While teen girls, their mothers and a number of gay men are hotly anticipating the film version of Twilight, the critics give them something to be somewhat excited about.
Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips: is mostly pleased, calling "Twilight" a film of "intelligent strengths [albeit] easily avoidable weaknesses." He gives props to screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg for a script he deems "better written than Meyer's book, which tends toward froth and fulmination. (Sample line: 'I was in danger of being distracted by his livid, glorious face.') [...] And she tones up her heroine, who was a passive Victorian simp -- pure fainting-couch material -- on the page." Phillips' biggest beef? The special effects, which he equates to "a weaker episode from season six of 'Charmed.' "
Metromix.com's Geoff Berkshire: "As far as human-vampire romances go 'Twilight' has nothing on the best seasons of TV's 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' but director Catherine Hardwicke's cinematic vision is blessedly (sorry, hardcore Twilighters) a lot more enjoyable than Meyer's clunky prose. Major props to Stewart, who refuses to turn Bella into a lovestruck sap, and anchors the movie with the ease and authority of both a great actress and a true movie star. The same can't be said just yet for her much drooled over co-star. Pattinson takes some admirable risks to shift his character away from the stereotypical brooding rebel, but whether his career follows the teen idol lead of Johnny Depp or Luke Perry is open for debate."
Variety's Justin Chang: "Even with angsty rock songs, lurching camerawork and emo-ish voiceover at her disposal, Hardwicke can't get inside the head of her young protagonist, Isabella 'Bella' Swan; consequently, Bella's decision to get hot and heavy with a hot-and-hungry vampire, far from seeming like an act of mad, transgressive passion, comes across as merely stupid and ill-considered. The result is a supernatural romance in which the supernatural and romantic elements feel rushed, unformed and insufficiently motivated, leaving audiences with little to do but shrug and focus on the eye-candy."
Is Twilight going to live up to the hype? Let us know your opinion in the comments.
Check out all 10+ photos of Robert Pattinson at LAX in the gallery!
Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips: is mostly pleased, calling "Twilight" a film of "intelligent strengths [albeit] easily avoidable weaknesses." He gives props to screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg for a script he deems "better written than Meyer's book, which tends toward froth and fulmination. (Sample line: 'I was in danger of being distracted by his livid, glorious face.') [...] And she tones up her heroine, who was a passive Victorian simp -- pure fainting-couch material -- on the page." Phillips' biggest beef? The special effects, which he equates to "a weaker episode from season six of 'Charmed.' "
Metromix.com's Geoff Berkshire: "As far as human-vampire romances go 'Twilight' has nothing on the best seasons of TV's 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' but director Catherine Hardwicke's cinematic vision is blessedly (sorry, hardcore Twilighters) a lot more enjoyable than Meyer's clunky prose. Major props to Stewart, who refuses to turn Bella into a lovestruck sap, and anchors the movie with the ease and authority of both a great actress and a true movie star. The same can't be said just yet for her much drooled over co-star. Pattinson takes some admirable risks to shift his character away from the stereotypical brooding rebel, but whether his career follows the teen idol lead of Johnny Depp or Luke Perry is open for debate."
Variety's Justin Chang: "Even with angsty rock songs, lurching camerawork and emo-ish voiceover at her disposal, Hardwicke can't get inside the head of her young protagonist, Isabella 'Bella' Swan; consequently, Bella's decision to get hot and heavy with a hot-and-hungry vampire, far from seeming like an act of mad, transgressive passion, comes across as merely stupid and ill-considered. The result is a supernatural romance in which the supernatural and romantic elements feel rushed, unformed and insufficiently motivated, leaving audiences with little to do but shrug and focus on the eye-candy."
Is Twilight going to live up to the hype? Let us know your opinion in the comments.
Check out all 10+ photos of Robert Pattinson at LAX in the gallery!
Photo Credit: Bauer Griffin Online
Website: www.bauergriffinonline.com
Brianna says:
I just saw it at the Austin special screening, and while some of the movie was great and I loved the laughts it included, I have to agree with the last review! Definitely comopletely rushed...it lost a lot of the emotion and angst of the book!