Solid adaptation of a brilliant book

Rating: 7/10 (15 December 2008)

The easy to thing to do in a review like this is to minutely compare the movie to the book. And as an avid fan of the book, I had to resist that urge for a while in the movie. This series totally rocked my world - I know it is aimed at people younger than me, but it totally captured me.
So going into the movie, as a book purist I was nervous. How would the dynamic between Edward and Bella be maintained? Would that intensity be there? Because in the book, that is my strongest recollection - their relationship is so intense that I can feel it eating the page as I read the words. And I am not an automatic fan of Robert Pattinson so didn't have that sense of teen-scream adoration. Was pleased then to see a solid character/relationship development between Robert and Kristen - it was a joy to see some of my favourite sections of the book be realised.
Billy Burke was wonderful as Charlie and I started to get a feeling for the Cullens and their family/friendship dynamic, but I wished that we saw more of them, that more was done with both their backgrounds and their character arcs during the actual film. In many parts of the book they create the patina to the Edward/Bella relationship, and I felt that was missing from the movie. Characters like Mike and Jessica felt like broadbrush sketches rather than fully developed characters.
And don't get me wrong ... I came straight out of the movie and wanted to see it again ... immediately. But I felt that the intensity was not there between Bella and Edward - I never felt like their relationship was going to swallow the world. I thought Robert and Kristen were well cast, but I think that the direction/script let them down a wee bit. I never felt challenged, and some of the scenes slipped into B-grade schmaltz occasionally. Here's to a better adaptation of the second book - all the more difficult because of the lack of Edward for much of it! I wanted to be fiercely captured and captivated by this movie. I wanted to be challenged and fall in love with the magic of Bella and Edward all over again. But I wasn't unfortunately. It was like eating a fabulous dish with a key ingredient missing, the ingredient that unlocks the magic.