For anyone out there who hasn't seen the movie or read the books, be forewarned, I will be talking about characters and scenes that I hated!!
Two colleagues (one a Twilight fan, the other just likes vampires) and I made a day out of going to see the movie on Saturday. We bought our VIP tickets, went to lunch, had a drink, did a wee bit of shopping, went to the movie. 
After the movie, the Twilight Fan (TF) and I were so disturbed we had to have another drink.
After the movie, the Twilight Fan (TF) and I were so disturbed we had to have another drink.First and most importantly: WTF was wrong with the actor they picked for Jasper??? His eyes, his hair, his every odd movement and action...oh Lord. TF and I immediately turned to one another and started laughing.
Every time he came on screen, we could barely control ourselves - seriously, what was wrong with?? Someone needs to tell hair and makeup that the Cullens are the good vampires, including Jasper. I only hope he loses some crazy in the next three movies!
Secondly, we hated the choice for Carlisle. I had heard that Peter Facinelli was portraying him, and I actually thought it would be okay. I like PF, I've seen him in a few movies, and I thought it would be fine. It was not. He had horribly dyed blond hair and looked nothing like my mental pic of Carlisle. TF agreed with me, but my other co-worker, the non-Twilight fan (NTF) actually really liked him.
I was okay with most of the casting selections. I really liked Bella and Edward (although TF and NTF both hated the choice for Edward), which really is the most important thing. I also liked Charlie and Jacob. I did not like Billy - he had a funny, crazy eye thing going there for a scene or two, also.
TF and I are both people who MUST read the book prior to seeing the movie, and then never like the movie very much as a result, because Hollywood never stays true enough to the book. We always go on opening night to the newest Harry Potter movies, and then rip them apart afterwards, but this was worse than that.
Back to Twilight - the other things that I hated had to do with the content. First, it drives me CRAZY when they do things out of order for no particular reason. They did this a lot with the sequence of Bella & Edward's relationship. I hated that they cut parts out of the "meadow" scene from the book (and that it wasn't really in a meadow) and I think if they had left it verbatim, viewers who hadn't read the book would have had a better idea of why Edward and Bella were so drawn to one another. This is my favorite part of the book, and they totally ruined it in the movie.
Also, I hated the scene when Bella was supposed to be leaving Charlie. Where was the passion? The tears? The slamming of doors? Instead, she calmly slams one door, moves back and forth between the bedroom and the bathroom, and doesn't really give Charlie a reason for leaving. She doesn't even cry!! How are we supposed to know how broken up she is about leaving if she can't even shed a tear? Grrr....
Okay, I need to stop before I pick apart the entire movie! The sad thing is that I know I'll go see the next 3 when they come out! Hopefully I like them better :)
15 comments:
swg...I am halfway through reading Twilight...so please forgive me..I had to scan quickly through your post. Your review of the movie reminds me of when my daughters and I saw the movie, "Notebook". The three of us read the book and wept. In the theater we could not help but to have outbursts of laughter. We could certainly tell who had NOT read the book!
So forgive me if I quickly scan your posts until I finish reading Twilight. Which I might add, I read the first half yesterday!
~AirmanMom returning to her blog...
If I was a drinking woman, I would need at least 10 drinks to sit through a Twilight movie. ;) The books were difficult enough to take (or I should just say Bella).
Now that you mention it, the lion and lamb scene really chafed, for me. I wish they had left that out. It just didn't fit in that particular place, too easy for people who had no clue what was going on to go "Wha...? I don't get it..."
AM - I hope I didn't ruin anything for you!! I actually liked the Notebook movie, but I think it's b/c A. - it had been years since I had read the book & B. - I am not a huge Nicholas Sparks fan
Andi - LOL! I like the first and last books the best, didn't love the middle two. Will definitely not be lining up to see the movie again
Shades - my NTF friend didn't get that scene at all and it made me so MAD! Had they stayed verbatim the whole way through instead of throwing in that random line, it would have made more sense.
What did your NTF friend think? I'm curious to hear what non-fans think of the movie. I thought there was a lot in there that you wouldn't quite get if you hadn't read the book (like the torment in the classroom scene).
Pixie - she really liked the movie, but didn't understand certain parts (I didn't ask her about the classroom scene, though).
She read the book over the weekend, and now understands our critiques, though!!
I gotta agree w/ Airman Mom re: The Notebook. I only read it because when it came out, my boss would not shut up about it, nor would she stop sobbing over it. Thought it was very good, but that kind of book is just not my thing, anyway. When the movie hit, my sister was absolutely crazy about seeing it- and I thought it was AWFUL!
