Mortal Eternity? Movie Review of “Twilight”
Saturday, November 29th, 2008
There’s a vampire film in your neighborhood, crouching in the shadows, waiting for you. But this is no ordinary vampire film, it has a stronger theme of true love. I wouldn’t call it horror at all. I recommend it to you in the theme of “drama that shouldn’t be missed.”
Last week I saw Twilight, Catherine Hardwicke’s (director: Vanilla Sky 2001) film adaptation of the bestselling modern novel by one of the the latest and greatest pop fiction writers Stephenie Meyer. This new author’s immediate success is the stuff that great small business opportunities are made of. I should add that the screen play was adapted by Melissa Rosenberg (co-executive producer: “Dexter” ). The film’s plot revolves around permanent teenage vampire, Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, and the lovely all-american mortal brunette, Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart. Edward is inadvertently paired up with Bella in biology class and despite his efforts to drop the class, the two begin a romance slowly but surely.
The vampire theme is played way down in this one. It is only a part of the story in so far as to explain the depth of their risk and trust in falling in love. The best part of the vampire idea, for me, is the idea of eternity and what good would it be if all your loved ones kept dying around you. This love story takes that idea and extrapolates a love story. Edward goes through mental struggles with his love for Bella. He is somewhere around 100 years old so he knows full well she will age and he will not. Once Bella finds out about his secret she has struggles of her own but seems to have no reservations about being with Edward come what may. I found myself wondering what i would do. When I wonder that in a movie, I know it’s a good movie.
There are new images of vampires in this movie as well as old stereotypes. When pressed by reporters on how she did her research, author Kristen Stewart, alluded to her Mormon background and claimed she knew nothing about vampires. She claims she dreamed it all. If that is true, quite a romatic idea on its own one might say.
My wife and I went out on an unassuming date, neither of us knowing much about this film and we both came out of it fans. Sarah (wife) has been reading the trilogy and is about done with the third. It will definitely be tough for sequels to top this one but I am just as excited as all those readers who paid 70 million opening weeekend to see what becomes of these two. And, of course all us movie goers know we can’t really know until the final sequel.
