Friday, March 27, 2009

twilight the movie vs. twilight the book



At last it is here! March 21st marked the release of the Twilight DVD. After seeing it 7 times in the theater I was anxious to finally own it so I could watch and re-watch it during my many sleepless nights.

As it is often the case...it is almost needless to say that the book is better than the movie but I enjoyed the film nonetheless.

What I liked:

Edward! Of course! I know some people were not crazy about him being picked to play Edward Cullen but I have no idea why because besides being gorgeous I thought he did a fantastic job bringing the character to life. He has a James Dean quality about him that helps add to the mystery of the character. One of my favorite scenes is in Biology when he introduces himself to Bella. His smooth voice and great laugh makes my heart race.

The dinner scene at the Bloated Toad is also one of my favs. Mainly because I want to eat there so bad. It looks absolutely charming…and that mushroom ravioli sounds delicious! What was up with the hair on that waitress though?

I also really enjoyed the scene when Bella goes to Edward’s house to meet his family. Who wouldn’t want to live there! I thought the mural of graduation caps was awesome…and I would kill to have Edward’s music collection.

The baseball scene is fantastic! It was so fun and I just thought it was all around cool!

Alice. I think she is so pretty and would love for her to be my best friend!

Esme. I just love her and wish she were my mom. It is almost too hard to believe she is a vampire.

Jasper. First off all I think Jackson Rathbone is so cute and I can’t wait until Eclipse comes out since he plays a big part in that book. I think his character is really interesting…so more Jasper please!

The prom scene is just visually stunning. It is hard to ignore the awe of the whole setting.


What I wasn’t crazy about:

Bella. There are some scenes where I thought she was good and then there are others where I can’t stand her in. For example in the beginning when Charlie gives her the truck I cringe at her reaction and at the end when she is in the hospital. I think she plays Bella way to awkward and I lose patience with her stammering and inability to form a sentence or even tell a joke. Like when she “jokes” about being kicked out of Arizona for not being tan…she looks like she is about to kill herself rather than adding comic relief. Then when Bella is at Edward’s house and he says, “What did you expect? Dungeons, coffins, and moats?” and she dryly replies, “not the moats.” This would have been a perfect opportunity to show another facet of her personality with a simple charming and shy smile while she says her line but she says it so serious the joke is lost. It is all about the delivery. I think that visually her and Edward look good together but she has got to lighten up. I really liked her hair and these really cool gray gloves she wears though.

Renee. I do not like Bella’s mom in the film with all her “Awe baby this and Ohhh baby that.” She sounds so condescending…my mom stopped calling me baby when I was one year old. I seriously hate all the scenes she is in.

In the book you learn about Esme, Carlisle and Alice’s past but they leave that all out in the film. They also left out the fact that Jasper has a special gift too. Knowing about each vampire is one of the most interesting things about this whole story so I am disappointed it was neglected.

They added the nomadic vampires killing people, which doesn’t happen in the book but didn’t bother me…I thought it was a nice addition to show the contrast between the two covens.

Overall I would say that what we are left with is what I like to call the Twilight Trifecta…great book…great soundtrack…great movie!

1 comment:

  1. totally agree with everything!

    bella is so boringly portrayed in a lot of scenes it's brutal to watch. all those little cute lines and jokes in the book that made her (arguably) charming were delivered in the most blah way possible. it was like she was so over being in a movie and just wanted to get to back to her trailer. although she is gorgeous.

    loved the addition of more nomadic vampire scenes. loved emmett. LOVED the scenes of his house- i could have watched another hour of scenes set in the house alone. loved the baseball scene (but the costumes were kinda lame- can rosalie get a pony tail please?!). loved the prom scene- could you imagine having a prom that romantic?! sigh! i'm going to go watch that scene again. . .

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