Perhaps the crew is to blame?

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2008)

I have read all the novels and found that Twilight and New Moon were my favourites, as they had fairly consistent plot/characters, unlike the next two which I think get progressively messier. However, all the books have a very immature writing style - I'm not sure if this is just Bella's simplistic way of saying things or if Meyer is not a talented writer - it had very little imagery (at least, original imagery that didn't involve teen angst).
I just watched the film Twilight and as in the books, the plot and characters were consistent (with the exception of the Cullens - as in the novel Twilight, they were underplayed), but the cinematography, score/music, and direction was poor.
In many scenes, I felt irritated with the music chosen, as it either accompanied the scene unnecessarily or was used inappropriately. The only song I felt remotely worked was Muse's Supermassive Black Hole in the baseball scene, but even then it could have been a better song. I know Meyer loves Muse and there are many better songs by Muse out there!
The cinematography was altogether messy. I recognized it immediately from Catherine Hardwicke's Thirteen - the camera moving, overused shots, constantly changing shots - which worked perfectly for Thirteen, as it is meant to have a realistic feel to a very human story, but it was poorly used in Twilight. Elliot Davis is a talented cinematographer but his application of shots in Twilight made me frustrated and the excess of different angles and traveling shots did not at all benefit the story.
The acting however, was surprisingly good. Edward at first was a little weak but Pattinson really pulled through by the close of the film. I've always considered Bella to be a weak character and was pleased to see Stewart make her into less of a whiny girl and more of an independent woman.
When I was waiting for Twilight to come out, I had hope that it would translate onto screen beautifully, as it has the potential to, but instead it was average, and sometimes irritating, as if it were screaming, "YES, THIS IS A FILM. LOOK HOW MANY SHOTS WE CAN DO IN ONE SCENE!" I think Catherine Hardwicke, instead of adapting a book, tried to re-create something of her own, which is fine IF you can pull it off. I think with a new director, New Moon will be much more successful. All up, it was good, but certainly not clever.