Thursday, December 4, 2008

Twilight Movie - A Review

I took myself on a date last night and went to see Twilight.
(For some reason my 5 sons weren't interested in seeing it).
My official review is that the movie Twilight is exactly as good as the book.
.
See the movie trailer here
What I mean by that is that if you loved the book you will love the movie.
If you thought the book was so-so, the movie will be too.
If you were too disinterested in a human girl falling in love with a vampire to bother to read the book you probably shouldn't bother with the movie either.
(Yes, I can hear some of you gasping and mentally preparing your angry reply already).
.
In total and complete honesty (here come more gasps and accusations of sacrelidge) I didn't love the book.
I thought it was good. It was a good story. But while the action began early in the book it took a little while to fall in love (no pun intended) with the characters.
But before you skip to the bottom to leave me and angry and indignant comment, let me add that by the second book (New Moon) I was completely involved in the plot and totally absorbed by Bella, Edward, Jacob and the rest of them.
It got even better as the series wore on, and I loved book 4, (Breaking Dawn).
In fact, my favorite moment of that entire book was when Jacob went down the stairs. ('Nuff said). I almost dropped the book and shouted out in the middle of the doctors office waiting room where I was sitting at the time I read it.

Back to Twilight.

The movie had a few issues. For one thing, when Edward and the other vampires were running, jumping, attacking etc. it looked more like they were flailing their limbs while being strung along on harnesses than actually using those rock hard muscles to propel themselves gracefully and artfully the way the book described.

Next, when the sun hit Edward and he got all glittery-like, it really just looked like he had built up a sweat and got a good angle from a clear sunbeam to make him shiny. It was not the prismatic diamond like burst I had been expecting.

Also, (and I know you die hard Twilight fans are going to scorn me for such a petty critique), any time Jasper (far right in above picture) was on screen for the first half of the movie all I could think was "Oh look! Edward Scissorhands has a little brother!" The pale faced, wide eyed silence was oh so Johnny Depp, and seemed to interrupt whatever else was going on. Note: It did get better later on when he started speaking.

But my review is not meant to be completely negative, only honest.

On some good notes, the movie stuck 98% to the story from the book.

Most of the characters were pretty much exactly as I had pictured them.

I really liked Bella. Cedric Diggory, I mean Edward, was believably torn by his attraction to Bella.

I must add that a few of the characters were exceptionally attractive -as fits with the storyline. I especially liked Carlisle Cullen.

But the one who -yes, literally- took my breath away was Jacob, (played by Taylor Lautner). There is one queilute I could go for (were I younger, unattached and a fictional character as well).

But then again, I've always been nuts for guys with long hair.

So, if you loved the book you'll love the movie. Mostly because it animates the characters and story that you have only been able to create pictures of in your mind heretofore.

If your wife/girlfriend/sister/mom is a Twilight fan and you want to seem supportive without wasting 2 weeks reading the book, go see the movie. You will get the plot and be able to follow her continuous chattering about the vampires with only a 2 hour investment.

Better yet, take her to see it. That will definitely earn you some brownie points. And you might even like it.

15 comments:

Lillian Wilkinson said...

I can't believe it my wife wants to drag me to this movie for my birthday. She seems to have forgotten that there is also a 007 movie in theaters and that is sort of a birthday tradition for us. I don't know if I can be that supportive, or if I would publicly admit to it afterward.

Unknown said...

I am just working on the book right now...will have to wait to rent the movie, but that is okay because I am usually too hyperactive to sit in a theater for that long!!!

I spoke to our boy this morning before he left for Texas. He has had his eyes opened very wide since going to his last center which was not a nice place to be at all. I pray SO hard for him. He would love a card or note from you sometime, if you would like. Just let me know and I will email you his address.

Love and miss you so much!

Marlene

Stefany said...

So if I didn't read the book am I okay to go to the movie?

Nonna said...

Good review...clever, witty and funny !

Chet and Liz Hugo said...

