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Twilight (2008)

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Twilight. Feature film. (2008, 122 mins) IMDB

...what is the fascination with vampires?...

V

ampires don't exist, but of course that doesn't stop writers from using them in their stories as is done in this film. Like Anne Rice a decade plus ago, Stephanie Meyer's has bestsellers based on vampires. Go figure. I don't understand the fascination, but fifteen years from now someone will add a twist and come up with another batch of bestsellers. How about toddler vampires? Careful if you're breastfeeding.

The first act of this film is boring high school material where nothing interesting happens. Our hero Bella moves from Arizona to Washington State to live with her father in a small town called Forks. Her father is the chief of police. Divorced and not remarried. Bella attends a new high school and struggles to fit in.

While in the cafeteria one day, Bella first encounters Edward and falls instantly in love. Well, that's what they want you to believe, but she's 17 and--oh, never mind.

In Act II we learn Edward is a vampire with superhero strength and speed. Is that the new twist? I suppose, but I don't know much about vampires and don't want to.

There are a few interesting scenes in this act where Edward gets to play hero to Bella. He saves her from being crushed between two vehicles. And in another typical Hollywood non-sense scene, Bella is in a dark alley at night when she is surrounded by a gang of males intent on raping her. Again he saves her. But what the hell was she doing there in the first place? Oh yeah, the writer's wanted that scene to show how protective our vampire is of our hero.

Act III is complete non-sense. Edward isn't the only vampire. There's a rival gang of vampires that have been attacking and mutilating humans. During a friendly family baseball game that includes Bella and Edward, this gang shows up. Once they discover Bella is human and not a vampire, they go after her. They want a light lunch. The result is an elaborate chase sequence where Bella is on the run with Edward and others trying to protect her from the rival vampires. It makes absolutely no sense, but it's act III and the filmmakers needed to end the story.

I suppose if you're a girl in high school, you might love this sort of story, I suppose, but otherwise I find it hard to take any of it seriously.

Posted 2009/04/02 at 20h21ET in Movie Commentary.

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