When you can live forever what do you live for?

Rating: 6/10 (23 November 2008)

Seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan moves to the small town of Forks, Washington, to live with her father. There, she finds herself drawn to a mysterious classmate, Edward Cullen, who is revealed to be a 108-year-old vampire but is physically seventeen. Although Edward discourages the romance at first, they soon fall deeply in love. When the arrival of three nomadic vampires puts Bella's life in danger, Edward and his family put their lives at stake to save her.
You may question yourself now, "What is with this hype?", "Have the world gone mad?", or even "Should I even see this?" You don't know what this is all about but you're curious. This is where I come in, and other millions of reviews you can read to gain answers from these questions and even millions more. No, I have not read the books. Actually, I have chosen to try to watch movies before I read their original sources because comparing the two can cause huge problems. *cough*Harry Potter*cough* No, I'm not a fan, so I WAS in the same boat as you. To start this off, I wasn't looking forward to this film. So why did I see this? My brother read the book and wanted to see the movie. But now I can say I left the theater with a huge smile on my face.
So what is this hype? It's nothing different than the "Harry Potter" frenzy and any other frenzy you can think of (LotR, Star Wars, etc). This is basically a vampire love story for this year's generation, and I'm part of it (which might be another reason the movie appealed to me). So what's different about this than other vampire love stories? I guess it has to deal with the young cast, which gives off a hint of freshness, if you ask me. No doubt, the target demographic for this film are the fans of the books, plus millions of teenage girls. If you're not apart of it, well, I guess you can do yourself a favor and skip this movie. It's not for you. Howver, there is a small chance for teenage guys and people who haven't read the books but are curious to see this movie to like the film. Hello, I'm one of them so take that risk if you will.
The love story presented in the movie has a timeless feel to it. I'm a sentimental fellow so it's no surprise I was brought into it very quickly. However, that doesn't mean the movie is flawless. There are some moments in the film that is just downright cheesy and awkward. Take this scene, for example: The first time Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson meet each other is awkward, but this is probably a bad example because I think it was supposed to be that way. There are some lines in here that was also very awkward and cheesy. There's one about heroine. You don't want to know. But apart from those flaws, the film does a great job giving us a fantastic romance.
A high point in this film is, surprisingly, the performances by almost everyone in the movie. Judging by the movie trailer, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson might give off some bad vibes but that's because you're not watching the movie as a whole. Trust me, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson both give off some fantastic performances, not to mention a great chemistry. The supporting cast also do a very great job as well, for what they're given.
The music choices for this movie is very weird, but you'll get used to it. It's a mix of rock and perhaps Gothic (I couldn't tell, exactly). The direction by Catherine Hardwicke does a great job showing us some fantastic views of nature. In total, I was swept away by four fantastic sequences in the movie. I won't tell you because it'll ruin the surprise. One thing that bothered me about this film was that, and it may be just me, the film should've gotten a better distributer because the film looks low budget compared to other film adaptations and it is (a budget of about $37 million). I just wished that the film could've gotten a more well known distributer so that it could've gotten a bigger budget so the film would look less amateur and better special effects. Like I said, it may be only me.
Overall, the film surprised me big time, surpassing way over my expectations and probably some other people that are going to see it too. If you're a fan of the books and/or a teenage girl, there's no doubt you should see this movie. If you're not, you probably will not like the movie, although there's still a small chance that this miracle can happen. If you're one of those people who feels like it's the end of the world because of this huge fan base and this huge success for this movie, don't complain because we all know this movie isn't for you so just stop whining that there will be an apocalypse. In the end, this movie is basically a huge setup for the next three movies (hopefully, they will get made) but that's not a bad thing because you get a great romance with a fantastic showdown in the end.