TWILIGHT is an action-packed, modern-day love story between a teen girl and a vampire. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has always been a bit different, never fitting in with the girls at her school. When Bella is sent to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she doesn’t expect much to change. Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a boy unlike any she’s ever met. Edward is a vampire, but he doesn’t have fangs and his family is unique in that they choose not to drink human blood. Edward has been waiting 90 years for a soul mate, which he finds in Bella. They are soon swept up in a passionate and unorthodox romance. Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. But what will they do when a clan of new vampires – James (Cam Gigandet), Laurent (Edi Gathegi) and Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre) – come to town and threaten to disrupt their way of life?
Last night the AMC River East 21 here in Chicago was THE place to be when a theatre filled with teen and twenty-somethings (and me) and critics from all over sat down to see the pre-screening of Twilight based on the best selling novel with the same name written by Stephenie Meyer. The story of Bella Swan's love for the vampire Edward Cullen has captured many hearts on paper since the book came out in 2005. Now it finally makes its jump to the big screen and I'm glad to say that it holds true to the book.
When her mother remarries, Isabella Swan (or Bella as she likes to be called) decides to give her and her new husband some space. So, she moves from sunny Phoenix to cloudy, rainy Forks, Washington to live with her father Charlie (Billy Burke) where she is welcomed with open arms. She first meets Charlie's closest friend Billy Black (Gil Birmingham) and his son Jacob (Taylor Lautner) who she apparently used to make mud pies with when they were younger. Once at her new school she's instantly shown the ropes by Eric (Justin Chon), Mike (Michael Welch), Jessica (Anna Kendrick), and Angela (Christian Serratos). Angela likes Mike, but he has a crush on newcomer Bella. Soon, it's lunchtime on her first day and she sees these pale teens come into the lunchroom. Here we meet Rosalie (Nikki Reed), Emmett (Kellan Lutz), Alice (Ashley Greene), Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) and finally Edward (Pattinson). The Cullens have been marked as freaks, but Bella can't keep her eyes off of the captivating Edward (and neither can he keep his eyes off of her). Next up she has Biology where she gets to finally meet Edward. It turns out that the only open seat is next to him, but he seems repulsed by her (What's up with that?). Soon after he disappears for a few days and she can't get him off of her mind. When he does return he finally introduces himself to her. The next day she almost gets hit by a van in the school parking lot and Edward saves her. From here on their romance blooms when she soon figures out that he's a vampire, but not a bad one. He also has a unique power where he can read minds, but it troubles him that he cannot read hers her response is as follows "Is there something wrong with me?" To which he replies "I tell you that I can read minds and you're worried if there is something wrong with you?" We then see that she is not afraid that he is a vampire. His family and him don't drink human blood to survive, they only hunt animals. Thanks to his "father and mother" Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) and Esme (Elizabeth Reaser), the Cullens lead a "vegetarian" lifestyle. All while Bella and Edward are steadily growing closer, people have been attacked by what seems to be some kind of animal. Although, the Cullens know better. When the Cullens invite Bella to play baseball with them their thoughts are confirmed when their game gets interrupted by a small vampire group consisting of leader Laurent (Gathegi), James (Gigandet), and Victoria (Lefevre). James becomes so enticed by Bella that he decides to hunt her not caring about his actions at all. As the Cullens move in to protect her, James pulls all the stops in tracking her down even going as far as to find out where she previously lived and using an old video of her and her mother Renee (Sarah Clark) to lure her to him at her old ballet studio. He then proceeds to attack her and film it just so he can send it to Edward later on. Luckily Edward and the rest of the family make it to her, but not before James has broken her leg and bitten her. Without their help she would turn into a vampire herself. James is killed by the Cullens but it's now Edward's choice to save her by sucking out the venom that would make her immortal. It ends with Edward taking Bella to the prom (even though her leg is broken and she really can't dance to begin with) where they promised to love each other forever, even though she would like to be turned into a vampire to make that possible ('cause she'd get old and die and he would not). There is an ending shot here of Victoria watching the couple as they dance the night away. With revenge in her eyes (James was her lover) she sneaks away in the night....
Just as with the book, this movie stole my heart. The love that Bella and Edward have is something that most of us wish to achieve in our lives. I did have a few complaints about the movie though. In the first scene where Edward takes Bella running with him just looked plain weird. Showing his legs was NOT a smart move because it just didn't look believable. Then there is another scene later on where he's telling Bella about how he came to be immortal and its raining as they sit in a tree and his hair is wet like he'd just stepped out of the shower, but in the next scene where he is still telling his story his hair is magically perfect once again. Bah! What's up with the crappy editing? Other than that, it was just as I expected to be. 100% true to the book. The characters were played very well and I can't wait for the sequel. So, if you've fallen in love with the books as I have you'll definitely want to see the movie. You won't be disappointed. A dark 4 on my "Go See" scale.
No comments:
Post a Comment