For High EQ Romantics Only (SPOILERS)

Rating: 8/10 (20 February 2019)

First off, I am a straight 50 yr old guy with 3 teenage daughters and I liked this movie. Although this dips into several genres and defies the cannon of vampire and werewolf myths, I loved the Beauty and the Beast coupled with the Romeo & Juliet feel. My suspicions as to why there are so many negative reviews is that there just aren't enough deeply emotionally driven stories out there. The crowd has grown soft with eye candy.
This story is mostly about the angst that exists in teens in general and specifically between Edward and Bella. Throwing the whole vampire thing at you and the fact that Bella just moved and is away from her Mom as well as that her Dad is the local Smoky, well, that would complicate the emotional roadmap for anyone.
The awkwardness of Bella is conveyed well and the whole high school feel of girl-guy paradigms seems spot on to me. I do wish that there was more effort to stick closer to at least some of the vampire myths (fangs or some form of grotesqueness, sensitivity to direct sunlight) (no sparkly vampires please) as I think it would have driven home both Edward's concerns for Bella's safety as well as Bella's unshakeable love for Edward not-to-mention it would have tracked better with audiences. Most people don't like their paradigms tested. This movie certainly does that more than most. But I for one was transported back to high school and re-experienced that pleasant pain that is young love.