Twilight (12A)

Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke

Starring:
Kristen Stewart- Bella Swan
Robert Pattinson-Edward Cullen

How does one go about making a decent adaptation of a much-loved book? More importantly, is it at all possible to produce a decent adaptation of a book that has become a teenage phenomenon, with most 14 year-old girls both sides of the Atlantic having read it, and having fallen in love with it's byronic hero, the oh-so-perfect, dangerous, and insaneful beautiful Edward Cullen?

It was inevitable that on it's release, Twilight, based on the popular book by Stephenie Meyer, was bound to please some fans, and appaul others. Hardwicke had a difficult task in creating a film that did the book justice... but I think she might just have succeeded.

The film tells the story of 17 year-old Bella Swan, who moves from Phoenix in Arizona, to live with her father, local police-chief Charlie, in the dreary Pacific North-West town of Forks. Forks being a tiny town, with a population of little over 3,000, and the highest rate of precipitation in the entire United States. So, coming from sun-drenched Phoenix, Bella is in for a treat.

To her surprise, Bella soon settles in and finds herself surrounded by a large circle of friends. But when she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, she knows that there is something that makes him different to the others.

Something very different in fact- for Edward is nothing less than a vampire! Aware of this, Bella should have been sensible and run a mile. But nooooooooo, she thinks it much more fun to start a romantic relationship with the guy. Clever.

To be fair, he did warn her against it. But the two young lovers seem so right together, that surely Vampirism shouldn't get in the way of that? And since the Cullens are "vegetarians" (they only eat animals, not humans), Bella should be fairly safe.

But what happens when less human-friendly vampires get whiff of her apparently "delicious" scent? Perhaps it is at a time like that, that having a vampire boyfriend to fight off the bad guys can be pretty useful.

I'm sure that most people going to see this film will already of read the book MULTIPLE times. But still, I shan't spoil the ending for those who haven't.

In it's simplest terms, Twilight is a film about against the odds love (think Romeo and Juliet), but look closer and you'll see it as a clever comment on loyalty, family, fear and instinct. In a sensible world, Bella should have stayed clear of Edward. But she didn't. And so her world was turned upside down, and will undoubtedly be in the coming sequels.

So, having read the book, enjoyed the book, mentally swooned over Edward Cullen and waited eagerly for the film's release, did I enjoy it?

In short, yes. The film was a fairly accurate representation of the book, although I felt too much was missed out, but then, with it being such a long book, this was always bound to be an issue. The casting was pretty good, with Kristen Stewart playing a fantastic Bella. As for Pattinson (who played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), it seems that I'm the only teenage girl in the country, or perhaps the world, who ISN'T irrevocably in love with him. Is there something wrong with me, I ask myself? Because I personally think that he comes nowhere near to doing the character of Edward justice.

But aside from this, the casting was reasonable (the Cullens were just as I'd imagined them to be), the cinematography and editing was beautiful and the film had a definate feel of Catherine Hardwicke's previous work ( Lords of Dogtown, Thirteen ). However, this was somewhat spoiled by the OTT special effects, which simply weren't needed. This, and the fact that two of the best songs of the soundtrack (by Paramore and Linkin Park) weren't played until the final credits.

But then, vampiric baseball to Muse's Supermassive Blackhole did go some way towards making up for this.

All in all, worth seeing. And on the opening day especially, it's always rather amusing to spend 2 hours in a dark room full of 200 screaming 12 year-old girls, who cheer everytime Pattinson so much as looks at the camera.