Reviews on the film Twilight

Review of twilight

 One of the most highly anticipated films of the year may well be a complete mystery to anyone over the age of 20. Stephanie Meyer's series of Twilight novels have been a teenage publishing sensation, especially in the United States where over 20 million copies have been sold. The inevitable film now arrives, with huge expectations, and it's easy to see what all of the fuss is about. The literary phenomenon has now become a massive film success. Twilight is the story of Bella (Kristen Stewart), a 17-year-old girl who relocates to a tiny town in Washington to live with her father, the local Chief of Police (Billy Burke). She is given a warm reception by a friendly new school, but soon becomes attracted to a mysterious classmate named Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Edward's family is equally strange: all adopted, all startlingly good-looking, if a little pale of face. It's not giving anything away to say that Edward's family is a clan of vampires: and there are inherent dangers for Bella if she follows a relationship with him, not least the fact that she herself may become one of them should the inevitable happen with her new love. Director Catherine Hardwicke previously explored troubled teens in her breakout film Thirteen and here she shows why she was an excellent choice for the job. The subtext is the forbidden, being an outsider and burgeoning teenage sexuality and Hardwicke brings a sensitive and evocative touch to all of it. There will of course be ardent fans of the books who will complain about what was left out or given short shrift, an inevitable result of translating a much-loved 600-page novel to the screen, but it feels like a successful transition to someone who is coming to it for the first time. Another reason for the film's success is its choice of lead actors: as Bella Kristen Stewart comes of age, having played the child role in many Hollywood films up to now. Her awkwardness in the face of her emotions for Edward is well-judged. Another career is launched in the shape of Robert Pattinson, a young English actor who has the necessary looks to make teenage girls around the world swoon, but with the added bonus that he can act. With a $70 million opening weekend in the US, a new franchise is born.

 Reviewed by Paul Hurley

My review about what this person said : As I know, the film was a big success but the film making was poor. As the book is a success, they did not know if the movie will be good as the book so choosing actors which are not so poplar made them spend less money on it. As it says in the review, I do not think Kristen Stewart was the big reason for the film to be successful as not a lot of people known her. She got to fame after acting in the film. As the book was a big success, people who read the book would like to see the film version so have the images in their head more clear. Catheine Hardwicke did not make a big success as it says on the review because if you watch the film on the camera shots and editing you will see so many mistakes. As for telling the story, the story takes place in a ting town in Washington called forks. The name has not been said in the review.it has been a success for having a 600 wood book on to screen but the most important parts are cut out example when there is a class about blood tests, Edward does not get in to the class and says to Bella that it’s not a good idea. This part shows that Edward can be a vampire.

Twilight review

Review byMatthew Turner17/12/2008

 Destined to be a massive hit with its target audience of teenage girls, Twilight nails its central romance and remains an enjoyably watchable thriller, despite the odd bit of dodgy dialogue and some amusingly rubbish special effects.

 What's it all about?

Based on the first in a series of best-selling novels by Stephenie Meyer (the sequel's already been greenlit, based on the film's U.S. box office success), Twilight stars Kristen Stewart as 17-year-old Bella, who moves from Arizona to rainy Forks, Washington in order to live with her police chief father (Billy Burke). On her first day at school, she's intrigued by mysterious outsider Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), who just happens to be really, really good looking. When Edward rescues Bella by stopping an out-of-control car with his bare hands, she quickly works out that he's a vampire and the two fall madly in love. However, Edward's desire for Bella is so strong that he constantly has to hold himself back for fear of biting her, and if that wasn't bad enough, a band of marauding "meat-eating" vampires (including Cam Gigandet) set their sights on Bella after they find her playing vampire baseball with the Cullen family.

 The Good

Stewart and Pattinson have genuine chemistry as Bella and Edward (at least if the lust-crazed screams at the press screening are anything to go by) and director Catherine Hardwicke handles their romance well – the first kiss scene is particularly good. The supporting cast are equally impressive, particularly Burke and all the actors playing the Cullens, though Justin Chon and Michael Welch (as Bella's non-vampire male friends) are extremely irritating.

 The Bad

Aside from its dodgy relationship politics, the film's main problem is that the thriller element basically boils down to a single fight scene, the dialogue is extremely cheesy and some of the special effects (notably the vampire piggy-back moment) are unintentionally laughable.

 Worth seeing?

Twilight works better as a romance than as a thriller, but it's nonetheless enjoyable and its target audience won't be disappointed. Worth seeing.

My review about what this person said : The first thing I will say is that I agree with the reviewer about the bad side of the film. By just watching the film in the cinema was so cool as in the cinema you do not look at the special effects of other camera shots and editing. You just concentrate on the story and charters/ what you see on the screen. After watching the film on DVD, I was laughing so much that I could not watch the film again as you editing is so rubbish that I will make the film better. i go with the good as well because the audience like suiting two actors together so having Kristen and Robert together have been a good idea as they suit each other. Having Catherine as he director was good in some bits because she has of filming for a teenage audience, so she know what she is doing. The story is clearly told and like the fact there is the good/bad and the worth part because some reviews just write the goods and think it’s a good film to watch when it’s not.

