Good, entertaining vampire love story, with some humor in the script.

Rating: Null/10 (28 March 2009)

The only thing I knew about this movie before seeing it was (1) it involved vampires and (2) it is very popular with the younger generation of females. After seeing it I can understand why. While it is neither a great movie nor a poor movie, it is a very interesting story of forbidden love, and even though I am not a female of the younger generation I found it very enjoyable.
Kristen Stewart, still a teenager, is Bella Swan, living in Arizona with her mother. But mom recently re-married and her baseball husband travels a lot, so Bella decided to go live with dad so that her mother could have more freedom. She didn't do it with malice, just because she is a caring and wise girl for her age.
Billy Burke is her dad Charlie Swan , the sheriff in the local small town of Forks, Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. (I have vacationed in that area, it is beautiful as the film shows and was a good choice for this movie.) Bella had spent some time growing up there but had not visited for a number of years. So her return was a reunion of sorts, but she quickly became the new girl at school, and attracted a lot of attention.
But the one student who really grabs her attention is Brit Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen. Just looking at the screen we are struck with his looks, almost as if he has lots of makeup on, and later we find out why. By chance Bella gets paired with Edward in Biology, but he seems to have an immediate dislike for her, is rude, and tries to get a transfer to a different class. This puzzles Bella.
The movie is almost 2 hours long and my wife and I enjoyed it. Some of the dialog was predictable, and the unresolved ending which sets up the sequel is predictable. But the movie is filmed beautifully and the idea of a human and vampire relationship is treated in a fun and novel way.
SPOILERS: As probably everyone knows Edward is a vampire. When asked how old he is, he responds "17". When further asked how long he has been 17 he responds "A while." He was saved from dying in the 1840s, and being an immortal vampire stays looking 17. He and his family (dad is the doctor in town) have vowed to give up human blood and live a vegetarian life. Edward and other vampires are addictively attracted by Bella's scent, and that is why Edward tried to get away from her initially. Now he is her protector, and has to destroy a vampire from a different clan that tried to have Bella for dinner. But one of them survives and we see her as if to say "I'm going to get Bella." So there probably will be a sequel.