Some good, some bad

Rating: 7/10 (26 January 2009)

I really go back and forth with my opinion on the film adaptation of one of my new favorite books. Going into the movie, I knew that it would not live up to my expectations, so I tried keeping my expectations to a bare minimum. I knew that the film would deviate dramatically from the book...it's to be expected. The book was long and there was a lot of internal dialogue etc that would be nearly impossible to translate to the screen. So I will set aside (most of) my comparisons between the book and the movie and just focus on my opinion of the movie in and of itself.
I think Kristen Swan was horribly cast as Bella. She goes through the entire movie in what I can only assume is a coma. She shows no emotion and recites her lines with a bored/depressive monotone. She totally lacked a personality and she wasn't likable in the least. She stuttered and bit her lip and awkwardly delivered her lines. I was very aware that I was watching a struggling actor. Never once did I actually lose myself in her character. She doesn't capture the character at all.
Edward, Edward, Edward...where do I start with him? Rob Pattinson is adorable and I think he was a good choice for Edward except for one tiny point of contention. The kid cannot act!!! I laughed aloud several times at his super intense expression that he so favored throughout the film. The scene where Bella walks into the Biology class for the first time and Edward recoils and covers his nose, is unintentionally hysterical. It is so overacted. It seemed like he just didn't understand who his character was. At times, Edward seemed completely bipolar. He seemed like the kind of creepy guy that we women are warned about. He didn't seem sweet and romantic, just stalkerish and possessive. But even that wasn't very believable. It seemed toward the end of the movie, that he got a bit more comfortable in his role and I almost started believing him. He definitely needs work on his American accent.
The only other actor I had much of a problem with was Jackson Rathbone. That guy just didn't know what to do. He didn't look like a vampire as much as he did a zombie.
Now on the subject of makeup/appearance, I think they need to go a bit easier on the pancake makeup. And perhaps for the next movie, they could consider dyeing Nikki Reed, Peter Facinelli and Jackson Rathbone more realistic shades of blonde. Was anyone buying them as natural blondes? I doubt it. My next complaint was that the movie was very rushed. There was little in the way of character or plot development. Also, I thought the special effects were terrible and clearly low budget. And I don't know if it was just me, but the choppy, awkward dialogue ruined what could have been a pretty good movie. But I don't know if it's the fault of the screenwriter or the actors.
Now for what I liked/loved. I loved the cinematography. I liked that it gave the movie an artsy/indie feel. I thought the rest of the actors were very well cast and played their parts very well. I especially liked Alice, Charlie and Esme. I thought the storyline with the exception of the two parts where James and crew kill the mill worker and then Waylon, was enjoyable and entertaining in spite of being rushed as I mentioned before. I loved the scene at the end of the movie following the fight scene where Edward is flashing back on memories of Bella while he is removing James' venom from Bella's body. I loved how they portrayed his struggle to stop after her blood was clean. I loved the song (by Rob Pattinson) that played during that flashback sequence. It was a pretty emotional moment. I'll admit I swooned! I loved the soundtrack, but was confused by the addition of a Collective Soul song from the late nineties. It seemed really out of place with the more current music.
I really hope that New Moon under new direction will deliver where Twilight struggled. But with less than a year to film, I'm not holding out a ton of hope.