| Twilight (2008) By Cherish Hamutoff Published December 23, 2008 When Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) moves into her father’s house in the cloud-covered small town of Forks, Washington, she’s the new girl everyone wants to know - everyone except the beautiful, hunky and mysterious Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). She neither fits in nor wants to fit into the popular crowd, but she also doesn’t belong with Edward and his family clan. As the sultry teenage romance grows between Bella and Edward (who no longer can resist her charms), she discovers his secret: he’s a vampire. But he and his family resist drinking human blood, and so have lived peacefully in this town almost void of sunshine…until a clan of wandering, ravenous vampires makes their presence known. Corny bits aside (the vampire clan is a version of Vegan – they only drink the blood of non-humans; vampires aren’t scary in the sunshine – only shimmery and beautiful; and Edward can hear everyone’ s mundane, selfish thoughts – except for Bella’s), I thoroughly enjoyed Twilight and left the theater hoping some hunky vampire would obsess over me, fly me to the tops of the trees, and ravage me in the moonlight…as did the rest of the audience – all giggly, twitchy, girlie tweens and teens. While I am no teen, I was swept away with this frothy bit of a romance. Both easy on the eyes, Stewart and Pattinson kept the sexual tension high with longing glances and moments of embarrassed first love. Girls can relate to Bella’s sense of not belonging, and eternal hope for the bad boy outsider. Yes, typical, obvious, easy stuff, but director Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen) seems to have an insight into the young female mind and does not condescend to it. She respects the deeply passionate love (even if we adults know it’s merely lust) that the newly hormonal can feel. The themes of non-conformity, individuality, and outsiders are explored: Bella gets along with, but never succumbs to, the popular crowd; she chooses to leave her comfortable home and go live in a strange town with her father; there is a distinct separation between the crowd and the vampire clan, and while people don’t necessarily fear them, they do talk about them. Twilight does not become another sex-filled, superficial Gossip Girl (even though I do hope to see a little more action in the sequel!). O.K.; it’s not an Oscar contender, there were silly moments, there was occasional awkward dialogue, but if you want a film filled with beautiful actors and a decent action sequence, that will lightly titillate you and give you two hours of easy escape…Twilight will fill your vampire fantasies. Rated: PG-13 Running time: 122 minutes Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke Written by: Melissa Rosenberg; based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli |