Saw Twilight last week in the aftermath of the turkey holiday. Why? I guess I was mostly interested in what the hype was all about. Plus, it's an unorthodox take on vampires, something I'm always up for. But I realized Twilight was no Vampyros Lesbos, Daughters of Darkness, or The Vampire Lovers beforehand. So I went in with extremely low expectations...and I'm glad I did. It wasn't a bad movie at all, but I can see why some reviewers are disappointed. Given all the hype surrounding the movie it feels like a very small picture; definitely not the epic many anticipated. Almost like a made-for-TV movie. Why? Summit produced this movie on a shoestring budget, and it shows. But the major belly aching surrounding this film is that it isn't a vampire movie and I can sympathize with that point. To me it played more like a super hero movie, and this was just the intro setting the stage for much bigger things...kind of like the first X-Men. But if you can get beyond the limited scope of the production values and some unintentionally hilarious dialogue it's worth a rental. After all, how often do you get to see a game of vampire baseball? Plus, it just might be the most successful stalker movie ever made. There's another vampire movie out there I want to see sometime too called Let the Right One In. It just started playing here (at the Crest) but I think I might wait for video.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Twilight
Saw Twilight last week in the aftermath of the turkey holiday. Why? I guess I was mostly interested in what the hype was all about. Plus, it's an unorthodox take on vampires, something I'm always up for. But I realized Twilight was no Vampyros Lesbos, Daughters of Darkness, or The Vampire Lovers beforehand. So I went in with extremely low expectations...and I'm glad I did. It wasn't a bad movie at all, but I can see why some reviewers are disappointed. Given all the hype surrounding the movie it feels like a very small picture; definitely not the epic many anticipated. Almost like a made-for-TV movie. Why? Summit produced this movie on a shoestring budget, and it shows. But the major belly aching surrounding this film is that it isn't a vampire movie and I can sympathize with that point. To me it played more like a super hero movie, and this was just the intro setting the stage for much bigger things...kind of like the first X-Men. But if you can get beyond the limited scope of the production values and some unintentionally hilarious dialogue it's worth a rental. After all, how often do you get to see a game of vampire baseball? Plus, it just might be the most successful stalker movie ever made. There's another vampire movie out there I want to see sometime too called Let the Right One In. It just started playing here (at the Crest) but I think I might wait for video.
You're right about the low-end production values and the unintentionally funny scenes. That's part of what made it so enjoyable to me in the 3 times I've seen it. What irks me is that it is marketed as this big-time blockbuster epic, when in reality, it was shot to be a much smaller, cult film. I doubt anyone working on the film in February would have even dreamed of a $70 million opening in November.
ReplyDeleteAs an enormous fan of the book, I do believe the film acts as a nice companion piece. In the instance of vampire baseball, the filmed version seems far less ridiculous and is far more fun than the written version. And certain characters I didn't give much thought to in the book really stood out through some great acting in the film. So it worked for me.