Review: Twilight (2008)

Ah, sweet relief! My first movie in TWO WEEKS.

And yes, it is Twilight. And yes, I DID go see the 10 AM showing this morning despite getting over an illness. And no, I'm not a fan of the book, and have not been waiting on edge for this movie since I first heard about it.

I know nothing of the books. I know they were written by a mormon chick and involve a hot vampire named Edward and a girl with a name only a fantasy writer would use practically (Bella).

What works:
-This is a fantasy story. Every girl under the age of 20 will DEFINITELY love this. It's got a hot romance, lots of pretty people, damsels in distress, friendly gorgeous vampires, and a prom. This is a Dracula for our generation.
-The aesthetic tone of the movie is nice. At least to me. It's what I was drawn to in the first place. The film is shot in the beautiful pacific northwest, and it's constantly cloudy. The costumes are mostly neutral colors, and all the vampires' skin is chalky.
-The best character of the story is Charlie (Billy Burke), Bella's police cop daddy, who is unassuming, likable, and intentionally funny.

Robert Pattinson (who is omg gorgeous) and Kristen Stewart's acting styles complement each other; they're both wooden, completely unemotional, and incredibly irritating. Like nails on the chalk board irritating. I found myself getting restless and frustrated just listening to "Bella" speak. It's like, get it over with already.

I haven't seen any of Catherine Hardwicke's other directorial endeavors, so I can't make any comparisons. But I will say that while this movie was not poorly directed, it was also most emphatically not well directed. I appreciate that a fantasy movie should be stylized, but it all seems rather amateurish to me.

There are possibly too many cringe-worthy moments for this movie to be considered good. I suppose, though, the story is there, and it's mostly exciting. I just can't get over the awkwardness of Edward and Bella (i.e. Pattinson and Stewart)... Eh, go see it for shits and giggles. It'll at least satisfy us fangirls until Harry Potter deems us worthy of its audience.

Grade: C+ (the + is for the unexpected yet not un-welcomed decision to have Radiohead play over the end credits)

Current Total: 65