EDWARD has too much lipstick,? one blogger complained in her review of ?Twilight.? ?That, and Carlisle?s foundation makes him look like espasol.?
But, she added, ?I?d still watch it again because Edward is so hot.?
?Hot? is an understatement. When Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, first appeared onscreen, the girls in the audience started hooting. They also hooted when Carlisle Cullen, played by Peter Facinelli, came onscreen. And again when Edward strode in Wayfarers, arm draped confidently around Bella?s shoulders.
(The surprising thing is that no one made a sound during the intense kissing scene in Bella?s bedroom. Fans were probably holding their breath.)
The first ?Twilight? movie is not for hardcore fans of the book series, nor is it for people who haven?t read the series at all. There are too many departures from the book, and those who breathlessly wait to recite the lines along with the actors will be disappointed.
That said, ?Twilight? isn?t bad at all. It?s a little hard to follow if you don?t know anything about the florid saga, but it still delivers, give or take a few points.
Some viewers will point out each altered detail of the book from the movie (?The Cullen house should be white! Charlie?s kitchen is yellow! They didn?t make Bella clumsy enough!?), but if you?re willing to ignore a few extra details, the movie works because it doesn?t fall into the trap that many films do, which is to painstakingly recreate everything in the book.
The first two ?Harry Potter? films were awful because they were boringly faithful to the book. Nothing was left to the imagination. Thankfully, at the risk of incurring the ire of some rabid fans, ?Twilight? doesn?t make the same mistake.
We tally the positive and the negative points of the ?Twilight? saga?s first installation
Pluses
Kristen Stewart and Pattinson?s onscreen chemistry, which fires up whenever they come within a foot of each other. The bedroom scene (don?t worry, folks, nothing happens?Edward is a 107-year-old virgin) is intense but sweet (and wow, Bella?s pretty aggressive).
Their chemistry is the best thing about the movie, enough to compensate for the movie?s many faults.
Viewers don?t have to put up with Bella?s monologues. Literary purists dislike the series because of its occasional over-the-top (read: sappy and badly written) descriptions of Edward. In the movie, all of that is thankfully edited out.
Billy Burke as Charlie Swan is hilarious?he?ll remind you of your dad with his portrayal of the awkward, silent father of Bella.
Some of the cinematography is good. We say some because there are parts that look dated or don?t do justice to the scene (i.e., the scene in the meadow). But for the most part, the de-saturated coloring conveyed the bleak, cold feeling required for the setting.
It?s funny. There are many surprisingly hilarious scenes, like when Bella and Edward sit beside each other in Biology, or when the Cullens learn to cook from a TV show.
It reminds you of your first love. Or what you wished your first love had turned out to be, anyway.
Minuses
Wooden acting?most obvious when Bella storms out of the house (or in this case, placidly threatens to leave Forks in a monotonous tone). Stewart does well in the scene where James infects her with venom, but otherwise, she looks too stolid and not at all like the volatile Bella.
Too much dialogue is omitted from the script. Sure, a lot of lines in the book are cheesy, but lines like ?You smell good in the rain? and ?Do I dazzle you?? are what made ?Twilight? so popular with teens.
Bad hair and makeup. Seriously, we?ve seen better vampire makeup in Halloween parties. Haven?t the makeup artists ever heard of blending?
The color of Edward?s neck is different from his face, and his lipstick is too red. Jacob Black has hair extensions that look like ropes, and is his nose a prosthetic?
Dated special effects. They really should?ve spent more on the movie, considering the huge fan base. And why were the fight scenes so short?
Bothersome product placements. We saw them all: Apple iPods, MacBooks, Nokia cell phones, beer, Nestlé drinks, cars, etc. The movie felt like an overdrawn commercial at some points. (And who refers to their TV as a ?flatscreen? all the time?)
A mediocre soundtrack. Occasionally a mood-spoiler except, maybe, for Iron and Wine?s ?Flightless Bird, American Mouth,? in the prom scene.
The tinkling sound you heard whenever Edward ?sparkled.? It reeked of ?80s Filipino films?sparkle with sound! Kumukutikutitap, bumubusibusilak.
Robert Pattinson should?ve worked out to spare viewers the sight of his less-than-perfect, hairy torso. ?I should?ve had a six-pack, but it didn?t work out,? he said. We agree.
E-mail the author at biancaconsunji@yahoo.com
