There's a little black spot on the vampire film industry.

Rating: 4/10 (12 December 2008)

What is it like to be a vampire? Many authors have been attempting to answer this question since John Polidori's short story The Vampyre which was first published in 1819. Here were are nearly two hundred years afterwards, and filmmakers have taken this challenge upon themselves as well. There are many great vampire films. One of them (Let the Right One In) was released this year, but a stinker was too. Twilight isn't a great vampire movie, nor is it a good romance movie. It's a postmodern vampire flick with no ounce of originality. It's portrayal of vampirism is incomplete and its depiction of women is distressing.
The plot is remarkably easy to summarize. Imagine a stereotypical romance novel from a pharmacy store, throw in a vampire for the male lead, and you've got Twilight. Bella Swan moves to Forks, Washington from Phoenix to live with her father. She is an intelligent and attractive girl but finds few real friends at school. Suddenly, she becomes acquainted with Edward Cullen, a shy yet handsome boy. Edward and Bella become friends, but she realizes something amiss when he saves her from a car crash with his bare hands. Romantic urges bloom and the two start dating. We finally get to meet Edward's family, apparently all vampires, who travel from place to place.
After some painful scenes of two people deciding to fall in love, the plot picks up when a rival vampire gang takes sight of Bella. One of its members, James, takes interest in Bella because she "smells good" and decides to hunt her. The Cullens hide Bella but James outwits her and nearly succeeds in killing her. Unfortunately, James loses and is killed off screen. I was disappointed since I thought James added some backbone to the feature. He actually follows some pre-conceived expectations I had coming in to this boring film.
Yes, it's very boring. Half of the movie introduces us to many unnecessary secondary characters whose names I cannot recall. Their purpose is to praise Bella's ability to land a good man. Why include them? Maybe the assured sequel will give them meaning. Aside from his father, Edward's family is also too conclusive. He has many brothers and sisters some of who receive no dialog. When we don't meet needless characters we are treated to overextended love scenes with Edward and Bella. I am surprised that throughout all of them, I never learned very much about their personalities. Don't be upset, I know I'm over-analyzing. God forbid a movie with more than a niche audience.
However, my largest problem with this film is its complete abandonment of nearly all vampire tropes. Vampires can walk in the day, enter rooms without an invitation, and even survive on animal blood. Their absence would be difficult to properly address but Twilight fails to provide any way of doing so. It becomes Stephanie Meyer's decision to hope that audiences will accept the story's (and movie's) premise as sufficient. I would have enjoyed back story on how vampires came to such a point.
Meyer's treatment of females reminds me of old horror movies in public domain. One I watched recently was Condemned to Live (1935) which was similar to this movie. In that one, a young woman must meekly await rescue from her husband-to-be who happens to be a vampire. She never acts of her own volition. Her admirer comes to aid as she sits idly. Bella is similar. Twilight portrays her as helpless without her boyfriend. Even when he sneaks into her home and watches her sleep, she still falls in love with him. No real woman would react that way. I can forgive Condemned to Live given its age but not Twilight.
Despite its utterly underwhelming story, the film looks good. Elliot Davis, as cinematographer, includes many overhead shots of Forks and surrounding areas. Rarely are there any shots in full lighting. Most of the frames are either dark or de-saturated. The cinematography is effective in establishing atmosphere of a vampire movie. If only there was story to go along with it. The script consists of various ways of altering how two people can say they love each other. It comes off as cheesy, but the worst line is when James' group says that they don't "play with their food" when hunting some guy.
Perhaps with better source material this movie wouldn't suck as much as it does. Oh wait, there is a better version of Twilight! It's called Let the Right One In. That film addresses many problems which afflict this one. It actually portrays vampires as, you know, vampires. Edward Cullen is a hottie who happens to be an undead guy but not a vampire. Nothing about this film establishes him as anything other than Bella's love interest. Bella is the same way. I don't recommend you see this movie unless you have a child or friend who wishes to watch it. Wait for the Blu-ray release of Let the Right One In and read the novel it's based upon in the meantime.