Very few movies are as good as the book... So... does that make Twilight a bad movie?

Rating: 6/10 (24 November 2008)

Warning: Possible spoiler for anyone who hasn't read the book or doesn't know anything about the story line! Search IMDb for any movie adapted from a book and you will see tons of comments about how bad the movie was.
When reading a book there is more time for character development. You get to hear what the characters are thinking and feeling. You form images in your mind of what they look like, what their voices sound like etc. Unfortunately some books (like the Twilight series) emphasize the characters attributes to such a degree that its almost inevitable you'll be disappointed as to how the characters are portrayed in the film. More often than not they fail to capture the detail of your minds eye.
For instance, an earlier reviewer said they were disappointed with the way Edward's skin glistened in the sunlight. Granted, while the film did not even come close to capturing the dazzling, glittering spectacle of Edwards skin as described by the author in the book, the films special effects would be more than satisfactory to the average movie buff unfamiliar with the book. That said, I had my own disappointments. When Edward and his siblings first appeared in the school scene I was shocked by the poor application of makeup used in the movie in an attempt to make them look dead. I thought they looked more like a family of Mimes! Edward, with his pancake makeup, eyeliner and lipstick. Yuck! It didn't work for me. I wasn't expecting the drag queen persona. One can only assume the makeup applied to the characters that portrayed the Cullen family was the directors attempt to make them look dead, (or at least like vampires)The poor use of makeup. Carlisle Cullen, (Edward's father), was almost comical in appearance. Rather than looking like my idea of the distinguished handsome doctor described in the book he looked more like a cast member from Bob Fosse's movie Cabaret. The raspberry colored lips and eye makeup applied to the Cullen men had them looking like leftovers from a Glam rock band of the 1980's.
As stated earlier, when reading the book you develop your own ideas about what the characters look like and how the scenes are portrayed. When reading the book I found myself asking "How in the world will the film even come close to capturing the feeling, excitement and suspense of the baseball game?" It didn't! The book did a much better job of explaining why the Cullen family played during thunderstorms. Watching the film you almost get the idea they only played in the rain because they had less chance of being seen by outsiders, rather than using the storm to mask the sounds they created when playing.
Just because a movie fails to capture the same level of excitement as the book, does it make it a bad movie? No, it just makes it a movie that is not as good as the book. Plain and simple.
Could Twilight have been done better. Yes, without a doubt! Considering the intended audience for this film, will the same group of people also turn out to see "New Moon" if it gets released to film? That's highly doubtful.
Based on this films mediocre portrayal of the Twilight book... would I go see New Moon? Probably not, I'll probably wait for the DVD release. The only exception will be if it gets rave reviews from members here in IMDb. I personally don't care what the professional film critics have to say about a movie, regardless of what radio or television network they work for. However I do care what members of this web site have to say. IMDb provides a genuine cross section of the movie going public. You get the cynical with the flamers and the sincere with the unbiased. In other words a TRUE "average" of what the viewing public thinks. If reviews by my age group in IMDb say a movie is not good (at least 6.0 or better) I typically stay away To my friends I've been recommending "See the movie first then read the book" NET: If you've already read the book try and dismiss all your mental images. Go to the movie knowing it won't be as good as the book and you should be okay. I wasn't expecting to be blown away so I wasn't disappointed.
Final Thought: Without the book promoting the current run of this film, this movie would have been considered to be nothing more than just another B Sci-Fi movie. However, the story line and the character development made this a much better movie than your normal run of the mill science fiction film. I actually found myself pleasantly surprised... especially after reading all the negative reviews.