Movie Review: ‘Twilight’

Christy Lemire/Associated Press
Published: November 20, 2008

“Twilight” — Teenage girls will surely squeal with delight throughout this feverishly-awaited adaptation of the vampire novel. The very sight of the word “Twilight” on screen inspired piercing screeches of glee at a recent screening. And the arrival of our tormented monster-hero Edward Cullen is certain to send another wave of shivers, and that’s before he ever sinks his teeth into anything — or anyone. Director Catherine Hardwicke was also clearly taken by the character, and by the actor playing him, Robert Pattinson: She shoots him as if he were the featured model in an Abercrombie & Fitch ad, adoringly highlighting his angular cheekbones, his amber eyes (with the help of color contacts), those pouty red lips and lanky frame. He might be too pretty — and perhaps that’s a crucial key to the character’s popularity among females. He’s a non-threatening, almost asexual vampire. But much of what made the relationship between Edward and the smitten Bella Swan work in Stephenie Meyer’s book is stripped away on screen. The lively banter — the way in which Edward and Bella teased and toyed with one another about their respective immortality and humanity — is pretty much gone, and all that’s left is one-note, adolescent angst. It doesn’t help that, as Bella, Kristen Stewart looks singularly sullen. She’s supposed to be enraptured by the thrills of her first love. Instead, she merely appears to be in pain. Bella’s story, for the uninitiated: The quiet, awkward girl moves from Phoenix to rainy Forks, Wash., to live with her police-chief dad (Billy Burke in a bad cop mustache) and quickly finds herself entranced by her mysterious, ethereal classmate Edward. At first, Edward fights his all-consuming attraction to Bella but eventually finds he can’t stay away. Good thing, too, because she’ll need him to protect her from even greater dangers than the one he potentially presents — and that’s where “Twilight” really collapses in a heap of cheesy visual effects. PG-13 for some violence and a scene of sensuality. 121 min. One and a half stars out of four.