It has been awhile since I have had the opportunity to review a film and a book at the same time. I think the last time I did this was in my Film Criticism class at UCO a few years back. This week I read the book Twilight and went to see the movie with some friends on Monday night. I will tell you up front that I liked the book much more, but you probably would have guessed as much. The book is always better.
Book:
Yesterday I was listening to NPR and a listener described the book as, “smoldering.” I think that is the best description as this book is pretty long and has relatively few action moments. Most of the book is spent on the relationship between the main characters Edward and Bella. One of the things that I like about the book is that it breaks some of the conventional vampire rules and spends time humanizing the vampires instead of getting wrapped up in the gory details of feeding.
I can easily see why so many girls are wrapped up within this series of books. Slightly dorky and clumsy girl meets hot and intriguing vampire, who falls in love with her and helps her escape from the reality that has become her life. A lot of the girls that couldn’t wait for the movie to come out and talked about the book on Facebook best match the description above. I didn’t feel like the supernatural side of the story outweighed the human side of the story. The majority of the book is spent on the relationship between Edward and Bella and their burgeoning love. As I told my friends as I talked them into going to see the movie, “this is a love story with a little interlude with vampires.” I grew up reading Anne Rice during High School so this story seemed really tame and had very few vampire moments, but I liked what happened and where it went.
If you have the time read the book or get the audio version on iTunes, which clocks in at just over 12 hours.
Movie:
What a let down! I was expecting more from this film and would say that it delivered on nothing. The only casting choices that I liked were Edward, Bella, and Alice. The director brought out the vampires as being weird instead of just being outside the crowd, which are two different things. With very few supernatural things to create on film I thought that what we got was very hokey and cheesy. I laughed aloud many times during the film, as did the couple sitting behind us. The film was very fragmented and seemed to introduce moments from the book without explanation. I also felt that there was too much over acting during the film.
Skip the movie if you can read the book. It will only stand to keep you away from the books, which are far superior.
*edited
Follow Me to Verge2012
Did you really just say you liked the casting of “Edwin”? It's Edward…
Who is Edwin? You criticize the movie and you can't even get the name of the main character right after reading the book AND watching the film.
I really said Edwin. Sorry. I was playing with my dog Erwin while writing and got mixed up.
Allison, I thought that Robert Pattinson was a good pick, but when he first showed up he did freak me and Syd out out.
Was it just me or would you think that taken apart from the book his part seemed really stalker-like?
what will make more money in the long run, i wonder: Twilight or Harry Potter?
i love twilight so much
Twilight is a thousand times better than Harry Potter. I really love this movie, it is the best movie i have ever watched.
Twilight is the best movie i ever watched. I really love the vampire love story theme and i like Bella Swans character.
Kristen Stewart is the perfect Bella .. All around the casting was perfect, everyone had so much so much angst that they fit the story perfectly
Twlight is really a great movie and i watched it several times. I love Kristen Stewart and also the rest of the cast of Twilight, they are really superb.
i will watch every sequel of Twilight because i find this movie so good. the graphics is good, the cast is good and of course the storyline is great.