Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Release: 28/11/2008
Runtime: 2hrs and 2 mins
Genre: Drama
Rated:PG-13
Producer:Mark Morgan, Greg Mooradian, Wyck Godfrey, Karen Rosenfelt, Marty Bowen, Guy Oseary and Michele StabileCast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Kellan Lutz, Cam Gigandet, Edi Gathegi, Rachelle Lefevre, Anna Kendrick, Taylor Lautner, Michael Welch, Justin Chon, Christian Serratos, Gil Birmingham and Sarah Clarke
Rating: 2 stars


The Twilight Movie was a complete disappointment for both the book series fans and people caught in the craze. The tragic love story between a fragile human and a dangerous, yet mouth watering hot vampire, was demolished by the poor casting, cheap special effects and highly over exaggerated scenes. It seems like a director swap for New Moon is a good way to go, since Catherine Hardwicke did not deliver.

Choosing a good cast is a number one priority for all movies. In giving Kristen Stewart the main role of Bella, the character was completely ripped to shreds. From the series, Bella was the universal vision of a normal teenage girl with rippling hormones, but what produced was an emotionally hallow young girl who constantly claimed to be in love. By trying to create a hormonal teenager, Hardwicke definitely developed a whiny girl who constantly complains about the world. When Bella's voice narrates over the scenes you get the moping feeling that made everything she did a sob story. Yet when Kristen Stewart's character Bella is placed in front of the camera all emotion seems to fade away. When she received Billy Black's(Gil Birmingham) old truck her eyes and voice lacked emotion and portrayed a feeling of emptiness. "I'm really kind of the more suffer in silence type."(00:06:25), we can see the rest of your emotions are silenced as well. Even the more intimate scene of the meadow with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) her eyes did not shine with joy or any signs of life. Then Robert Pattinson as the dreamy Edward Cullen did not fill the characters shoes. Edward Cullen, who is described as graceful and poetic, talked as if he was strangled. His words did not flow out of his mouth, but seemed forced and awkward. Maybe his constant need to change his accent has something to do with this dilemma. If they casted a boy with an American accent instead, Edwards voice might have sounded less congested.

Adding on to the bad casting, the effects did not help improve the movie in any way. The supposedly thrilling scene of Edward carrying Bella on his back, while climbing trees, left the audience laughing. His hands seemed to have no grip what so ever on the branches and his body seemed stiff. You could visualize the vest underneath his shirt and the wires pulling him upward and across the forest. Following that scene Edward decides to show Bella what happens when him and his family go out in the sunlight. As he steps out in the sun, a quick change from a normal skin tone switches to him being bathed in a tube full of glitter. It was quite disappointing. What can be manlier than a handsome boy dipped in fairy dust?

Multiple scenes, just like the special effects, were over-exaggerated in a sense. Right in the beginning of the movie Bella takes in the scent of her small hand held cactus. We understand that her moving away from her home in Phoenix, Arizona, and that it is going to be a drastic change, but does she really have to sniff the plant? This surely left much of the hardcore fans in a weird and uncomfortable state. Later when she arrives at her biology class at Forks High a fan seems placed behind her. Do you know any teacher from high school that has a huge fan in front of his desk? They could have made the scene more dramatic without the use of blowing her hair in the wind like any other drama movie. Then Hardwicke tries to connect the dots, by putting in a scene where Edward catches an apple in his hands to make a reference to the cover of the book. It may seem like a clever move, but to the twilight fans it seems unsettling. No where does it say in the book Edward does this, so stick to the book.

Overall the Movie did little to capture the emotionally intense love between a human and vampire. If the casting was more thought out, maybe the chemistry between Bella and Edward would seem more realistic. Then if they spent more of their time on the effects it would add on to the realism of it all and they would not have to add extra props to the scenes to exaggerate and help the audience develop a feeling or thought from the scenes.