Not the worst movie in the world, but not that great.

Rating: 5/10 (21 November 2008)

I have read the books before entering the movie theater to see this production with not much hope of it being great. But, in the end, I did end up enjoying certain parts and aspects of the movie.
And I should definitely note before I go further...if you are one of those teenage girls who thoroughly enjoyed the book, you will enjoy this movie. Not necessarily because of the acting, but because the movie seemed to try to stay as close to the book (both in terms of the plot, and how it was presented). And of course, there are many gorgeous actors in the movie.
For myself, I honestly was not a huge fan of the books, or the movie. Edward acted a lot differently than I thought he would and his acting was a little deadpan at times, but I do believe he did a better job in showing more emotion than his co-star, Bella. She was very pretty, and certainly looks how I imagined Bella to look, but her acting wasn't nearly dynamic enough to pull of Bella's character. She seemed to deliver most of her lines the same way...no matter what the occasion--and she always had the same look on her face.
I do give props to a few of the supporting actors who I thought did a great job--such as Bella's father, Carlisle, and Alice. I thought the cinematography was stunning. I would've liked to see more effects, but the film was shot very, very beautifully, especially the scenes out in the forest. Another huge strong point of the movie was the humor. There are a few cute wisecracks that made it a little more enjoyable for me as well.
However, the stoic dialogue and the weak acting of the two main characters really offset the strong points of the movie for me. The movie also felt as if it had no real climax--it didn't come remotely close to having as colorful a plot as the series. They also glanced over a lot of the relationship developments in the movie. I won't spoil what happens, but some of the relationships went from hostile to friendly, or uncertain to best friends in a snap with no real depiction of how the relationship came to develop that way.
I believe the fact that the movie tried to stay as close to the book may have lead to the blandness of the plot. Most of the book occurred within the minds of the characters, and it's really difficult to show that on screen without voice overs. I think they should have had more dialogue (or at least richer dialogue) between the characters to make up for this. Also, I think they should have depicted the relationship between other characters in the movie besides Bella and Edward. I know the whole tale is about them, but it would've really helped the tension to see where the other people stand with the two main characters and amongst themselves.
And again, a huge thing that would've helped the movie is more dynamic acting on the part of Edward and Bella, and showing more of the development of their relationship.
So, for me anyway, the movie wasn't painful to sit through, but I would not consider it a good movie. If you've read the books, I think it's worth seeing in theaters, if you haven't...eh, wait 'til it comes out on video. In general, the people who I've talked to who hadn't read the book and saw the movie said it was "extremely cheesy" and it "dragged and felt as if nothing really happened." But they did enjoy the little bits of humor and the cinematography.