Not quite what I'd hoped for

Rating: 5/10 (21 November 2008)

I went into this movie knowing it wasn't going to be as good as the book, but I'm sad to say that it was one of my least favourite book-to-movies I've seen. The Twilight series, while not necessarily the most extraordinarily written books, are captivating because of the true humanness and relatability of the characters (even those that aren't human), and the tension and emotion that you feel throughout all of the books. For me, this is the element that the movie truly lacked.
Firstly, the script was awful at times. The actors seemed awkward, and a lot of their lines seemed very forced. The dialogue was not natural, and seemed to be trying to make small-town kids sound like they came from a major city, perhaps to make them more relatable. The effect was just awkward conversations that had me laughing in embarrassment.
The interactions between the characters were awkward as well. I don't know if that was because the actors didn't know each other well and didn't have any connections or just bad casting, but I hardly felt any chemistry between most of the characters, and you hardly get a sense for who any of the human characters really are. There was something off between Bella and Edward, a weird tension that's quite different from the romantic tension felt in the book after Edward's secret is out in the open. The only interactions I really believed were between the Cullens. You both get a sense of family dynamic and the separate relationships in the family, not just between the couples, but the hatred between Rosalie and Edward and Jasper not quite fitting in with the family just yet. The baseball scene, with only the vampires and Bella seemed to me the most natural, and was certainly my favourite.
I found myself laughing at the movie in the most awkward of places, such as the action or romance scenes. I feel like the movie took itself too seriously; the actions scenes were unbelievably tense, even in a movie about deadly vampires, and the romance scenes were so cheesy and cliché at times that I just couldn't help but laugh. If you're going to have that much drama in a movie, you have to tone it down or else it gets overwhelming and makes it seem like the people behind the movie are just trying too hard. The books were much more subtle, though I understand with a limited amount of time it is harder to get some things across.
Something seemed incredibly off about Bella. In the books, Bella is a bit sarcastic with a very stubborn edge, who can't see her own weaknesses or even the true danger that she is in. The Bella in the movie was fully aware of Edward's deadly potential, but didn't seem to care. The scene when Edward is trying to prove to her that he is dangerous while Bella simply stands there, looking and sounding like she's about to scream and run away but saying that she doesn't care makes her look less like she's desperately in love with Edward and more like she's just stupid. A few of the other characters, such as Angela and Edward, seemed off too, something that became rather distracting after a while. Only the Cullens seemed to me to be as close to their characters in the books as they could be.
I can only hope that New Moon will have both a different director and writer. Perhaps the actors will feel more comfortable with each other the second time around, and hopefully the dialogue will be more natural. The movie wasn't terrible, but it didn't live up to the book at all, even with the limitations of time. I believe that for those who have read the book, the movie will be so-so, with some parts that you are able to appreciate, and others that you feel embarrassed about, but for those who haven't read the book, I think this movie will be a bit confusing and have you wondering why so many people are into Twilight.