Twilight (3½ Stars)

A few days ago I acquired the last two parts of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Parts 1 and 2. Rather than watch them straight away I've decided to watch the whole pentalogy from the beginning. I watched the first three parts at long intervals, and so I might have forgotten small details of the story if I jump straight into the last two parts. It's Thursday today. I'll try to get through all five films by Sunday. It depends on how much of my time the murder trial will take up.

I watched this film in the cinema when it was first released, probably shortly before Christmas 2008, according to the poster. I later bought the DVD and watched it at least twice, but evidently before September 2010. As I remember, it was one of those films that I absolutely loved on first viewing, but it dropped in my estimation with repeated viewing. For me it was a must-watch from the beginning because it was a vampire film, probably the biggest budget vampire film ever. On the other hand, as fans will be fast to point out, it's not really a vampire film, it's a love story that stars vampires. That's the way to watch the pentalogy. There is action, adventure and blood-sucking, but the central theme of the story is the love between Edward and Bella. In a superficial way they could be described as a modern day Romeo and Juliet, a pair of lovers from opposite worlds, although I admit this analogy can't be taken very far.

I've heard a lot of criticism of Kristen Stewart as an actress. I agree, she's not a very good actress, but in this film she fits in well. She's the dazed, open-mouthed girl from big city Phoenix who is transplanted to small town Forks in the far north. Mountains, woods, native Americans and that horrible stuff called snow. She's fine for the role. My problem is with Robert Pattinson as Edward. Despite being a vampire who has lived for approximately 100 years, he walks around with a dopy look on his face. I blame Joss Whedon. Ever since David Boreanaz played Angel in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" he's become the template for the vampire lover: tall, hair that sticks up, brooding and eyes that stare off into space even while he's talking to someone. Just look at Stefan in "The Vampire Diaries" and you can see that they're all modelled on one another.

On the other hand, the other major characters in this film are well cast. I can't go through Bella's school class, but they're all strong characters, teenagers that you can believe would actually visit school in a remote American town. For me Jacob is the real star of the saga, even though he only plays a small part in the first film. It's a joy to watch him on the screen.

I realise that I've given this film a relatively low rating. I'm not sure I'm being fair to it. I'll give my ratings careful thought as I continue with the other four films.