Special effects, pretty faces & some romance; nothing striking though

Rating: 5/10 (23 November 2009)

While we saw Twilight being released only this Friday in India, the audience in the Americas, Europe and South East Asia saw its sequel, ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ and another sequel is already under production. The first of these, based on the four book series on teenage vampire romance by Stephenie Meyer thrilled teens precisely a year ago in the West. Had they forgotten that Hollywood has a sizeable market here?
Seventeen year old Isabella Swan moves to live with her father in Forks; a town near Washington State's coast after her mother is remarried. Being cute, as most thriller actresses are, many boys eye her. But, she is drawn towards Edward, the lone guy in the mysterious Cullen family teens. Initially Edward seems to detest her, but soon, both get talking. Love blossoms when he saves Bella from a crash with his bare hands.
Curiosity and intrigue draws Bella to Edward whom, she discovers is a vampire. But, he is a vegetarian one, in the sense that he consumes only animal blood! Soon we are introduced his vampire family led by Carlisle Cullen, whom the town knows as a doctor. The Cullen family encounters the nomadic vampires who are keen to snack on Bella, thus bringing us to the climax of the battle between the good & bad vampires.
Though I haven’t read the book, I felt that key drivers in a vampire romance would be intense passion, some lust blended with thrill seeking teenage innocence as Bella falls for Edward. But, when you see Kristen Stewart and Briton Robert Pattinson, at best, you stop at saying ‘yeah, they are a cute couple’. With the emotional metamorphosis that leads Bella to Edward completely missing, what’s left seems liked a rushed up story!
Some of the characters that could have done with more depth are that of the nomadic vampire James who hunts Bella or the hunter’s consort Victoria. In the end, when you see Victoria watching over the lead couple, the viewer just doesn’t seem to care since these characters were hardly allowed to develop. Another character that deserves sympathy was Chief Swann, Bella’s father who almost had nothing to do throughout.
As you sleepwalk through the story, some sporadic moments make it worthwhile. The speedy tree climbing scenes and romance in the meadows are decent. Twilight also highlights another dilemma of a movie maker. Since romances and thrillers are not a natural combination, filmmakers are somehow stuck between the two and deliver the best of neither. The lack of blood and gore helps the romance but loses on thrills.
Although the movie has made more than half a billion dollars globally, including DVD sales, it lacks the spark. The teen romance plus a lot of low light special effects in blue-grey tint messes up on poor script, lack of character development. Maybe, just the scary thought of a lone girl in the company of a family of vampires probably kept the movie ticking. Despite all its misses, I’d say that you won’t really regret watching it at home.