There are always those movies that we remember liking as teenagers, yet cringe at the thought of even talking about liking them today. These can be movies of any kind, whether you were a Diary of a Wimpy Kid fan as a 14-year-old, or you were having the time of your life watching the Percy Jackson films. You can’t ever talk about liking these movies now, it’s not because the movies have gotten any worse with time though but it is just because people have grown out of those phases.
As adults, we prefer films that are much more emotionally resonant with our own maturity. Then there is Twilight, a franchise that is beloved by teenagers and adults alike. It’s not because they’re great movies though, it’s just because they’re laughable.
How to Stream or Download Twilight (2008)
To stream or to download the first film in the Twilight saga, click on the Download button at the end of the review and choose your digital store. Additionally, check out other films from the series: The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
The Movie Review
Bella Swann has recently relocated to Forkes, in Washington to live with her father after her mother remarries. Bella is very unhappy with her life, always feeling distant from everyone and everything. However, in the Forkes school, she ends up infatuated with a boy named Edward Cullen. Her infatuation grows stronger as Edward usually avoids her, yet is always there to help her whenever she needs it. Eventually, Bella finds out after thorough Google searches that Edward is a vampire, bringing a thrill and complication to her life that she had always yearned for.
The film was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, who previously worked on smaller projects such as Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown. While her previous films are indie underground flicks, Twilight catered towards the target demographic of teenagers. Essentially this means that this was her largest project yet, and with the help of screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg; she managed to completely botch it. Even the rest of the support staff and the studio itself seemed to not care about this film; Twilight’s cinematography is basically nonexistent and this film features some of the worst use of visual effects in any Hollywood feature that I’ve seen.
However you can’t put all the blame on the studio, as the original Twilight books weren’t exactly masterpieces either. They were young adult fiction fantasy books that satiated the thirst of teenagers without going overboard like the 50 Shades books.
Stephanie Myer’s books were campy, and that was directly translated to the screen here. All of the campy corniness that was featured in the books is prevalent on-screen, from the awful dialogue that would make an adult’s skin crawl to random moments of romance that literally make no sense. Not to mention, why would Bella even go for a vampire of all people? But, who are we to judge.
Where can I even begin with the acting in Twilight, you can tell by the performances that both Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson did not want to do this film and were only here for the money and recognition.
Their performances are completely lifeless, there are the same three expressions repeated on their faces. The only good performance in the film was by Billy Burke as Charlie Swann, who manages to still play his role pretty well. Though it’s not a joke that both Stewart and Pattinson had been labeled as terrible actors, thankfully both of them have turned their careers around by doing masterful films.
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, Twilight is brain fodder for those of us who wish to laugh out loud at a terribly made film that was intended for teens. It’s lacking in essentially everything, from its writing to the direction, acting, and even the visuals.
The film is just as abysmally bland as the books were, and the corny campiness is present here at an even higher level due to it being in film form. Though I must say, despite the boring characters, bland story, and terrible interpretation of romance; Twilight is still an iconic film when you want to learn what not to do as a filmmaker.
