Reviewed by Michael Edwards
Stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone,
Kellan Lutz, Peter Facinell, Anna Kendrick, Cam Gigandet | Written by Melissa Rosenberg & Stephenie Meyer
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £22.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 117 minutes | Directed by Catherine Hardwicke
Vampires are enduring figures both in literature and in film. Their frighteningly grotesque appearances and evil bloodsucking tendencies have made them a horror mainstay since the first folkloric tales were old around the campfire. It was thus a huge surprise to me when I heard that the myth had been appropriated by a teenage romance novel, changing them from a symbol of colonisation by the evil other to a symbol of restraint and chastity in a world of Sodom-and-Gomorrah style debauchery. Immediately I asked myself how the hell that would work. This is Twilight's answer:
They are strong and last forever, which means they are sexy AND a good bet for commitment. But aren't they evil you might ask? Well, Twilight says, mostly yes, but some might reconsider their nasty fate and control their dark urges. Which is great for those who don't fit in with the consumption culture of today. And I have to admit that is convenient but surely they're still pretty pale and ugly, plus they disintegrate in sunlight. To which Twilight seems to have answered "Ummm... yeah... well, maybe they actually avoid sunlight because they twinkle like diamonds in it, rather than disintegrating. Which is, in a weird way, also hot."
I have to say the whole new myth for the generation of 'goths for chastity', or whatever this massive market is, hasn't convinced me. It all comes across as a little too constructed, and as a little strange for encouraging those who don't like the social and sexual habits of today's society to just have a necrophilia fetish. Which doesn't seem sensible at all. Nonetheless I do give it credit for putting a new spin on a very old and successful myth. What's more the basic love story is compact and well-told, even if the 'is he a vampire??' act which opens the film is laughably extended way beyond its screen life. What's more using vampires allows an otherwise bland teen romance to have cool stuff like a guy stopping a car with his bare hands and decapitating a rival, which is always a good interlude in a schmaltzy film.
Overall the film is probably only for the fans of the books. A combination of tacky romance, ridiculous myth building and a hilariously misjudged 'romantic' scene in the forest where sexy vampire Edward Cullen leaps around the treetops like a badly CGI'd ninja carrying his young lover on his back as if he was a motherly macaque make the film more amusing than entertaining or enjoyable for anyone other than a lonely teenage girl.
EXTRAS **** On the first disc, along with the film itself, there's an audio commentary with director Hardwicke and stars Pattinson and Stewart. On disc two, there's a series of deleted and extended scenes (with an introduction from Hardwicke), and a whole swag of featurettes: The Journey From Page to Screen; The Comic-Con Phenomenon; A Conversaton With Stephanie Meyer; Music, The Heartbeat of Twilight; Becoming Edward; Becoming Bella; Vampire Kiss Montage; Bella's Lullaby Remix m usic video; and Edward's Piano Concert.