For a book with so much film potential...

Rating: 6/10 (15 July 2009)

Twilight was an engaging book. The entire series captivated hundreds of thousands of people, all of the books climbing on the best seller list. Why then, when the book was transformed to the big screen, was the film given such a small, inadequate budget? The movie, I felt, lost all of the qualities that made the book so great (it was no literary masterpiece, don't get me wrong, just entertaining). The characters were poorly developed I thought, but this is often a complication that arises when translating written words to spoken. The book was captivating, for people that it attracted, it was impossible to put down. Having been a fan of the books, I expected the same from the movie: something that I would have trouble tearing my eyes away from. I was confronted with the exact opposite, the movie almost boring, despite the action in a few scenes and the goo goo eyes between Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward).
Perhaps the best advice I can give viewers who have yet to see the film and were fans of the book is, look at it as a completely different entity. This movie may have the same basic plot and storyline as the book you loved and adored, but it lacks all that makes the book great. The acting is sub par, and Kristen Stewart seems to have the same facial expression throughout the entire book whereas the Bella we expected may not have been as three dimensional as one could hope, she certainly had more than a scowl on her face.
Overall, the movie had poor special effects because of the small budget. I look towards the sequel with higher hopes, but I don't expect to be satisfied. Expect letdowns and disappointment when watching this movie, if you've read the books. If you haven't, watch it expecting nothing, and you might escape unscathed.