This Woman's Review

Last Saturday, I went to see the Movie adaptation of Twilight. Here are my random thoughts for those who are interested.

At first, I was scratching my head at the choice for Edward, Robert Pattinson. The still photos of him that were used to promote the movie did him no justice. Edward was the larger-than-life gorgeous vampire, as described in the book. I think I was expecting that "drop dead" quality in the photos. They need to work on that for New Moon, because the man can have these types of photos taken, most definitely.

Well, after doing some of my own cyber-stalking, I realized that Pattinson, who loses his very charming English accent for the film, was the PERFECT Edward Cullen. Believably 17, believably a vampire, and believably in love with Bella, played by Kristen Stewart. I changed my mind very quickly. I think Kristen Stewart was a believable Bella, also.

The movie itself, however, made me scratch my head. Definitely low budget. Obviously, the producers were counting on the draw of the Twilight book fans (ahem) rather than the draw for any type of decent directing. I am hoping by Breaking Dawn they will have made the money to overcome this, because that adaptation of the last in the series cannot be done badly. I guess I just don't understand why some of the scenes were altered so completely from the sequencing in the book. Also, a great deal of the plot was rushed, it seemed.

I downloaded the soundtrack before I saw the movie, as the soundtrack was getting great reviews. They were all well-earned. I typically buy and play and soundtrack until it's a little maddening. Always have. I was fairly unfamiliar with the bands, except for Linkin Park. I thought the songs were great, particularly "Bella's Lullaby." Rob Pattinson even had a couple of songs on the album. He sounded... pained... and might want to just stick to acting. However, Muse is a band I have grown to love ("Supermassive Black Hole" is a great song). Just some good, alternative-like tunes for those who like that genre of music.

I also read Stephenie Meyer's manuscript draft for Midnight Sun, which is basically Twilight from Edward's perspective. VERY interesting read. It was sad to read on her blog that the manuscript somehow "got out there" and was being illegally distributed, but it figures with the popularity of her series that this occurred. Anyway, I had heard in an interview that Robert Pattinson read the manuscript as he was preparing to play Edward, and reading it made a lot if his acting decisions make sense to me.

Lots of craziness for a great set of books and an interesting series of movies (I hope). In all, I don't mind being wrapped up in the madness. It's so much more interesting than reality.