If you have never read the book...

Rating: 3/10 (23 November 2008)

Before I tear into this movie, I just wanted to say, I know what the director and producer were going for with this movie. They wanted an artsy-type film that followed the book in as many of the important areas as possible. They wanted the acting and make-up to be over-dramatic and scenes to be very surreal. They tried to pull it off, but it didn't quite turn out as planned.
I went to this without having read the book. I saw the previews, and it looked pretty sweet. I was pumped up for the movie, and then it started, and it went downhill from there. First of all, the make-up is HORRIBLE. I understand they are vampires, but Edward and his buddies look like they are straight out of an 80's music video with WAY too much lipstick. Second, the special effects were something straight out of network TV (comparable to Buffy the Vampire Slayer). I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the special effects on network TV, but they have a pretty limited budget to work with. A movie that was going to be HUGE should have had a slightly bigger budget to spend on special effects. The next thing I found sub-par was the overly-cheesy romantic dialogue. They were trying to keep with the text from the book, but certain things just sound better when you read them. All in all, the movie was a complete let down, and should have been a straight to DVD release.
The last thing I am going to say is that I almost guarantee there will be a sequel to this movie. The book has such a huge fan base that even with a movie directed and produced like this, they will make bank. They will try to capitalize on the next book and will probably make just as much on the next movie. All I hope for is that they stray from the text just slightly so it is not quite as cheesy and spend a little more on the special effects. And if it isn't too much to ask, fire the director, producer, and anyone else associated with the production of the first movie.