartthrob status"--the young man does fit his role and I can just see this movie doing to Pattison what "Titanic" did for Leo in the hearts of female fans. The "tortured soul" gimmick is played out but not as efficiently as I would've wished because it lacked much needed groundwork--he shouldn't be acting like a 17 year old when he's much OLDER (being 17 for a long time). Edward is the hunter of the group, and he has a very acute sense of smell--and Bella well, smells very appetizing in more ways than one. What's interesting is the fact that Edward meets another hunter (played by Cam Gigandet, Never Back Down)--clearly an exposition in vampire rank and that they hunt in packs.

The movie does look good, the movie has that eerie bluish atmosphere and the cinematography is also quite decent. The special effects are also fitting for this type of movie, and Hardwick's direction may be a little uneven, it left too many plot gaps for readers of the book to fill in. It is rather very difficult to say that "Twilight" is even a good vampire movie, but I have to admit the film knows its intended audience and focuses its strength on the stuff teenage girls and hopeless romantics like. It is watchable, but has too many undeveloped factors introduced as devices just to throw in a few hurdles for the young lovers and the teen romance just overshadows any other concept. The best way to look at "Twilight" is as a romantic fantasy-"chick flick" (if you will) and not as a vampire film; purists of vampire films had better stay away. I was expecting more of a similar take as in "Buffy" TV series but it does play its strengths well for its intended audience. Again, this is NOT a vampire film but a teenage romantic film built on the vampire concept.

For a vampire film fan, I would say Rent it! since one viewing would be enough, but for the romance fans, I would say Recommended! Purists of vampire lore is better off skipping it.
It all depends on what you're looking for and I am not fond of teenage romance movies.
[2 Stars]

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