'Twilight' Movie Review

 Twilight's a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly ugly. Fortunately for Twilight fans who've been working themselves into a frenzy over the film's anticipated release, what works in Twilight heavily outweighs what doesn't. Director Catherine Hardwicke and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg do a great job of not only capturing the tone of Stephenie Meyer's teen vampire romance book but improving it with dialogue grounded in reality and a batch of action scenes to fill in rocky storytelling spots. Twilight's cast also should be commended for nearly living up to Meyer's unobtainable standards. Robert Pattinson and Nikki Reed had particularly rough jobs as their characters are described with such hyperbole in Meyer's books that no human on the planet could possibly look the part. And let's face it – no one in the cast looks exactly how every reader pictured the characters. We all have different visions of Edward, Bella, and the Cullens floating around in our heads. So kudos to Pattinson and Reed for tackling roles that got them picked apart in pretty nasty reports when the initial word of their casting surfaced. Pattinson's and Reed's performances as Edward and Rosalie should silence all the naysayers.

The Story

Through a minimal amount of voice-over we learn Bella's leaving Arizona – and the sun – behind to live with her dad, Police Chief Charlie Swan, in Forks, Washington. Her first day at school she makes friends with Jessica, Angela, Eric and Mike, and spots…cue drum roll please…Edward Cullen. Be still our beating hearts – his already is. If you've read the books, you know Bella falls quickly for the strangely cold, strangely detached 17 year old who occupies the same table at lunch every day with his brothers and sisters. The Cullens stick together and their fellow high school students tend to leave them alone. They're not ostracized, but they're definitely not the first to get invitations for sleepovers. But Bella sees something everyone else apparently misses or wisely chooses to ignore. The film puts Edward and Bella together quicker than the book, which is fine because the most interesting parts of Meyer's story focus on Bella and Edward by themselves. Edward has to deal with balancing his desire to bite Bella with his longing to kiss her, which makes for one angst-ey vampire. And all Bella knows is that she's found the guy she wants to be with; the fact he's a vampire is pretty much a non-issue. The Cullen family is the exception to the vampire rule, opting to feast on animals rather than people. They've adapted well to this lifestyle and although they're by no means totally immune to the smell of humans, they've progressed to the point where they can live amongst us fairly normally. But when vampires who do love humans – to death – come to town, it's up to Edward and his family to keep Bella safe.

The Good

Meyer's story takes place in Forks, Washington, and filming in the Pacific Northwest was absolutely the right decision. The gloomy, overcast skies further add to the brooding quality of the tale, and of course are necessary since these vampires come out in the daylight but stay out of the sun (their sparkling skin would be a dead giveaway they're something outside the norm). Pattinson as Edward totally works. Now he's known to millions of Twilight supporters around the world, but Hardwicke cast him when practically no one (other than some Harry Potter people) knew his name. Pattinson took the film Edward to a slightly darker place than the book Edward, and in doing so made him more appealing - on multiple levels. Also earning high marks are the performances by Billy Burke (Charlie), Taylor Lautner as Jacob (though his screen time is extremely limited), and the actors who play the Cullen family – Elizabeth Reaser (Esme), Peter Facinelli (Dr Carlisle Cullen), Nikki Reed (Rosalie), Kellan Lutz (Emmett), Jackson Rathbone (Jasper) and stand-out Ashley Greene whose Alice is exactly as written in Meyer's book series. Anna Kendrick, Justin Chon, Michael Welch, and Christian Serratos fill the roles of Bella's classmates and are actually more interesting as portrayed onscreen than in the novel thanks to Rosenberg's ability to speak teen.

The Bad

There aren't as many quiet romantic moments between Edward and Bella as there are in Meyer's book, which of course has a lot to do with the fact you cannot cram every page from the book into the feature film. Yet I really missed a few of the more memorable tender scenes between the two that stand out in the novel.

Also, the meadow scene… Well, it's not the book's meadow scene that's for sure. Still, it's in the movie and that's thanks to tireless campaigning by director Hardwicke who knew how important it was to Twilight fanatics. And, sadly, the baseball scene seems off. I can't put my finger on exactly what's wrong with it, but it feels a little forced and hokey at the same time. Maybe it's the baseball caps. I'm also not sold on Kristen Stewart's performance as Bella. Sticking this in the 'bad' section is a stretch – she's a good actress and it's not like she delivered a terrible performance. It's just this Bella never seems happy, not even when she finds out the impossibly gorgeous vampire is in love with her. Does Stewart smile in the film? I honestly can't remember, but if she does it's a rare occurrence. I didn't buy Stewart as a teen in love.