Okay I don't have to read your post yet but I wanted to comment real quick about Midnight Sun. It is Twilight from Edward's point of view. Stephenie began writing it because she loved the idea of seeing his side. She was all set to make that her next project until some jackass leaked an unfinished copy on the Internet. So now she may never finish it, which would be horrible because it is probably her best work. And the reason I know that is because I read the partial draft she posted on her site. She figured she wanted to post it rather than let people find it on the Internet. Some people have read it, others have not. Since it is only a partial draft it is far from being complete or perfect, but I could not resist. Edward is my particular brand of heroin so I couldn't stay away...okay that was cheesy.
I will come back and read your review soon!
That was supposed to say I don't have "time" to read your post yet....man I am in a rush. Sorry!
Okay I am back.
Funnily enough my biggest problem with the movie is how little they did with the meadow scene. I was so looking forward to that scene specifically because that was the inspiration for Stephenie to write the books. That chapter is my favorite chapter of all four books and I was hugely dissappointed that they did not do it justice. That being said, I can see why they chose to go the way they did. Because if you read the scene again it is just them laying there talking. Not very movie exciting. So while I am sad they did not do the scene like I pictured it in the book, I understand why they went they way they did.
I think I liked the film so much because I went into it NOT coparing it to the books. This sounds strange I know. Let me explain. Whenever I see a movie that has been adapted from books I love (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings etc) I know that the movie will never match the pictures in my head while reading. So I look at it as a completely seperate entity, trying not to compare it to the book. Sometimes this is hard (Order of the Phienix I had to see three times before I liked it. I was initially really upset with all the left out) sometimes it is easy. Twilight for me was easy. I don't know why, but it just worked for me.
I am sorry you did not like it as much as some of us. But I do think it is interesting to get all of our different views and critiques. And it still would be cool to have all of us go se it together. You, me, Shades, pixie, Cruel Shoes, Courtney, Marie, Kim-D, Maureen...I have loved reading everyone's reactions. It goes to so how different we all are and how we view things. Which is so cool!
Oh and Jasper made me laugh at times too. He just looked so tortured! But then I remember how hard it is for him in the beginning of the books (he gets better in the last two) and you get more of an understanding of his torment from Midnight Sun. Plus I focused on how cool he was at the basebal game, how much more relaxed when he didn't have to worry about ripping someone's throat out.
swg- those were my thoughts on jasper exactly! until i remembered that at this point in his life jasper is still tortured with the thirst and temptation more than the others. i had a very hard time with who was playing jasper when i first saw him on the websight - i hated it! but once he showed in the movie -once i got over the shocking look on his face - i felt better.
i hated the meadow scene! they did not do enough with it.especially when edward is supposed to be dazzling in the sun light. i had always pictured him shining in all his tortorous glory like some angel in the sun. what i saw was -well-a bit of glitter mostly.(tsk tsk)
and then of course there's all the scenes that were done out of order.i didn't like that much either. but i did feel like it followed closely with the book.alot was left out. but i guess they can't squeeze it all in -shame.
i thought overall the movie was great. not perfect-by a long shot - but i'll buy it-and all the rest- when it come out on dvd anyway - just b/c it's twilight.
VP - Thanks for the clarification on Midnight Sun...I will definitely have to find and read (I heart Edward, too).
I am okay that they didn't just have them lying there talking (for the meadow scene) and I agree that's not super movie-friendly, but I feel that if they could have just taken MORE of the lines directly from the book (besides just the Lion/Lamb thing) it would have made more sense and still retained the essence of the scene that we all love.
I so wish I could separate books from movies but my brain isn't built that way!! The only time I like the movies is when I see them first (which I try to never do b/c I think reading the first medium is more authentic). I know, I have issues!
I do understand that Jasper was tortured, but I think they could have shown that better than making him look so googly-eyed crazy!! LOL. My NTF could not figure him out for the life of her.
It would definitely be fun to get the blog world together and view the movie at the same time!!
Jellybean - I think I just need to get over the out of sequence thing, b/c you're right, they were mostly true to the book. Maybe I just need to rent it when it's on DVD and examine it again!
I do wish I liked it as much as everyone else seems to have!
I finally realized that it has left me feeling the same way I felt after I saw Blair Witch Project: all that hype and then "...that's it...?"
I think you're the only person I've heard of who isn't crazy about the movie. Huh. I'm still waiting to see it.
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