Twilight: Book vs. Movie

I have been wholly resistant to the Twilight Series, but I finally gave in. I spent all weekend reading all four books in the Twilight Saga. I spent today watching the movie- 3 times. This post is about the Book vs. the Movie. I'll post about the actual literature later on.

All in all, the movie flows sinuously. There isn't a lot of lag or dull moments throughout the movie. That's always a plus. Had it not been a book adaptation, I probably would have appreciated it better. On a side note: I swear The Davinci Code ruined all book-to-movie partnerships for me.

There is some good casting choices: Charlie, Jacob (small role in Twilight. So we'll have to see in New Moon to be sure), Carlisle, Esme, Alice (especially good casting!!), Jessica, Mike Newton for starters. Even Bella isn't so bad. I think if I could get passed how annoying she really is as a person (Kristen Stewart) then I'd like her in this role better. However, all biases aside, Bella is supposed to be simple, plain, unassuming, and good natured. I think this is carried off well.

I don't think that they do a good job showing the life of a vampire: strength, agility, gracefulness, speed, sight, smell, hearing, etc. And they could do a better job with the exposure when Edward reads people's thoughts. Just him smirking leaves a lot to be desired.

One thing I did enjoy was the use of some of the wittier lines from the book: "personal brand of heroin" & "lion fell in love with the lamb. what a stupid lamb. what a sick masochistic lion," for examples. Another thing I like is the enormity of Charlie's affection for Bella and vice versa. Another thing, the book leaves technology almost completely out. An old modem, Bella without a cell phone, etc. It's nice to see earbuds & cell phones in the film.

I have four main issues with the movie Twilight: 1) the entire way that Bella divulges her suspicions to Edward about him being a vampire; 2) The entire forest/meadow scenario; 3) the movie passes too fast; and 4) EDWARD!!

1) In the book, Bella realizes what Edward is and goes through the entire speech in the car where she is quite surely trapped. Although in the movie she clearly can't run from him, it's a wide open space and far less intimate or daunting. The drive from Port Angeles to Forks is written in a much more tragically, intimate fashion that is lost by the change to a forest scene in the movie. It's almost hostile the way she leads him into the forest. It's more endearing in the book. The exhilaration she feels when he runs her up to "their meadow" is marred by her revelation to him. In my opinion, not a good idea to mesh the two scenes in the movie.

2) The forest/meadow scene is anti-climactic in that they did a terrible job showing the beauty of the meadow, the beauty of Edward in the sun, and the intimacy between the two main characters. The diamond appearance of Edward's skin looks more like the haze that comes off of a blacktop on a hot summer day. Truthfully, I wonder if anything would have worked because it would make his face imperfect (as in smooth vs. not smooth). He's supposed to tell her how dangerous he is when he fights the urge to kiss her while she is "dazzled" by him and inching closer & closer to his face.

3) Simple little things are missed in the movie that are in the book because it moves too fast. Like everyone's obsession with Bella (especially the new boys), exactly how much of a hapless klutz Bella actually is, the actual pain when she becomes obsessed (and eventually in love) with Edward when he isn't around. Not like he intends to leave her, but when she is waiting for him to enter her room or when he's waiting for her outside of gym class (at the total wrong point of the day BTW). It doesn't express how obsessed and dependent they become on one another. You miss the dream-talking that occurs throughout the entire series. In my opinion this is so vital for him to understanding Bella and knowing more about her and it's left out. Or when they play 20 questions with another. I realize adding that segment could add an entire hour to the movie, so that might not work. But it does show how much he wants to get to know her- even the mundane things & how honest she is willing to be with him. I wish they could show more of the relationship development between the two.

4) Ahh Edward. Oh Edward. They should fire whoever the casting director was for this series. They should not be allowed to cast anymore movies. BAN THEM FROM HOLLYWOOD!! Even in her plainness, Bella (Kristen) is prettier than Edward (Robert). The makeup artist should be fired too. There has to be a way to remove the five o'clock shadow on his face. He's supposed to be pure, white, angel faced. I can see where the hair is missing and I'm not even watching the movie in HD. He's far more clumsy and awkward in the film than how he is written. He hunches a lot and the Edward in the book walks tall- even when he's abashed. The smooth glide of his walk is just absent. The "cadence" of his speech is wrong too. But I can forgive that seeing as how this was made for teens and young teens. What's with the Hanes tees? Fire the head of costumes!! I know he's supposed to be an average teen, but he's not average- clearly. All of the students, everyone in the town knows he's not average. So would it hurt to wear a polo, button down, or v-neck sweater? The contrast in his eyes is not noticeable enough, but I guess I can get over that too. The confidence, the finesse, the "dazzle" is just missing. Not that I can figure out a better person because I think a less known actor was a smart idea. This, the casting of Edward, is by far the most disappointing thing about the movie.

Don't worry, I liked the book far more than the movie. I'll post about that soon.