Twilight: 2 Stars

Extra Speical Guest Reviewer........Meg!

I'm not gonna lie, I loved the books. I went to see this movie opening weekend, and forgetting how terrible it was the first time, I saw it again when it went to the dollar theatre - which is what sparked the idea for me to review it here! Let's get rolling! If you don't know the plot, go check out one of the billion Twilight devoted fansites.. or read the book, it's really just better that way.

Story:
It's always a little bit difficult to review a movie that was adapted from a book. In this case, the movie was SO much worse than the book that I might explode with disappointment just thinking about it. There was not enough plot development, and at the same time the movie was very slow considerably too long. Bella and Edward's relationship went from nothing to everything in a very short amount of time, with no real story development for the viewer. It was a slow build until James catches a whiff of her human-ultra-sweet-scent and begins to hunt her. The chase and the hunt and the fight to the death at the end all happened in the last 20 minutes of the movie. I do, however, give it mad props for including small details that only people who read the book would understand,such as Edward catching the apple in the cafeteria and Stephenie Meyer's cameo in the diner.

Cast:
I think the cast of a movie can make or break it, and it's much harder to cast a movie that is adapted from a book because the readers already have an idea of how they think the characters should look and act, and everyone's is different. So this is just my opinion! (Disclaimer: If you are offended by my review because you omg lOoOoVe Twilight!!!1, I'm really sorry you feel that way. Really. I am.)

Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen was a good, not great, but good choice because he looks like a vampire already! That is, Stephenie Meyer's version of vampires... He is pale and a little bit brooding and charming - even though that's just from having a British accent (which maybe he should have kept for the movie because quite frankly, his American accent isn't awesome). He did not, however portray Edward in the way the book describes him though, as the most charming of all, protective, kind-hearted, etc.

Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan was a poor choice. Where in the book or script did it say that Bella is angry all the time? The character is vulnerable and stubborn, and always trying to take care of people - not pissed off in every scene. Also, she was constantly fidgeting with her hands, and don't tell me that's just part of her character. If you claim to be a "real actress" who does "real acting" and not some dime-a-dozen "Disney kid", then at least act well. Enough said.

The Cullen family was a little bit disappointing too. I think Esme, Carlisle, and Emmett fit the bill, but I was expecting Alice to be smaller and more pixie-like, Rosalie to be prettier, ad Jasper to be less awkward. I know Jasper is supposed to "struggle", but it came across as plain awkward and slightly uncomfortable to watch.

Cam Gigandet made a great James. He was menacing, condescending, and creepy and all the right times. Kudos to the best actor in the movie!

Billy Burke as Charlie Swan was also good, just not what I was expecting. He acted well though.

Film-making:
The camera angles were unique and very modern. Catherine Hardwicke took some fierce chances with this movie, and I think as far as that goes she just did kind of average. Maybe that's why she's not signed on to do the sequel! Sick burn. There was really only one cool scene, and that's when they were playing baseball, that is, up until the bad vampires showed up. The music in that scene worked well - and might I say that it was the only time in the movie that the music complemented the scene - the shots were cool, and the cinematography was interesting. The rest of the time I was unimpressed.

Overall, the movie failed more than suceeded. It had SO MUCH potential to be awesome, and because it missed the mark it will lose tons of money that could have been made. I, for one, will not be buying this movie on dvd.

Thanks for reading!

-Meg