Twilight

I am one of the people who couldn't wait for this movie to come out. Had I not been sick all week I would have been at the Midnight showing last night. I waited and made a day of it with my daughter, sister and mother. I loaned my book out to my daughter's friend so I was not able to reread it before the movie was released. If you have not seen the movie yet you may not want to read my thoughts on it, I may ruin it for you. I have waited a whole four hours before getting on and posting about Twilight, and the entire four hours I have been thinking about the movie... what I liked and what I didn't like.

It was a good movie, but I have to say that I was a little disappointed. I know that the movie is never as good as the book, with the exception of the Harry Potter movies, but I am really upset with some of the stuff that they cut out and how they portrayed some of the scenes. I think most of my problems came within the first half of the movie. If I had not read the book it may have been different and then again it could have been worse for me. I thought that they jumped around a lot which led to confusion. They did not lay a very good base for Bella and Edward's relationship. I almost yelled out in the movie theater with disappointment at how the movie has Edward showing Bella how he looks in the sun. In the book this was a very sweet and romantic day for them, not so in the movie. This could be my faulty memory, but things took place out of order. Not a good thing for me!!! I think that they should have showed a little more of Edward sneaking into Bella's room at night. And what about Bella's Lullaby... never mentioned. I guess this could have been what Edward was playing at the piano, but it did not play a big part in the movie. Oh and don't get me started on Edward's ability to hear every one's thoughts. This is mentioned a couple of times but it doesn't really show up as often as it did in the book.

I hated that they completely cut out the friendship built between Alice and Bella. Alice was a big part of the book, she welcomed Bella with open arms. They have very little interaction at all throughout the entire movie. Rosalee did a stand up job of being her bitchy hateful self. You really don't see much of any of the secondary characters. I really wish that I had reread the book before watching this movie... maybe it would have helped me with how big or how small their roles were. I have to say they were almost obsolete. How often was Jacob actually in Twilight? I think he made 3 appearances throughout the movie. My daughter who has yet to read the book asked me in the middle of the movie "Wasn't Jacob a bigger part of the book?"

These are a few things that I wish could have been done differently:

1. Edward and Bella in the clearing with the sun.

2. More interaction with Alice...hello where is prom night dress up?

3. More of the private time in Bella's room

4. Less time devoted to James' antics before showing up at the baseball game. These things were only hinted at in the book... never discussed at length so why did they feel the need to show it? (no it is not in bloody detail but those scenes could have been devoted to Edward and Bella or the other characters)

5. Charlie and Bella interaction was only so-so.

You would think that I absolutely hated this movie by the way that I have carried on here. That is not the case. I did like it. It just was not as good as the book and I can't say that I would run right out and buy the book had I not already read it. The scenery was beautiful. They did an excellent job casting everyone. Edward took a little time getting use to, but I think it had to do with how his hair was standing up and his thick eyebrows, other than those two minor things he was exactly what I pictured while reading. The second half of the movie was definitely much better than the first. The baseball game was AWESOME!! The encounter with James was good. These things played really close to what I read in the book and I like that sort of thing!

I am not sorry that I ran right out and watched it and when it comes out on video you can bet your bottom that I will be adding it to my collection. I am a sucker for Edward and Bella! I will also run out and watch the next ones, because they did of course set you up for New Moon.

All in all if I were rating this movie like I do my books I would give it a 4, even with all my hangups!!! It had the potential to be sooooo much better though!