Saturday, November 17, 2012

A Male's Perspective of the Twilight Saga

My original intent was to write separate reviews on the first four Twilight movies, but why waste my time when I could write one post about the most overrated film franchise of all time.

I recall reading the first book by Stephenie Meyer when it was originally released. I read it and thought it was average at best. I tossed the book into the closet and never thought about it again until I saw the first film advertise. Probably like most readers, I bought the other books in the attempt to eventually read them, but I have never opened any of them to page one yet.

One of my hobbies is collecting DVDs (in which I have way too many of) and of course I bought Twilight when it was released. I recognized Kristen Stewart from the Cold Creek Manor and The Messengers, but I never heard of the majority of the cast, except for Peter Facinelli and Elizabeth Reaser. I had forgotten most of the book's plot, so the movie was basically new to me. For the most part the movie was mediocre at best. Similar to what I did to the book, I tossed the DVD onto a shelf and forgot about it until I saw the advertisements for New Moon a year later.

In New Moon, the Cullens have very little screen time, giving Taylor Lautner a bigger role and a new haircut. I like the werewolf mythology, but the movie has Bella pining for Edward for entire the entire 130 minutes. What was up with the time? It would have been slightly better if it was under 90 minutes, because nothing happens!

I should have quit the franchise after New Moon, but I ended up buying the DVD of Eclipse a year later. Yes, the directing and the overall quality of the film was a whole lot better than previous films. There was more of a plot going on that kept my interest. Then came the vampires vs. vampires vs. werewolves fight scene, where I just laughed my head off. It was so pathetic. When supernatural beings fight, there should be at least one drop of blood.

By the time Breaking Dawn Part One rolled onto DVD earlier this year, I went ahead and risked my chances of having a seizure by buying the DVD which rested on top of my entertainment stand for a few weeks before I actually viewed it. Once again the directing and film quality was better (probably due to the $110 million dollar budget). The first hour is boring and the love scene was just plain dumb. The second half was mildly entertaining, leading up to the predictable cliffhanger ending.

The problem with the movies is the fact that the scripts are rushed and it shows on screen. Another actress should have played Bella as Kristen Stewart's dark, moody, depressed, emotional portrayal gets incredibly annoying by the first half of New Moon. Taylor Lautner only had a small role in the first film, so I didn't pay much attention to him. Ever wondered why when his part was expanded the directors filmed most of scenes with his shirt off? Here the easy answer: He can't act! He can barely pronounce his lines! He repeatedly removes his shirt to distract the female audience from the fact that is acting abilities haven't and will probably never develop.

As for Robert Pattinson, I feel sorry for him. He isn't that bad of an actor, but by New Moon you can easily see that he doesn't even want to be in the movie. He looks bored, like the majority of the male audience that were dragged into the movie theater to watch the franchise.

Will I ever watch Breaking Dawn part 2? I'll probably end up buying it on DVD when it comes out just so I can see how to the stupid franchise ends.


7 comments:

  1. How the stupid franchise ends?! Hahaha! Your hobby of collecting DVDs is cool. I myself loved Twilight when I read it, but no when I think and look back, I feel maybe I was just in the "oh I'm in love with the idea of Twilight" phase. Let's see, I'll reread it sometime to see if my opinion has changed! Your review is really very cool, liked reading every bit of it! :D I agree with everything you said about Robert Pattinson, he looks so bored and tired! Actually, they all (except Jacob for me!) look half-dead. :P Jeesh, your review has left me laughing!

    Sarika @ The Readdicts

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  2. So I will totally admit I went to watch the second half of Breaking Dawn, after thinking the first half was pretty lame. The second half didn't get good until the battle scenes, which were pretty epic. Still...there was a twist that I'd totally forgotten from the books (or else it wasn't in the books).

    Half the time I couldn't understand what Edward was mumbling, and Bella also tends to mumble. Not to mention the entire audience cheered when Jacob took his shirt off, which kinda tells you a lot. Still, there were a shocking number of KIDS in the theater I was in. Crazy when vampires are ripping other vamps' heads off.

    All in all, the movies just couldn't do justice to the books. The picures in my HEAD were so much better than the images on film. That said, I'm actually looking forward to THE HOST--it was the first book of Meyer's that I read and I thought she handled the sci-fi story well.

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  3. I couldn't agree more! The movies are very badly cast in my opinion and over hyped...I enjoyed the first three books, but then it just got too crazy..and I felt a lot of better YA books were ignored because they weren't just like those books.

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  4. I agree on the casting comments. And the movies are incredibly cheesy. I believe they just tried to cash in on the books. Kristen Stewart is a horrible actress. But I loved the books. It's okay if not everyone likes something, that's why there are so many others out there. And while the movies were cheesy, it was fun for those who loved the books to see them brought to the screen. At least that is my opinion.

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  5. @Lisa Mandina

    Yes, the casting was horrible and so are the scripts.

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  6. I hesitated before writing the post as I feared a backlash from Twilight fans. I'm glad to see a few others have the same opinion.

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  7. Beleive me away! no waste at all!!! This was an amazing way to end the saga.i had very high hopes walkin in to the theater and I was not let down. I thought some spoilers ****Bella was very beautiful, more so than the other movies so it made her a more believable vampire. The Cullen's and their friends are very love able. As hard as it is for this story to be over it was ended so eloquently that I felt satisfied.Out of all these movies this one was the best by far!!! best part of the movie the epic battle, stunts and performance just led to a breathtaking twisted end." I loved the part when Alice showed Aro who would win that battle should it took place" lol. This movie was never meant to be violent or about blood sucking vamps, it started out as a love story and it ended that way.AWESOME ending for an amazing saga!!!! I will miss the saga! :(( :'(

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