My TWILIGHT review!

If you don't want to read spoilers, STOP HERE!
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Ok, I warned you!

So I went to see Twilight last night with the girl who got me into it. I think we were both just a little disappointed, though.

First of all, we got there an hour early and were the second in line to get seats, so we got perfect seats! There were some annoying people who snuck in somehow before the doors opened, but whatever. The show was sold out (of course) and we only counted 8 males in the room. pretty funny.

As far as the movie itself.... it's so hard to put that kind of story into a 2 hour movie and not make it seem forced and sped up. I understand that a lot of things needed to be condensed and edited, but for some reason it changed the feel of the story. (ie- when Bella first figures out what Edward is, she asks a ton of questions and then he needs to take his turn. It made her seem more interested and involved. In the movie, Edward is the one asking all of the questions, so it almost seems like Bella doesn't care or something.) If I wouldn't have read the book, I would have been completely lost, I think.

The thing that killed it for me, though, was the casting! Billy, Jacob, Charlie, and most of the Cullens were perfect! (There wasn't enough Cullens for me in it, though. They were VERY underdeveloped. I think they totally could have made the movie an hour longer. People would have sat through it, and it would have helped A LOT.) HOWEVER, I still couldn't quite get into RP as Edward, and most importantly, I couldn't relate to KS as Bella. The thing that sold me in the book is that Bella is so "everygirl" In the movie she's just so... I don't know how to describe it.... uninvolved, maybe? It almost seemed like her character was completely different in the movie than in the book. I was really distracted because of her line delivery and her body language. Maybe it was just bad directing? I dunno. It seemed like she was always breathing hard and talking through clenched teeth and shaking. She's very shaky.

The thing that killed it for me was the scene in the woods/meadow. When she told him she knew what he was she was breathing really hard and shaking and giving absolutely every indication that she was scared to death..... which kinda defeats the purpose of the scene, I think, as far as her character is concerned and as far as their whole dynamic is concerned. I always thought that she was supposed to be completely confident in the fact that she knew what he was and she didn't care, because he was Edward and that's all that mattered. That scene was TOTALLY unconvincing for me, and it's my favorite scene, so I was really really disappointed. Also, I always pictured the sparkling as like looking at an opal, with the rainbow colored flecks. He kinda looked like they covered him in body glitter. If I were to see him in the sun, I would just think "Hey, that guy's crazy. chill on the body glitter, man" not "Hey, that guy isn't human."


The redeeming things, though, were the prom scene in the gazebo (no stuttering or shaking or heavy breathing. She was the Bella I imagined in that moment.) Alice and Emmet! Not enough screen time, but TOTALLY perfect :) Edward the first time he drove her to school (got out of the car all cocky and cool and happy as opposed to the rest of the movie where he's all broody all the time). Charlie! (I almost cried when she stormed out on him and he was trying to convince her to stay)

The thing that made it all worth it: the collective gasp/sigh from the audience the first time Edward stepped on screen. I did it, too, and I TOTALLY didn't think I would.

I'm definitely going to see it again. With all its flaws, it's still really good entertainment- and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since.