Twilight: the movie

We watched Twilight yesterday, on its very first play date. I woke up past noon yesterday and when I checked my messages, there was CJ suggesting that we already watch it that day. Well, it was actually me who invited her to watch it on its first play date about days ago but she hasn’t confirmed and so I thought we’ll watch it this weekend.

When we already agreed to watch Twilight that day, I insisted that we don’t watch it in Gaisano Mall Cinema. Anywhere but G-Mall! I don’t want any distractions like unintentional cuts and muffled sounds to spoil my viewing enjoyment and interest for the movie. So, we watched it in NCCC Cinema which is farther and a little bit pricier.

I love Twilight’s movie adaptation. It is fast-paced that you'll not notice that it’s more than two hours long. Story-wise, it was very faithful to the novel. There were a few alterations though, which by the way they’ve done flawlessly, and that I think were necessary to not make the movie dragging and even longer. In the novel, you can really follow how Edward and Bella's relationship grew and how they’ve fallen for each other. The film failed to capture the characters’ deep thoughts and their very strong feelings. There were also a few minor details that were left out such as Alice’ and Esme’s previous human lives.

Acting-wise, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart gave justice to the lead characters. Aside from the fact that a million teenage girls adore Robert Pattinson (a shrill from the audience would be heard every time he would come out the screen), I think he gave a good performance in the movie. His presence was very vampire-ish; his stance, his looks, his voice and his eyes. While Kristen Stewart was convincing – Bella’s clumsiness came naturally. Also, Kristen's physical appearance may in some ways resemble that of Bella. She was very intense as well but there were some scenes especially the one from the hospital and the bite scene that all you can sense from her was just all intensity that somehow looked like she’s trying too much. And the minor casts! Geez! I think only Taylor Lautner who played Jacob Black was remarkable. Good thing the book has found its niche, teens that are avid readers who also eagerly waited for the movie itself.

And the stunts and the effects were of television-standards. They were just a few and they were not that jaw-dropping. But let’s keep in mind the allotted budget of the movie which also played a major part on the crispness of the scenes and cinematography of the whole film. But then again, taking into consideration the budget, I guess they made a good movie. That just proves that you don’t need highly-paid actors and breath-taking stunts and effects to catch the crowd’s attention. But I do hope that they’ll improve – the acting, directing, and production – in the next three movies.

All in all, I do love the movie version. It somehow reached my low expectations for novel-adapted-movies. Though there were minor drawbacks, it is still good to have a visual of a book you have read.