Twilight
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart star in vampire romance Twilight
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Monday, 15, Dec 2008 11:43
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, out December 19th, in cinemas, starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Cam Gigandet, running time 122 mins.
In a nutshell.
It'll give the box office a bite in the neck.
What's it all about?
Based on Stephenie Meyer's hugely successful novel, Twilight tells of the love between a teenage girl and a vampire. Awkward teen Bella Swan (Stewart) fits in comfortably enough after her mother's remarrying forces her to live with her father in rain-soaked Washington state. But her attempts to adjust to a new home are derailed when she meets the handsome, enigmatic Edward Cullen (Pattinson). He's unlike any boy she's ever met and though his saving her life with unfathomable strength and speed reveals the dark truths of Edward's family, the pair fall into a passionate, all-consuming romance.
But when a new clan of vampires enclose the town looking for fresh meat, Edward finds his primal instincts in conflict with his love for Bella.
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Who's in it?
Robert Pattinson (Edward) is best known to international audiences as Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter's Hufflepuff rival in the Triwizard Tournament (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), but with Facebook fan groups claiming the 22-year-old is an example of God "showing off", expect to see a lot more of the young Londoner.
In her first major movie role, Kristen Stewart (Bella) was more than a match for co-star Jodie Foster in David Fincher's Panic Room (2002) and was most recently seen in well-received supporting roles in Into the Wild and What Just Happened?.
Director Catherine Hardwicke worked as a production designer on films as varied as Tombstone (1993), Tank Girl (1995), Three Kings (1999) and Vanilla Sky (2001) before making an acclaimed directorial debut with the provocative teen drama Thirteen (2003), which she co-wrote with lead actress Nikki Reed.
As an example.
"You wanna tell me how you stopped the van?" - Bella
"I had an adrenaline rush. It's real, you can Google it." - Edward]
"How old are you?" - Bella
"17." -Edward
"How long have you been 17?" - Bella
". A while. " - Edward
"I'd never given much thought to dying. But dying in the place of someone I love seems a good way to go." - Bella
"I leave you alone for two minutes and the wolves descend. " - Edward
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars?
Decidedly unlikely, but it'd be worth placing your bets now for Twilight to sweep the boards at the Teen Choice and MTV Movie awards.
What the others say
"It rekindles the warmth of great Hollywood romances, where foreplay was the climax and a kiss was never just a kiss." - Richard Corliss, Time
"A sometimes girlie swirl of obsession that will delight fans, this faithful adaptation is after teenage blood, and will most likely hit a box office artery." - Will Lawrence, Empire
So is it any good?
Its storming of the US box office is testament to just how accomplished Twilight is. Catherine Hardwicke has taken what is, in truth, rather pulpy source material with a niche audience and fashioned a first-rate romance-thriller, with some innovative cinematography that reveals her independent roots and committed, compelling performances from her pretty leading actors. Twilight has capitalised on Warner Bros' decision to delay the sixth Harry Potter film and with the screen adventures of the boy wizard nearing their conclusion, the winter box office will soon be ruled by a new franchise.
So impressive is Hardwicke's adaptation of Meyer's so-so prose that the recent news that she will be replaced by Chris Weitz for the sequel New Moon is a disappointment to converts and neophytes alike. Treading into what might have been presumed to be alien territory for her, she keeps the action sequences commendably sparse - in light of Weitz's botching of the battle scenes in The Golden Compass, the Thirteen helmer is a huge loss to the franchise.
She employs a grainy, handheld feel for much of the film and the Washington state location creates an autumnal, isolated beauty, a world away from the gloss of Buffy or the gloom of Transylvania (though Pattinson and his vampiric family are closer to the David Boreanaz brand of bloodsucker than the Christopher Lee vintage).
For a franchise opener, it's refreshingly adventurous and not solely the origin story one might have expected while a surprisingly wry script prevents the developing romance from stumbling into soppy territory.
Hardwicke is Twilight's trump card but its young leads are the lifeblood and strong enough to ground the story and build an authentic relationship. Even without the symbolism of a love between a mortal and a neck-biter, there's some intriguingly potent sexual tension between Pattinson and Stewart, with close-ups and the former's animalistic, piercing eyes making the coupling even more intimate and touching.
It's not without its faults, with some irritating foreshadowing thrown in, vampires that are oddly pale and Aryan, and, in the shape of Laurent (Edi Gathegi), James (Gigandet) and Victoria (Rachel Lefevre), a trio of risible villains.
But with a sombre mood, Pattinson and Stewart's chemistry suggesting they're dying to rip each other's clothes off and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg giving the family back stories some much-needed depth, Twilight is promoted from second division schlock horror to premier league action/romance.
It's action-packed, moving and romantic - a cracking start to a franchise.
8/10
Lewis Bazley