I didn't much get into the first book, either. Haven't read the others yet, mostly because the first one didn't wow me, but I guess I'll have to give them a try sometime. Will have to wait for the movie to come out on video or come the ppv channels because it's just to expensive to go to the movies here.--Liz

Carrie and Karl said...

I'd agree with your assessment of the movie. Karl said he enjoyed it, and while he hasn't read the books, I have told him the basic story as I read the books. Jacob threw him off because somehow I didn't mention that he was an indian. I'm not sure how that happened.
I was disappointed by the glitteryness too, but some of the jokes they put in that weren't in the book made up for it. I liked the art on the wall in the Cullen's home.
I'm excited for the next movie, but I think I'm actually more excited for the Avengers to come out. Karl must be rubbing off on me.
-Carrie

Hollys Hobbies said...

ok, so I dunno if I was one of the only dissapointed people who saw this movie. It could very well be that we went to the first showing at midnight the moment it came out here and I was tired, who knows? I went with a huge group of girls and the majority of them liked it. I however, wasn't so awed by the acting. I know, I get that this was basically a series for teenagers, in all honesty it did follow the basics of the book in near detail, but I think they could have done a better job. I found all the same flawes as you, but some of the scenes were just plain corny and a few of our group were found laughing at possibly innapropriate times. It was totally worth the 6.50 I paid though, I guess I need to go see it again!!

Missy said...

Della, i'm with ya on the Jacob thing, I love his character! The movie was so so but still I like it. I think you summed it up to a T!!!
Have you read any of the other books? I find that they all are so different. I finished the fourth last night and it was the best I think!! I am sad the series is over!!

Della Hill said...

Tom (Drew)-
Uhh, good luck. I can't offer you much advice on that one. It is after all your birthday, but don't you want a happy wife for your birthday? Let me know how it works out.
Marlene-
I would love to have his address to send him a card or a letter.
My heart hurts whenever I think about him. I am praying for him too.
Pike-
If you haven't read the book you will be just fine seeing the movie. The movie stayed close enough to the book that you will be completely filled in on the entire story by seeing the movie.
It really is a good story, and gets better as it goes.
Lynn-
A sincere thank you. I am glad you enjoyed it. That is the purpose of this whole blog after all.
Liz-
If you know someone you can borrow the books from I'd recommend that.
As I said, they get better as they go along.
Carrie-
If you forgot to mention that Jacob was an indian, did you mention that he's a werewolf?
Crap! Uhh... delayed spoiler alert!
Shrinkingme-
I can totally see how it wouldn't live up to the midnight release hype. But you had a girls night out to see it, right? That alone makes it worth it.
Sam/Missy/Alex-
Jacob=Hot
I read all the books and liked them better and better as it went.
While I was sad it was over I loved the way it all ended.
Though I would love to see what happened to some of the characters a few years down the line. Maybe another book?
-Della

Krystal said...

Very good movie review...That's kind of how I felt about the books/movie. It wasn't quite worth all the hype the movie got, but it did follow the book well. I liked Bella, and I'm still a Jacob-fan through and through.

Lillian Wilkinson said...

Della, congrats on all the comments.
I would like to see the movie, though for Toms b-day it will probably be the bond. (we are still a bit away who knows what will be in the theaters by then.
i enjoyed the review and all the comments.

Lydia said...

Della, great review, I did like the movie but want to see it again not from the front row, I saw it on opening day with a group of ladies, My van was full. I also missed Alice I think that she had more to do with the plot and was left mostly out of the movie.

Anonymous said...

Hi. I found you on Mormon Mommy Blogs. I loved the books from probably page one and it only got better for me from there. So I was not excited about the movie at all. I really thought it was going to stink but I was pleasantly surprised. There were some issued that more money could have fixed and I'm not a Kirsten Stewart fan but I felt they told a good story. I'm hoping New Moon gets more money thrown at it so that the werewolves will look good. Cuz that could be a deal breaker right there.

Julianne said...

Great review, almost my thoughts exactly! I just found your blog and I love it....so fun and entertaining!

Anonymous said...

seems likely that they will come out with a Twilight sequel pretty soon, there's a crazy lot of ticket sales at stake