Painfully cheesy adaptation of a good book

Rating: 2/10 (5 December 2008)

*A bit of a late review, since I saw this on opening day, but I wanted to get my opinion out on my new account.*
I liked the Twilight book. It was a little flawed, but it's God compared to the film. I don't know what the critics mean when they say it will "please the die-hard fans". Well, I am a fan, and I wasn't pleased. It's not because I'm hard to please, even though I am, it's just because the movie sucked.
I am not going to discuss the plot, it's about love and vampires, but I will discuss the film's strengths and weaknesses. One of the main weaknesses is the leads. Kristen Stewart is quite bland as Bella. Her face is expressionless throughout the majority of the film, and I did not believe her undying love for Edward. Robert Pattinson is, at times, good as Edward, however, his British accent comes through at parts, and he appears to be trying too hard at times.
The digital effects are easily the biggest problem. They were very poorly done. The scenes where the vampires are supposed to be running extremely fast, their feet aren't even touching the ground. It just came off as cheesy and I found myself laughing at parts.
Now, the film's strength comes from the secondary characters. The best were easily Charlie and Mike Newton. Billy Burke, as Bella's father Charlie, is nothing like the character in the book, but he had impeccable timing and he was easily the best character in the movie. Mike Newton was hilarious, his booty dance outside the café stole the whole show.
Edward's family, the Cullens, are more interesting than Edward himself. Carlisle is a bit flat at times, in my opinion, but did a pretty respectable job for what he was given to work with. Esme was very warm and is pretty much everything I imagined her to be. Rosalie is considerably bitchy, and I thought Nikki Reed did a great job. Emmett was not at all how I pictured him, but he was likable. Alice and Jasper are both terrific, though unfortunately underused. Since they are given the least lines, they don't have to utter such hideous dialogue as much as the others.
In the end, the film is unsatisfying and not faithful enough to the book. Hopefully for New Moon, they will flesh out the characters more and increase the budget so the visuals aren't as corny. I'd say wait for a rental.