Twilight

Twilight

Yes, I finally watched Twilight, and I have to say that I wasn’t that impressed with it. The movie is so bland and dull that watching corn grow is probably more exciting. The acting and the editing are also irregular. And, most of this blame has to sit on the lap of director Catherine Hardwicke.

Catherine Hardwicke’s direction is plain, and it looks like a first director’s work. All the stories of Hardwicke getting fired from the second movie seem to be supported in this movie. There is no way the Twilight franchise could have survived under Hardwicke’s direction.

Hardwicke doesn’t know how to direct the actors under her movie. Kristen Stewart looks sleepy, and her line delivery isn’t very convincing. While she might fit the look of Bella Swan, I don’t think Stewart was the correct choice. Robert Pattinson seems to have this “sucking on a lemon drop” permanently plastered on his face. It gets to a point when I just laugh every time they show a shot of him.

Then there is the sparkling vampire moment and the fact they can walk about outside in the daylight. It is also strange that they appear to not have fangs. Did I mention that they love playing Super-Baseball? To me, these creatures aren’t really vampires, but emo-dudes with no tans. This isn’t really Hardwicke’s fault because it is based on the flawed source material from Stephenie Meyer.

And, it is the writing that is almost as bad as lame direction. Bella is a passive main character. Even in a romance story, you need to have your lead character do something other than stare blankly into the eyes of Edward. Perhaps, Mayer is tapping into the mind of a 16 girl that wants the world revolving around her while she sits and does nothing. But it is flawed storytelling regardless. (This is something the SF brought up while reading the books too.)

I didn’t care about the characters or the story.

Carter Burwell‘s musical score is totally out of touch with the rest of the movie. The music is all over the place and doesn’t really have a central theme for the audience to grab onto. It is the type of music you would listen to fall asleep. What were they thinking?

One of the things that did work in the movie is murder subplot. It is just a shame it isn’t in the movie more, so instead we get a lot of blank stares from the two main stars. The evil vampire plotline should have been brought to forefront of the story. The relationship between Bella and her father is pretty good too. The different vampire power have is a fascinating concept.

Twilight is hampered by the poor directing decisions from Catherine Hardwicke and basing a movie a flawed concept. The acting, editing, and music are as bland as the color tone in the film. Here’s hoping New Moon is at least a little better, because this franchise is going nowhere fast.

Grade: D-