I'm far from the target audience and I really liked this new take on the old Vampire genre.

Rating: 10/10 (1 February 2018)

I'm not sure why this movie gets so much hate. Sure there are silly parts, and parts even the filmmakers must realize are so absurd as to be silly. But those parts are few and the director pulls you right back into the story with consummate skill.
I'm certain I can't watch another movie or TV show about zombies - the genre has been done to death in every way possible. But this new (to me) take on the story of an innocent girl who falls in love with a "good" vampire ("we only drink animal blood") is engaging, well paced and beautifully filmed. Never has the pacific northwest looked more lush and inviting then in "Twilight" and it's the perfect backdrop for this part-gloomy, part scary (for small children mainly) and intriguing tale.
Bella is a blank slate, an 18 year old high school girl new to the city of Forks, Washington. She makes the acquaintance of a strange boy called Edward Cullin, who appears to strongly dislike her at first. After he saves her life from an out-of-control car (using apparently super-human strength) it only makes Bella more intrigued by the mysterious Edward. Bella soon learns Edward's secret - he's an immortal vampire who can accomplish amazing feats of strength (Edward climbs a tall tree ten times faster then any monkey, and with Bella riding on his back, no less) and run like the wind. But "Twilight" throws out the rest of vampire cliche - these vampires have no problem with daylight, and neither do they have fangs...and the Cullens even seem not to feed on people ("animal blood") although as we find out, not all the vampires in the story are so benevolent. Bella and Edward soon fall in love, and the rest of the Cullen family (also immortal vampires) rally around Bella to protect her from a gang of 3 wandering "hunter" vampires who want to put Bella on the menu ("Looks like you brought me a snack!" one of them even says).
The movie was, to me, refreshingly unpredictable and I found myself caring about the characters - even the rather wooden Bella (Kristen Stewart). After 10 years I finally watched the entire thing rather then the bits and pieces I had seen over the years, and thoroughly enjoyed it. My advice is, ignore the bad reviews, give this a watch and decide for yourself... as for me, I've got a lot of sequels to watch.