So many times the challenge has been how to make a movie from a book and make it just as successful. Director Catherine Hardwicke and screenplay writer, Melissa Rosenburg have taken that challenge head on with teen vampire drama, Twilight.
With the recent success of the Twilight book series by author, Stephanie Meyer, it was inevitable that someone would make it into a major motion picture. And it is my opinion that the movie is not far from the book.
Twilight is the first installment of the currently four-book series from Meyer, telling the tale of a vampire coven that has taken up residence in the small Washington state town of Forks.
They are not like most vampires of their kind as explained by Rob Pattinson, who was cast to play the vampire heartthrob and loveable neck biter, Edward Cullen. This band of blood lovers has taken an oath to only hunt the animals of Forks and not the people.
When Edward meets up with Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) he has an attraction to her blood like no other. Which makes his want for a relationship with her all the more tricky.
The love story between these two plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy about two “star cross’d lovers” that will remain nameless. The two lovers have seemed to enter into a companionship that shouldn’t be because of who he is.
It is plain to see that when they began to make plans for the movie that the powers that be made the decision to make it appealing to the male population as well as the millions of girls who had already fallen in love with Edward.
The first twelve chapters of the book make for a great love story as the reader is led through the challenge of Bella and Edward coming together. At first she doesn’t know what to think about him and he hates her, then she hates him and he wants her, then he doesn’t want to hurt her by loving her and she wants him regardless…whew! Well Meyer does a good job of making that untiring and delightful.
The movie however flashed through this little struggle with a very blurry and almost confusing road to love.
After this emotional, yet lack-luster first half, the movie was filled with action scenes that made it clear the male population was kept in mind,
The movie’s main goal, it seemed, was to attract the girls, the many many many young girls with the face of Pattinson (Edward).
I laughed at the opening scene as he seemed to float into the cafeteria with his pale skin and carpet samples for
eyebrows.
I’m not sure what happened, but as the movie progressed, I felt that Pattinson got better looking. Maybe I was just lost in the paralyzing trance of the Twilight craze.
The casting overall was a pretty dead on selection. The dainty Ashley Greene as the fun and fancy free Alice Cullen was right on for this reviewer, who must admit fell in love with her.
The special effects left a bit to be desired, but with a budget of only 30 million, which is a modest amount in the world of movie making, the sparkling of the skin and ridiculous looking running sequences were a bit excusable.
The best thing about the movie for me would have to have been the soundtrack.
It was almost as if every song was written for the Twilight theme. Its rare for every song on a soundtrack, in the movie or not, to make the listener feel the same emotions from the movie. The Twilight soundtrack is absolutely flawless in its music selection.
The main difference between the book and the movie was their central purposes. The book was all about the love story of Bella and Edward, yet the movie played up the fight between James (Cam Gigandet), the evil vampire, and the Cullen coven.
Not to mention the defense of Bella, who had stolen the-er heart?-of Edward.