Twilight / Twilight - La Fascination (Bilingual)

First off, I'm not a teenager and I haven't read the book. I watched the movie with the rest of my family, because my teenaged daughter insisted that we should, and assured us that we'd all love it. (In return for this, she has to watch Dracula ...)

Actually, I watched it twice, because it was both much better and much worse than I expected. It's clearly a teenage-girl wish-fulfilment fantasy, starring teenage actors, so you don't expect anything very thought-provoking, any serious characterization or (probably) any Oscar-winning performances. But I could be wrong about that.

The acting is first-rate, in particular Rob Pattinson's portrayal of the dark, brooding outcast who "doesn't want to be a monster". The barely-controlled anger, the pathos and the vulnerability he brought to Edward were quite outstanding. I'd also give five stars to Cam Gigandet's James, the Tracker, whose combination of a feline predator with a sadistic sicko was also superb. The developed relationship between Edward and Bella is everything that teenaged first-love should be -- desperately intense, sweet, touching, and sometimes laden with embarrassment. They were great. I thought Kristen Stewart's Bella was OK -- but the character is a wimp (the kind that just wants to be protected and loved and cherished for ever but doesn't seem to do a great deal to deserve it) so she didn't have much to work with.

On the down side, the "willing suspension of disbelief" takes a real beating with this movie. Some of it is rather obvious and my daughter tells me you just have to live with it -- like the fact that Edward has been 17 for "a while" but still doesn't act any older than this. (I mean, he's been going to high school now for *ninety years*? Doesn't he get bored with it? Doesn't he fall asleep during the ninetieth repetition of Grade 11 math? Since they obviously aren't there to meet other kids, why don't they pretend to homeschool? How come no-one notices that they never eat their cafeteria food? How come they still behave like teenagers after ninety years? Because if they didn't, there wouldn't be any story, of course.) Bella appears to go from outright dislike to undying love in about two days, which made me want to shake her and tell her to grow up. (You've known him how long??) The real let-down, though, is the special effects. The first time Edward raced up a hill at superhuman speed, three of us (everyone except my daughter) just fell apart laughing, it was so patently, absurdly, just a speeded-up film. It looks like Charlie Chaplin. Leaping from a balcony, or across an enormous room, was unbelievably fake. (Real jumps have a trajectory; only a zip-wire doesn't.) With the best will in the world, it's hard to immerse yourself in an adventure that suddenly springs these awful gaffes on you.

On the whole, though, I quite enjoyed this. Of course, 99% of teenage girls adore it, but their parents and siblings can watch it too without being overly shocked or appalled. Just try not to laugh or comment too loudly, because it annoys the teenage daughter.

I'm not going to review the movie here or go over key plot points. I'm also not going to talk about how gorgeous Robert Pattinson is. We've all seen it, we know it by heart, and we all love it. It's our brand of heroin. I am however going to tell you what I think about the special features.

This 2 disk Special edition includes a ton of goodies guaranteed to please any Twilight fan. I have to say that this was the first time watching the movie that I didn't compare it to the book and I found that it stands very well on its own. Even if you've never heard of Twilight you will enjoy this. I had also forgotten how awesome Charlie is and I noticed that the special effects don't look quite as cheesy on the small screen as they did in the theatre.

DISK 1 (122 minutes)

EXTENDED SCENES: (5 of them) With director's introduction. Too bad these couldn't have been left in. Including an extended meadow scene, In Edward's bedroom, James don't play with your food and don't read Charlie's mind.

AUDIO COMMENTARY: With director Catherine Hardwicke, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Watch the movie with Rob, Kristen and Catherine. This is really funny stuff with alot of teasing regarding Rob's driving capabilities, his eyebrows and aging (where's Efron?)

MUSIC VIDEOS: Muse-Black hole (Stephanie Meyer introduces video), Linkin Park- Leave out all the rest (very cool live performance), Paramore-Decode(great video with movie clips as seen on Much Music)

DISK 2 (78 minutes)

7 PART DOCUMENTARY: (55 minutes) The journey from page to screen. My favourite extra on the disk. Really interesting behind the scenes look at the making of the film. The stunts, the baseball game, the music, interviews with the cast and tons of unseen footage.

DELETED SCENES: (5 of them) Again, too bad they couldn't have been left in especially the sexy finger biting meadow scene. Also a neat scene with Carlisle and Esme and the infamous "she's not one of us Edward."

COMIC CON PHENOMENOM: (8 minutes) Where the screaming began. 6000 fans have a Q&A with Rob, Kristen, Taylor, Edi, Michelle, Cam, Catherine and Stephanie Meyer.

THEATRICAL CAMPAIGN: (12 minutes) Teaser trailers as seen on TV, Sneak peaks (5 in all)

Highly recommended, If you're a fan of Twilight than these extras are what you've been waiting for. Bring on New Moon.

Hot actors, check. SFX, semi check. Evil Vamps go good cliche plot line, check.
My first mistake was sitting down to watch the movie. My second was actually sitting through the entire thing, constantly hoping it would get better. My third was not demanding a refund.
Twilight was drawn out and just plain boring. Sure, lots of eye candy, if you can get past the teenage emo that resonates throughout the entire thing. The plot was just one cliche after another.
The one or two not exactly thrilling fight scenes were probably the highlight of the movie. Which isn't saying much. The acting was absolutely terrible.
I'm not usually so harsh in my reviews, and generally tend to find at least one good thing to put in. Twilight has left me with no options. It's a snorefest from beginning to end. I can't even say it's worth watching once.
My fourth mistake, as it turns out, was going to see the second movie, New Moon. I wanted to be fair, knowing Twilight was number one in a series, and those can sometimes be tiresome as they have a lot to set up for, characters to establish, plot lines to deliver. My faith was misplaced.
This movie definitely falls into my 'Rent First' category if you are 16 or under. Any older and you might as well save your money for something that won't send you into flashbacks of all the reasons you're so very glad high school is behind you.