In preparation for this week’s release of the third of the “Twilight Saga” films (entitled “Eclipse“), I recently watched the first two. The “Twilight” films (as well as the books they’re based upon) have become major blockbusters with many young fans enamored by the series about teen romance, vampires and werewolves. However, although they may be tremendously popular with certain demographics, the first two “Twilights” leave a lot to be desired.
Twilight (2008): The first of the series tells the story of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) who moves away from home to spend time with her father in the small town of Forks, Washington. While there, she becomes attracted to a pale and creepy loner named Edward Cullen (Robert Pattison). Edward’s family is a strange group who don’t seem to have any friends. However, Edward soon saves Bella’s life and they start seeing each other, to his family’s disapproval. Eventually, Bella realizes that Edward and his family are vampires. Unlike other vampires though, they eat only animals not humans — although they are always tempted. Bella falls in love with Edward but then, after another vampire finds out Bella’s human, the Cullens have to work to protect the new non-vampire member of their clan.
The movie has some good qualities to it, including a lively scene where the Cullens play “vampire baseball” together. The movie also has a quality scene where Bella is forced to lie to her father to escape from the group of vampires trying to kill her. Other than those two interesting moments, the characters are boring and flat and so is the story. The movie becomes a bland teenage drama about a girl meeting a guy from the wrong side of the tracks, but this time the guy has fangs instead of a tattoo.
New Moon (2009): In number two, Bella’s romance with Edward has continued, after her near-death in the first film. At a birthday party held by the Cullens, Bella accidentally cuts herself and one of the members of the Cullen clan is so excited by her blood that he attempts to attack and kill her (non-vampires might call him the party-pooper). Shortly thereafter, the Cullens decide to leave Forks, leaving Bella heartbroken. She strikes up a strong friendship with Jacob Black, a local teenager who has a crush on her. Later on, it turns out that he’s actually a werewolf. (Bella clearly has bad taste in men, but that’s another story.)
Bella is still being hunted down by the bad vampire from the first film so Edward and his team return to protect her. Eventually, through a misunderstanding, Edward decides to make a life-changing decision about his future as a vampire — a decision Bella works to prevent him from making.
Like the first, this one is way too dramatic. Instead of her simply missing Edward after he leaves, Bella wakes up in the middle of the night screaming out in anguish. Instead of being lonely for a while, we see Bella sitting in the same chair for several months, watching as time passes. Instead of thinking about Edward, she starts seeing visions of him urging her to make good decisions. With a poor plot and some bad acting, this is an over-the-top teenage drama. The movie is even ridiculous in the way it portrays the werewolf, played by Taylor Lautner. He’s almost never shown wearing a shirt, which is seemingly done to appeal to the film’s young female audience. (Jacob must get his shirts the same place that Ashton Kutcher’s character from “The Killers” got his.)
For all of the hoopla and the publicity surrounding the first two “Twilight” movies and the series of books, I was expecting more from these films than a boring teenage drama with supernatural components. I have read about the “abstinence” theme that many have noted, a theme that relates to the idea that Edward and his family abstain from eating humans even though their instincts urge them to. I can appreciate that undercurrent but such an idea does not take away from the fact that the first two “Twilights” are cinematic disappointments with superficial characters, over-dramatic plot twists and typical teenage angst.
One hopes that “Eclipse,” improves upon its predecessors.
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