Oy vey! Ok, so I still love Twilight, I still love Edward, and I still want to be Bella. ;-) Now that that's out of the way.......
The movie was exactly what I expected. I went in with low expectations and that's what I got. Before the movie came out I wasn't very happy with the casting of Robert Pattinson as Edward, though after (my obsessive) viewing of clips and trailers leading up to the movie he totally grew on me. I had the same feelings about Kristin Stewart playing the part of Bella, but she never grew on me. I've just never really liked her as an actress. She plays the same character in everything I've seen her in, she's annoying. I don't like the way she talks, I don't like her facial expressions, and I don't like her two GIANT front teeth. Did anyone else notice she's kinda' rabbit-ish? Even with that said, she's still very pretty.....I think it's mostly the hair, though. She has the 'Bella' look, and she did the 'clumsy' pretty good. It's just that every time she opened her mouth I wanted to stab her in the eye! I wished there was a vampire nearby to put me out of my agony....preferably Edward? I was able to endure her though, I already knew I didn't really like her as an actress and, like I said, I had low expectations. I thought Robert Pattinson did a pretty good job as Edward. I never read or saw the Harry Potter books or movies, so I knew nothing about him. He's an ok actor, there were a couple scenes that seemed a little awkward for him, but other than that I loved him....as I love all things Edward. ;-)
The rest of the cast was great! I thought Charlie (played by Billy Burke) was great, he was a little more protective and over-bearing than the book Charlie, but it worked. Jacob was good too, I'm curious to see how they make him grow so much though. The actor (Taylor Lautner) is only 16, so between Twilight and New Moon (the second book/movie) he should be a little older. I just hope the kid grows a few inches, because the book describes him as pretty dang big.....he is a werewolf after all. Also, he kinda' reminds me of Nick Roberts.....weird. Rosalie (Nikki Reed) had way too much screen time. Sure, she's got a nice body and everything (eye candy for the boys who's girlfriends/wives dragged them to the movie), but her character wasn't quite as involved in the first book as Alice was. Rosalie wasn't quite as beautiful as described in the book, but I think that's because the actress is an obvious natural brunette (though Rosalie has blond hair). It just didn't work out the way I imagined. Alice (Ashley Greene) was a much more important character in Twilight, but the actress they cast was perfect. Emmett, oh Emmett, now that guy is beautiful! The actor, (Kellan Lutz), did a wonderful job portraying his 'jock/happy-go-lucky' character. Plus, did I mention he was handsome? Jasper was the (well, maybe not the only) comic relief of the movie. The actor (Jackson Rathbone) did a good job, he's also very handsome, but they kinda' made him 'look like he was always in pain'. Esme was not at all how I pictured her. The actress (Elizabeth Reaser) has a very square jaw, it just wasn't the soft feminine mother figure I imagined in the book. She did a good job, but the look was a little off. Carlisle looked a little too 'done up'. His look was similar to Rosalie's, natural brunette (with a California tan), trying to pass as pale-faced blonds. The actor (Peter Facinelli) did a good job portraying Carlisle, but again, the look just wasn't right. I guess that's what you get with a low budget.....you might see this phrase again, and again, and again.
Now onto a few things I noticed......I liked and disliked. I did like the fact that Bella kind of narrated the movie. The book was just so much in Bella's head, it was hard to imagine how they could get that on screen. I think they made a good choice with the semi-narration. Yes, it is annoying that the movie didn't follow the book exactly, but they never do! My sister, Debbie, was so disappointed with 'the meadow' scene.....*ahem, cheesy as it was*. They got the point across, but they didn't get the emotion across. I told Debbie, though, that if they did it just like the book, it would have added another 30 or 40 minutes to the movie......I guess that's what you get with a low budget. So, back to getting the emotions across. I think that was the biggest disappointment of the movie. Unless you've read the books you'd never know what we all obsess over. The intense connection between Edward and Bella, the instant love, the passion, the awkwardness (ok, maybe the awkwardness was there)......none of it was really there. Also, they never said I love you! How is the audience (other than us nerds) going to know unless they say it. Sure, Edward says (the line) 'and so the lion fell in love with the lamb', but Bella doesn't really reciprocate, and they never actually say 'I love you'. That was annoying.
Another thing that kinda' drove me nuts was the editing. At least I think it's the editing, let me know who to blame for this.... There was a scene with Edward in a tree looking down at Bella (on the ground) talking. Well, when the camera was close-up, Edward was leaning into her with their faces only inches apart. When the camera was zoomed out, Edward was just sitting in the tree while they were having their conversation.....and it was all in the same scene. It was so annoying! I don't know, I've just always noticed things like that in movies. It bugs me. There was also the scene in the hospital when Bella is waking up (after the attack from James). The up-close shot of her face has the tubes (from the oxygen in her nose) going up and over her eyes......but the zoomed out shot has the tubes just going straight back over her ears. Argh! How do they not notice these things? Another thing I noticed was Bella's injured leg. So, James breaks Bella's right leg, and the glass is embedded in her right leg as well. In the hospital, her right leg is bent with bandages wrapped around her upper thigh. Her left leg is laying out straight and covered up as if it is broken. The next scene (the prom scene) has her right leg in a cast! Argh, make up your mind editors! I guess that's what you get with a low budget.
The baseball scene was, in my opinion, the best scene of the whole movie.....oh wait, wait...remind me to comment on the 80's electric guitar! So, the baseball scene was pretty awesome! The music was great, the boys were beautiful, and it was just fun. I did notice however, that the stupid hats looked so dumb on Esme, Bella, and Jasper. It's like someone just propped the hat on the tippy top of their heads and walked away. They did not look like they were comfortably pulled down. Which reminds me, Jasper's hair was just way to messy/perfect. It had that cute disheveled look, but it was too 'in place', especially in the baseball scene with the hat propped up on top. Anyway, the scene was really great, though when Laurent, James and Victoria (who I also thought were cast very well) walked up and killed the good buzz from the baseball game, the 80's sounding guitar was just too cheesy! Did anyone else notice it? I also noticed it in one of the classroom scenes, it just sounded like the background music for David Bowie in Labyrinth......seriously! It was pretty much there throughout the movie. There was quite a lot of cheesy dialogue too, and a lot of people are calling the movie a comedy. Which is funny, but I wouldn't go quite that far. One last thing that annoyed me was the Asian(?) girl walking in front of Edward and Bella in the greenhouse/field trip scene. Did anyone else notice her, was anyone else unable to take their eyes off of her? She kept touching her face, wiping her eyes, playing with something on her forehead, brushing her hair out of her face. It was only like a minute long, but my goodness that was awful, they should have edited her out! Oh, and props to Jacob (Genevieve's sister's boyfriend), he was very visible in the background as an extra. We actually saw him twice!
So, overall the movie was ok. I went in with low expectations and that's what I got. I've seen it twice, and I'll probably see it again......though I'll have to plug my ears when Kristin talks. The overall experience was great! I went to the Twilight prom (that'll be another post), then saw the midnight showing on opening night. It was just fun to be with my sister and a couple friends, and all the hard core fans. Everyone screamed with pleasure whenever Edward was on the screen, and the girls next to me were swooning through the whole movie. It was actually pretty cute. ;-) I still love the books, still love Edward, I'll probably see it again, and I can't wait for the next movie......I just hope they have a bigger budget! ;-)
