Since we'll be talking about the book tomorrow, I'll try not to waste too much time today on what was changed and how bad the movie is in comparison. That being said, as an adult male (well, adultish anyway) going into this movie, there was very little made for me. I'm not talking huge action blowing up sequences, but just some character depth and some non-moody teenage girl dialogue. When Bella begins to fall in love (I almost put love in quotation marks, but I thought it was too cheezy) with Edward, it lacks any sort of rhyme or reason. You could maybe attribute it to him being a vampire, but then why don't the rest of the girls in the school become as obsessed as Bella does.
Oh, sorry for spoiling the movie. As a brief synopsis for anyone who might not know, the movie is based on a book about a girl who moves to Washington and falls in love with a vampire. After she discovers his secret, she then tries to be accepted by him and his family and hopes to be turned herself so that she can spend the rest of her life (would it still be considered life, or just undeath?) with Edward.
Aside from the plot itself being pretty silly, there were a number of points throughout the movie that Katie and I laughed out loud at... and they weren't meant to be funny. First of all, vampires are okay with being outside in the sun, the only problem is that they sparkle like diamonds when the sunlight hits them. Seriously, what the hell? What sort of survival/predatorial mechanism is this? Supposedly this drives Bella wild with love (or lust, it's hard to tell with her acting), but all it would make me do is laugh at him for sparkling like a diamond (say it in an effeminate voice, that's what makes it funny).
The rest of our laughs came from the ridiculous dialogue, my favorite being "hold on tight, spider monkey" (thanks to Brian for the heads up on that one). When you added it to the nonexistent chemistry between Bella and Edward, it left most of the movie in shambles. You are supposed to believe that Bella is an interesting and different teenager, but she's so wrapped up in herself and her interactions with everyone outside of Edward are so short and undeveloped that I never really felt like she was anyone special.
I also found that the climax seemed to really just be thrown in so that there was a big ending. It doesn't serve much purpose outside of showing that Edward protects Bella and doesn't want her to turn into a vampire. I'll admit that I like the idea of the other vampires in the world, but without giving them time to develop, I found their appearance and the supposed tension they bring to the story to be lacking.
Basically, what I'm saying is that this movie is probably perfect for the teenage girls that it is aimed at, but I didn't exactly care for it. Tomorrow, we'll go further into vampire lore when I get to talk about the book and more about why I don't care about Bella, but for some strange reason I'm already over halfway through the second book.
Oh, sorry for spoiling the movie. As a brief synopsis for anyone who might not know, the movie is based on a book about a girl who moves to Washington and falls in love with a vampire. After she discovers his secret, she then tries to be accepted by him and his family and hopes to be turned herself so that she can spend the rest of her life (would it still be considered life, or just undeath?) with Edward.
Aside from the plot itself being pretty silly, there were a number of points throughout the movie that Katie and I laughed out loud at... and they weren't meant to be funny. First of all, vampires are okay with being outside in the sun, the only problem is that they sparkle like diamonds when the sunlight hits them. Seriously, what the hell? What sort of survival/predatorial mechanism is this? Supposedly this drives Bella wild with love (or lust, it's hard to tell with her acting), but all it would make me do is laugh at him for sparkling like a diamond (say it in an effeminate voice, that's what makes it funny).
The rest of our laughs came from the ridiculous dialogue, my favorite being "hold on tight, spider monkey" (thanks to Brian for the heads up on that one). When you added it to the nonexistent chemistry between Bella and Edward, it left most of the movie in shambles. You are supposed to believe that Bella is an interesting and different teenager, but she's so wrapped up in herself and her interactions with everyone outside of Edward are so short and undeveloped that I never really felt like she was anyone special.
I also found that the climax seemed to really just be thrown in so that there was a big ending. It doesn't serve much purpose outside of showing that Edward protects Bella and doesn't want her to turn into a vampire. I'll admit that I like the idea of the other vampires in the world, but without giving them time to develop, I found their appearance and the supposed tension they bring to the story to be lacking.
Basically, what I'm saying is that this movie is probably perfect for the teenage girls that it is aimed at, but I didn't exactly care for it. Tomorrow, we'll go further into vampire lore when I get to talk about the book and more about why I don't care about Bella, but for some strange reason I'm already over halfway through the second book.
3 comments:
HBO's True Blood FTW. Proper vampire awesomeness.
Your movie review was really spot-on. I was able to enjoy the movie because I really went into it with 4 other females and didn't plan on getting a lot out of it. You really nailed the problems the movie had...I couldn't put them into words. However, I went to be entertained and it did that for me.
The books, on the other hand, kept me riveted and like you, I'm not sure why. I think they did a better job of capturing the chemistry between the two...but the writing drove me NUTS. I am not a huge critic of writing, but I know good writing when I read it (i.e. Tolkien, Jordan...). I don't know how many times "his glorious body" or "the smile never reached his eyes" hit the pages but it was too many. It distracted me at moments.
Anyway, I agree with you. I'm curious to read your review of the book....
Cam and I saw it and happened to sit right in front of 3-5 (I never turned around so I can't be sure) teenage girls... you can imagine.
And I agree, the books kept me rivited, but I think it was, as you said, waiting for something to happen. I really enjoyed the 4th book more, and to be honest I wanted to just slap Bella a few times in the second book... The author is trying to describe her out to be this responsible teenager that is more of an adult (and has been her whole life) but she seems VERY emotionally immature. Eh, anyway, yeah the movie didn't give you any idea why Bella found him to alluring and she never seemed to wipe the furrowed brow and scowl off her face which bugged me. I didn't care much for the actress...
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