Mock it if you want, but for the legions of devoted fans of Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling book series, Twilight was the most eagerly-awaited movie of 2008.
Heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is a smart, quiet, and slightly clumsy 17-year old girl who moves to Forks, Washington, one of the cloudiest and rainiest towns in America, to live with her divorced dad Charlie (Billy Burke), the local police chief. Shortly after arriving, she falls in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), the most attractive boy in her high school.
There’s only one problem: Edward is a vampire. Fortunately, he’s not a nefarious vampire like those that usually populate teenage horror films. Edward is part of a clan of well-intentioned vampires who drink animal blood instead of human; in an ongoing joke, they refer to themselves as the vegans of the vampire world.
Bella and Edward initially avoid each other and try to avoid their mutual attraction. Edward doesn’t want to hurt her (or worse — bite her), and Bella has been warned off the Cullens by her pal Jacob (Taylor Lautner), whose Native American tribe seem to be the enemies of the vampire family.
Though they eventually give into the mutual lust, there is one important caveat. Because he does not want to lose control around her, Edward tells Bella they can’t have sex. (The pro-abstinence message is one of the reasons the series has become so popular amongst tweens and their moms.) To keep their hormones in check, the couple spend a great deal of time not touching; while climbing trees or lying in meadows or sitting in class, they spend an inordinate amount of time gazing intensely and adoringly into each other’s eyes.
While Edward and Bella are busy falling in love, a trio of more evil vampires, led by tracker James (Cam Gigandet), are killing people near Forks, grabbing the attention of the Cullen family and Bella’s police chief father. Luckily, the script, though mostly faithful to the book, eliminates a great deal of Bella’s clumsiness and teenage swooning, and amps up the action scene (which in the book is mostly glossed over).
As far as tales of star-crossed lovers go, Edward and Bella are no Romeo and Juliet. Still, as an ode to love of the emo variety, the movie still manages to charm. The film is full of beautiful shots of sweeping northwest scenery, the soundtrack is appropriately moody, and the appealing leads are full of endearing teenage angst. You might go in skeptical, but allow yourself to be won over.
Film is directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and also stars Peter Facinelli (Carlisle), Ashley Greene (Alice), Nikki Reed (Rosalie), Jackson Rathbone (Jasper), Kellan Lutz (Emmett), Anna Kendrick (Jessica), Elizabeth Reaser (Esme), and Rachelle Lefevre (Victoria).
Grade: B+
