'Twilight' Movie Review

The Bottom Line

I have no idea if anyone who hasn't read Twilight and/or its sequels will walk away from the movie in a positive frame of mind. I've read the books…okay, I'll admit it, I've read Twilight more than once…and so it's impossible to place myself in the position of an outside observer. As a fan of books one through three in the Twilight series, I came in with certain expectations. Were they met? Yes, for the most part. Better effects would make this an easy film to recommend to anyone who's picked up the book, or to anyone looking to escape into a world of teenagers (okay, so one's not technically still in his teens) falling in love for the very first time.

The Twilight world created by Meyer is what we see on the screen. No major changes have been made, and any alterations to the storyline were necessary to make Twilight work cinematically. Adding in more action meant less time for some of the more dialogue-heavy scenes from the book. It's a trade-off Twilight purists might frown upon, but nothing was thrown in that's completely out of step with the book.

Twilight is what it is. It's a teen romance with supernatural elements. That's it. You know exactly what you're getting when you purchase a theater ticket. And thanks to the talented cast, director Catherine Hardwicke's vision, and Melissa Rosenberg's script, Twilight satisfies those cravings for an entertaining vampire love story you can sink your teeth into. It's a movie Twilight fans will enjoy, though I hope the studio will learn their lesson from this one and bump up the budget for New Moon to at least three times what Hardwicke had to work with here.

GRADE: B for acting and condensing the plot, C- for the effects, and overall B- because as a fan of the books, the movie was what I expected it to be.

Twilight was directed by Catherine Hardwicke and is rated PG-13 for some violence and a scene of sensuality.