SCI 626: Movie Review of "Twilight"

First of all, I had mix feelings about seeing this film. I had already read all four of the books and was in love with complicated love story of Edward and Bella. So, I was excited to see the book come to life on film, but I was nervous because films are never as good as the books. They always have to take some of the best details out due to editing purposes and I did not want to see my beloved Twilight void of the many details that made the story breathtakingly perfect. With that said, here is my review of the film "Twilight".

The opening scene captures the setting rather well. The deer grazing in the moss covered forest was beautiful. The scene was foggy and void of sunshine which immediately welcomed the audience into the vampire world.

The first time that I watched this, I was more critical of the characters. I still maintain my initial thought that the acting kind of sucked. In their defense, what can you expect from such young actors? However, Kristen Stewart did an excellent job and was the epitome of Bella. The casting director did a great job of casting someone who truly looked like the Bella that Stephenie Meyer created. Actually, all of the casting was well done. The characters came alive on the big screen and it was nice to finally put a face with name. Also, I must somewhat recant my previous statement about the sucky acting. Once I watched the movie through a second time, the acting didn't seem as bad. As a matter of fact, I fell deeper in love with these fictional characters.

This is a story about an awkward, accident-prone girl and a beautiful vampire who fall in love despite everything that is working against them. It has drama, horror, romance, and action and is based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer. A major difference between the book and the movie was the introduction of James, Victoria, and Laurent from almost the very beginning. The audience gets a terrifying glimpse of this blood-thirsty coven from the start as they begin terrorize the Forks area by killing off several humans. I believe this was a smart addition. It builds up the suspense and makes these vampires more terrifying.

The fight scene between James and Edward is another addition. While this fight was not described in the books, it is acted out in the film. This helped to add some action to the movie, which was another wise choice by the writers.

All in all, I would give this movie four out of five stars. I highly recommend this movie to those who have read the book. If you have not read it, then you probably will not be able to appreciate the movie. Now, I just have to count down the days until the release of the sequel!