The recently released “Twilight” film seemed to get more than its share of popularity, even before it hit the theaters. A plethora of advertisements excited teenage girls who had not read Stephanie Meyer’s best-selling series as well as those who had. However, did all those girls get what they expected out of the movie? I cannot honestly say they did. Fitting a five-hundred-page story into a time frame of two hours is not exactly and easy task.

From the perspective of someone who has read the books, I must say the story was altered a little to my distaste. Bella’s decisions were portrayed more stupid and reckless, and Edward’s thirst for her blood was not as magnified. Without this, their unobtainable relationship was not as strong. Considering how difficult it is to portray thoughts and emotions in films, I was not too surprised by this lack of development.

However, when the moviemakers tried to compensate for this by spending more time focusing on Edward and Bella, they lost a lot of character development in many of the minor characters, in particular Alice and Jasper. Scenes were cut out as well as small details changed, but that could be expected considering other movies based off books.

Although the plot was able to be followed by someone who read the book, the reasons behind each character’s actions were lost without their individual development. It is easy for anyone who has not read the book to become lost and confused because of it. Also, without real description of the couple’s passionate love, the story itself changed course and quickly lost its respect.

From a special effects basis, the movie was made very nicely. The baseball scene is a good example of this; it was amazing to watch, but at the same time, not too overdone. Each effect seemed perfect to me. Some complain that Edward’s skin wasn’t sparkly enough, but I believe that is a matter of how the reader pictured it in their mind.

Despite the criticism I gave the movie, I would still rate it highly. Given a nearly impossible task, I believe the moviemakers completed it the best they could without turning it into a miniseries. “Twilight” was changed into a decent movie, given the quantity of information they had to work with.