Not bad, but compromised by very high expectations

Rating: 6/10 (27 November 2008)

I have read the book. And today I watched the movie. So what do I think? They got the atmosphere of rainy and gloomy Forks, Washington right. They got the actors right, most of the time. My personal favorite actor was the guy who played Bella's dad Charlie, because he was so natural in his strained interactions with Bella. But I will complain about the ghastly overly white make-up for the vampires being too obviously make-up (especially for Dr. Carlisle Cullen).
As the leads, Kirsten Stewart (as Bella) and Robert Pattinson (as Edward) have a lot of big expectations to live up too. They have got the right look, but I think the exquisite descriptions in the book made their job very difficult to pull off for the big screen. The readers have made their imaginations run wild with the vivid narrations of Ms. Meyer in her novel, so it would be difficult to satisfy everyone's own interpretation. Their interpretations may never be enough for true Twilight fans.
Poor Robert Pattinson certainly has more pressure since Edward is a veritable demigod in the novel The fans have their own individual ideas on how Edward should look, talk, run, fight, glisten in the sunlight, etc. I personally felt he was too stiff in his interpretation of Edward. This maybe more of a problem with the director's vision though, rather than the actor's call. There were very awkwardly filmed scenes, like their first class together, and their first kiss.
My wife watched this without reading the book yet and she generally likes it as a romance movie. It was enough to make her overlook the vampire aspect which she does not really relish. I personally felt more time could have been spent to establish the depth of their love for each other. The director chose to spend more time to establish the presence of James' group, where Laurent was unexpectedly played by a black actor. In fact, this film really takes an effort to create a multiracial casting, for which it can be commended.
It is not a bad movie. It is just compromised by too much high expectations from readers of the novel who have eagerly anticipated this film treatment.