Yes, I am guilty of dismissing this title because of all the hype. I rolled my eyes and snorted whenever I heard the title. "The most epic romance since Titanic" according to critic review quote on the DVD box. Uh huh, riiiight. The nightly news was showing footage of your average goth girl at the store waiting for the midnight release on video. Based on that, I assumed this title was another teeny bopper phenomenon like The Jonas Brothers or more like Sweet Valley High - 2009 Vampire Edition for tween goth girls (goth, goth, loli, loli).
But since this is a vampire movie, it's inevitable that I watch it. My love affair with vampires has endured neglect in recent years. I grow tired of Lestat and the myriad of generic, wanna-be novels out there. So I watched it, expecting to be sorely disappointed. Surprisingly, that was not the case.
Bella Swan is your average teenager. What I found interesting was the warm welcome she received when she arrived into a new small town (population approximately 3000). Being a teenager that she is and starting in a new school, I expected her to be picked on and tagged with an F4 red card. Instead, all the popular boys seem to be interested in her and the girls are actually nice to her. This one detail was a welcomed relief and I immediately I liked her. She is smart, pretty and no-nonsense - very refreshing.
Now Edward Cullen, resident hot, weirdo, vampire who idolizes James Dean down to the RayBans and hair, I did not like him as much. Too much brooding and staring. And why does the world think he's cute? The actor, Robert Pattinson's most memorable movie on his resume is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I can't recall him at all. (Robert is now lucky enough to be desired by all the tweeny fan-girls. Good for you Robert!) Thankfully, the acting was good. He convinced me he was an awkward vampire who has lived an insurmountable number of years, repeating high school for the umpteenth time and wants this new girl. I told myself, "he's a good-looking vampire who wants an ordinary human girl, I want to be Bella." Yep, I fell for it.
The director, Catherine Hardwicke, did an amazing job. The scenes were filmed with care. The lighting was very thoroughly planned. It was harsh when necessary but also beautiful during softer scenes. A female director's touch is generally quite different from a male director and she captures these details very nicely thoroughout the whole movie. The pacing was wonderful and engaging - just right. This movie could've been a disasterous interpretation but I think she was able to finesse her magic and overwhelmingly scored big. I was very impressed.
Overall, I have to give this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars. Huge right? I know! For those looking for a good romance movie without too much gore/blood of typical vampire movies (safe for PG-13 crowd), I highly recommend (love) this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment