Twilight (2008)

Before I begin my review, I’d like to start by saying “Twilight” is not the next “Harry Potter”. Not even a close comparison.

So, with that, I think I’ll start with how disappointed I am with director Catherine Hardwicke. She’s made some incredibly well received films (“Thirteen” and “Lords of Dogtown”) and now apparently is churning out crap (“Nativity Story” and “Twilight”).

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’ll cut right to the chase with my review because I don’t want to waste any more time on this film than I have to. I’ll start out by saying, that while I had low expectations for this film, I wanted to like it. Particularly because I like Robert Pattinson and I find Kristen Stewart intriguing. I did laugh out loud a number of times, but I think that might have been because the dialogue was so poorly written. Overall, this movie gave me the creeps and it had nothing to do with vampires.

Basically, I think this movie sets a poor example for its primary target audience – young girls. I’m all for romance (I married my high school sweetheart whom I met at 17), but not obsessive “love”. Obsession is not love. Bella says to a friend early in the movie (before she is dating Edward). “You’re a strong independent woman – ask him out.” By the end of the movie, Bella is a blubbering idiot, crying uncontrollably to Edward “You can’t leave me” and “I’d rather die than stay away from you.” Please!?!?!?

And Edward, he follows Bella everywhere she goes (stalking, anyone?) and basically doesn’t allow her to have any other friends after they become a couple (cult mentality at its finest). He swoops in and practically growls at Jacob just for talking to Bella.

Finally, there has also been a lot of speculation about the subtle comparisons between the Cullen clan and the Mormon Church. I’ll leave this to your own research and to draw your own conclusions.

“New Moon” has already been green-lit given the fact that the $37k “Twilight” grossed over $70k in its first weekend. And, I will go to see the second film just to reiterate that while I did not like this movie and don’t agree with its content, I’d be willing to review the second film on its own merits. After all, I didn’t love the first Harry Potter flick either.