The Ugly

While Facinelli's performance as Dr Carlisle Cullen is spot on, his transformation from a brunette with a normal Caucasian skin tone to a bleached white blonde actually elicited chuckles from the preview audience. The first time he appeared onscreen was one of those moments that yanks you out of the film because it's so strikingly obvious he's in make-up. Horrible, horrible special effects also serve to pull the audience right out of this imaginary world of Twilight's vegetarian vampires who live alongside humans. Edward's ability to run lightning fast looks about as cheesy as you can get, and the sparkle effect is disappointing. Summit Entertainment should have given Hardwicke a larger effects budget so she could do justice to critical ingredients of the story that didn't have to do with performances. Seriously, why skimp on the effects budget when you've got a potential blockbuster film franchise hanging in the balance?

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. 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.

My review about what this person said :The first thing to say is I like the fact that the review has been spit in to good, bad and ugly. It shows more than the good there is ugly and bad. So that makes the film not good. At the end of the review there is a grade given by the reviewer. Good idea as it shows how well it is but as the review gave it an B , I will be a –C as it did not hit the way I imaged it, it did hit their audience, but as the audience is really young and does not know what makes a good film. In the good section I like the fact that it talks about the book because that was the only good thing about the film, the story. It talks about that was on the filming technics, example the make up on the doctor. I did not even know there was a difference between the other screens and the first time the doctor appease. I like the fact the reviewer write about not like Kristen Stewart as Bella like I do not like her in the film as well. In the book Bella is strong, never confused and is happy but in the film you never see Kristen smiling. You only see her non smiling face never having an expression. Her acting does not fit into Bella, not at all. Like come on when the audience reads the book, you have expressions in your face, you will know how to act or you know how it feels but compering that to Kristen’s performance, it’s not the same.

Twilight review

Don’t hate me when I admit that I am not really a fan of the Twilight book series. I did read the first book because several of my middle-school students were carrying around the book and giggling at the thought of Edward Cullen. Needless to say, I went into the theatre with low hopes of being entertained. Not only is this film highly entertaining and faithful to the book, it is also one of the cleaner teen movies to come out in a long time. Bella Swan is moving from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington. Since her mother remarried a minor league baseball player, she moves in with her single father to allow the newlyweds to travel. Once Bella moves to the small town, she is at once the center of attention. However, who really catches her eye is the pale, handsome Edward Cullen. After saving Bella from a potentially fatal accident, Edward becomes even more intriguing to Bella. Attracted to the scent of her blood, Edward tries to distance himself from the beautiful Bella but to no avail. They soon learn to accept their forbidden attraction and fall in love. Bella also finds out that Edward and his family are immortal vampires. Unlike others of their kind, the Cullen only feed on animals and not humans. All is jeopardized when a group of evil nomadic vampires begin to kill human victims along the Forks area. Once James, one of evil vampires, catches a scent of Bella, he becomes obsessed in hunting her down and killing her. Edward and his family do their best to hide Bella from the vampire before it’s too late. The cast is perfectly chosen; Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson carry their scenes well, and their chemistry is convincing. The two-hour film moves at a steady pace, and humor is appropriately placed. Just enough background information is offered to keep people who’ve never read the book from feeling lost. While not too much is provided to help the devoted fans from feeling bored. The main offense could have easily come from sexual references, but the film kept it very mild. Edward and Bella only kiss twice. They do share a sensual kiss in her bedroom. When their kiss begins to intensify, Edward quickly pulls away. After this, the audience can briefly see that Bella is in a shirt and panties. The second kiss is very clean and brief near the end of the film. When going prom dress shopping, the girls try on some cleavage-revealing dresses. When Jessica says that the current dress makes her “boobs look good,” some guys immediately holler at her through the shop’s window, making her uncomfortable. This would make for a great discussion to young girls on how we should dress modestly as daughters of God. The violence is the film is fairly moderate. While the Cullens are good vampires, the nomadic vampires do hunt humans. These murders or any blood are never shown on screen, except a brief chase scene. When Bella gets tricked into going into her old ballet studio, James does break her leg and throws her around a couple of times. All this causes Bella to scream in agony. While she is losing consciousness, you can see the Cullens, quickly twisting James’ head off. There is no blood, and the image is blurred out. After viewing the movie, parents should speak about the positives and negatives of Edward and Bella’s relationship in comparison to God-approved dating with their kids. Edward is very sweet to Bella, and their physical relationship does not pass a few kisses. Impressively, Edward even stops their kiss when he feels that he is “losing control.”Bella and Edward are obviously tempted with each other. However, they spend a lot of time alone, from Bella’s bedroom to being in the middle of the forest. Explain how being absolutely alone leaves too many tempting doors wide open.

My review about what this person said :For this review this teacher, I think has not been a twilight fan as much as other audience. As for the review, the film and book is entertaining but for me I would not say the film is entertaining as much as the book. It says that the film gives as much information needed not to lost the audience. I do not agree because the first time I watched the film, I did not get some screen, like how could Bella found out Edward is a vampire quickly. Why did not other students found out before Bella? After watching the film I had started reading the book and for me I had imaged the characters from the film but having different screens and the way they will act. If the book is not read then you do get lost with the story, for my opinion. I do not get the reviewer talking about the dress put, ok I did get it but the screen is so short that you will not even look at that cried of thing. The reviewer does not even talk about the film, just the pictures of the screen and the book, well some bits.