If you aren’t familiar with the popular Twilight book series that has just spawned a major motion picture then don’t feel left out. I hadn’t even heard of it until a few months back. This was weeks before the last installment of author Stephenie Meyer’s romance stories about teenage vampires was slated to hit bookstores, and talk of the soon-to-be movie was in the air. What you need to know is that the stories have struck a huge chord with an enormous fan-base that has rivaled, if not matched the success of the immensely popular Harry Potter series. The film however, is probably easily forgettable if you are not a fan of the book.
Things aren’t exactly going well for Bella Swan. When her mother decides to move to Florida with her new husband, Bella relocates to live with her father in the small dreary town of Forks, Washington. Adjusting to her “new kid in town” status, Bella tries to cope with being the girl in school who has always known she is different. Then she meets a boy unlike any she has ever met before. The stunningly beautiful Edward Cullen possesses a kind of mystery and danger that almost immediately attracts her to him. Edward is everything that a young girl who claims, “she would die for someone she loves” can toil over, even if his character’s James Dean locks look somewhat absurd atop his clown-faced white skin. It doesn’t take long for Bella to find herself swept away in the intrigue of Edward’s strange behavior and super-natural powers. Bella does what any modern-day teenage heroine would do in this situation, she “googles” the symptoms, only to find that Edward is indeed a true blue vampire. Soon, the two are caught up in an unorthodox romance that will compromise not only Edward’s secret, but Bella’s very own life as well.
If you are under the impression that this is a film about vampires then guess again. It relies almost entirely upon the believability of the romance between the two main characters. It’s not so much about dread or gore, but about the chemistry these two possess on-screen when the sparks start to fly. In fact, the vampire plot-seems to be tacked on almost after the fact of what would otherwise be an incredibly droll teen romance story. In a kind of 21st century consumer culture commentary, the youthful vampires in this picture are driven by what can perhaps be described as pure unbridled lust. The sexual overtones are obvious, but the theme is surprisingly wholesome as well. It’s ultimately a story about two kids who want to consummate their desires, but can’t “lose control” in the words of Edward, or they will both regret it. You see, the mere scent of a human’s blood is enough to send the most self-controlled of vampires into an uncontrollable feeding frenzy, and if Edward were to become too intimate with Bella, he might be tempted to sink his teeth into just a little, and not be able to stop. Bella, as you can probably guess, finds this extremely attractive. Thus the abstinence message is snuck in through the back door on millions of unsuspecting teens lining up to watch this movie.
The bottom line is that this film is poorly acted, and ill contrived in its execution throughout the majority. The target audience however- 16 year old girls, will absolutely love it. It will fail to resonate however, for virtually any other demographic. While having never read the books I could tell that there were indeed some interesting themes in the film that probably deserve to be explored in the written form at greater detail. Twilight will make a lot of money. It will spawn sequels, and break box-office records. It will do all of this, I suspect before the majority of its fan-base will even have time to decide whether or not the book was better. By that time there will be few people left who are unfamiliar with this story.
2.5/5
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