twilight movie review

December 2008

The first Harry Potter film I ever saw was the forth instalment: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Not having seen any of the previous films or read any of the books, I actually found myself enjoying the movie. I do love to read books, but I also enjoy a well sorted movie. Long story short, I did end up watching all the Harry Potter films and reading all the books. Now onto Twilight. Again, I haven’t read any of the books and all I knew was that it’s a story about teenage vampires. So, did I enjoy it?

In short, yes, I did enjoy it. It was a pleasant movie to sit through, though it feels as if they’ve stolen Top Gear’s blue filter and used it throughout the whole film. The visuals were well done though I didn’t really like the vampire blur effects as they weren’t actually moving any faster, just with a trailing blur. Apart from that, the settings and overall cinematography was nice.

I think the best thing they did in the movie was to not rush it along. Anyone who’s ever studied script or story writing will be familiar with the “hero’s journey” which has pretty much applies to everything from Step Up 2: The Streets and Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights to Star Wars and The Matrix. Unfortunately for many Hollywood films, the directors like to push the viewer along from one point to the next, which tends to feel disjointed and unfocussed, ultimately making for poor immersion. Twilight doesn’t do this. It moves along at a decent pace and unfolds the story and characters fairly seamlessly. Of course, there are a few exceptions and a few scenes seem to be in there just to make sure the viewer knows what’s happening, but overall quite good plot progression.

A big part of the appeal to me were the characters. The main characters Bella and Edward felt awfully familiar, probably because Edward is Mr Diggory and Bella looks like Ms Granger from the side. Apart from the aesthetic déjá vu, the main characters played their roles well and I really enjoyed the supporting cast as they all seemed to belong, unlike some other movies where you pretty much just know that character is going to snuff it because they’re unimportant. The acting feels natural and the personalities of the whole cast is well played out and distinct.

Overall, an elegant film. The pace feels more like that of a television series rather than a feature length movie. With well sorted characters and a decent plot, I’d rate it about the same as a good first date. Enjoyable, and you hope the next in the series will be just as good, if not better.