A little amateurish, but a good promo for the books

Rating: 7/10 (17 December 2008)

I went to see Twilight as someone who had enjoyed most of the last 20years' pop culture vampire creations in cinema, television and print but who has not yet read the Twilight series. My opinion for others in my position is that you should probably read the books first to get more out of the movie.
To me it seemed a little amateurish. I don't know if there was a failure of execution or if Catherine Hardwicke's choices, successfully executed, simply don't suit my tastes; but for me a lot of the scenes felt a little too heavy handed.
HERE is an intense moment (facial closeup featuring intense gazes). HERE is another one. HERE is a romantic moment (cue music, pan skyward).
Indeed quite a lot of the Bella/Edward scenes involved minimal or no dialog, just intense stares, which I think resulted in character development being a bit simplistic.
The movie wasn't bad, I just didn't find it very subtle or complex.
What it did successfully do is make me interested in the characters and make me want to read the books for more story and character depth. As a standalone film I'd have to say I think it was mediocre, as a cross-media promotion for the story's primary medium, the books, I think it works well :)