Twilight. Anyone who has not heard that word in the last five years, most likely accompanied by a few screams, has been living under a rock.
Twilight, the increasingly popular vampire series by Stephanie Meyer, follows Bella, your average teenage girl, who falls in love with Edward, a mysterious and outrageously good- looking boy from school who turns out to be a vampire. Fans, primarily teen girls yearning for their own sexy vampire boy, have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Summit Entertainment adaption of Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Millions of fans all over the world have attended the midnight premieres and opening days, eager to see their favorite couple brought to life onscreen.
I myself decided to check out the movie opening day. The movie ended to rapturous applause, mostly coming from the group of tween girls in the back of the theater and seemed to be a hit. I, however, was disappointed.
At the core of the movie was the poor writing. Screenwriters, no doubt feeling the overwhelming pressure to include all those important, crowd pleasing lines, came up with a choppy, hard to follow plot line made up of sad attempts at fan appeal. Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward, and Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella, did their best with the lines they were given I'm sure. Pattinson's Edward was very tortured but also unintentionally comical many times when trying to convey that deep emotion. Stewart's Bella was a highly boring version, even more so than the books, never cracking a smile and delivering her lines in a stammering, breathy voice (Yes, even when Edward was nowhere to be seen). Although the sets, scenery, and casting was promising, the film as a whole failed to deliver. However, due to the large fan base, Twilight will still break box office records. New Moon, the sequel, is most likely already being written. Let's hope this installment of the much anticipated series exceeds the first.