I love this series

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2018)

About three things the Twilight producers were absolutely positive. First, Twilight was a vampire tale. Second, there was a part of it that thirsted for teenage blood. And third, adolescent girls were unconditionally and irrevocably in love with it. Indeed, American booksellers have hailed the author of the saga, which runs through four novels, as the new J. K. Rowling - Stephenie Meyer's first instalment selling more than five million copies in the US alone, and thereby helping to fill the void left by the departed Boy Who Lived. The fact that the film version arrives Stateside in what has become the pre-Christmas 'Potter slot' will only boost the comparisons.
In contrast to the wizardry franchise, however, the director here manages to improve on the film's papery progenitor. While a succession of helmers have struggled to condense Rowling's ever-expanding tomes into a digestible screen serving, Catherine Hardwicke hits top gear from the outset, rattling through the early exposition and never once allowing the painful teen brooding that floods Meyer's book to overflow into insipidness. Meyer is a devout Mormon, her tale a metaphor for carnal abstinence, allowing young girls to splash around in a pool of obsessive love without having to swim in the turbulent waters of scary teenage sex.
The author, who had final cut, thought Hardwicke's first cut a little too steamy, hence the interaction between Bella and Edward becomes even more intimate, Hardwicke employing close-ups and avoiding the exposed flesh captured by the wider lenses. The director, of course, understands the teen audience - consider Thirteen or Lords Of Dogtown - and she conjures one of the most beautiful films of the year. Former Potterer Robert Pattinson (Cedric in Goblet Of Fire and Order Of The Phoenix) is staggeringly handsome, as are the rest of his vampire brethren. The backdrop, meanwhile, the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest, is truly breathtaking, Hardwicke sending her stars hurtling up towering trees and sinking into deep moss.