Its not right, but its OK

Rating: 4/10 (21 November 2008)

A separate review should be written for straight men and women. I have a feeling that nothing will matter to the latter, because Robert Pattinson elevates "gorgeous" to a whole new level. I have never read the books, but at the advance screening, my cousin (female) and I found ourselves bursting into fits of giggles for no reason other than Robert Pattinson's magnetic presence. Yeah, its a big deal. And that, for the most part, was ample distraction from the rest of this mediocre movie.
That being said, the rest of the movie ranged from underwhelming to outright garbage. Even Pattinson's acting, which was spot on in his opening scene became unintentionally funny while he tried to explain to Bella how dangerous he was. This movie had people laughing when I'm sure they weren't supposed to. There is hardly any character development, especially with the villains. James and Victoria kill people and want to eat Bella, so we know they're the bad guys, and yet the actors don't have enough charisma or screen time to give the viewer the illusion for a moment that they're a threat.
The love story falls unapologetically flat on its face. I'm sure they followed the book verbatim, because there would be no other excuse for it-- Edward loves Bella because she smells good (and Bella, naturally, loves Edward because he is Robert Pattinson). That's not enough to justify this supposedly romantic saga. It's basically the equivalent of saying "Edward loves Bella because he loves her." Why? "Well duh, he loves her." Even the screenwriters apparently couldn't come up with a connection between them. There is a scene, which is supposed to show them getting to love each other: He's in her room, and they're talking. It's a montage of them talking, but THEY'RE VOICES ARE MUTED AND ALL YOU CAN HEAR IS MUSIC. The writer actually couldn't find anything for them to talk about together, which makes their romance seem utterly superficial, and the moment Robert Pattinson is off the screen, even giggly female viewers have to admit this movie doesn't have much to offer.
If all you want is to drool over possibly the most beautiful man ever born, go see this movie. But if you want a plausible, touching love story with cool vampires, you'll be disappointed.