For those of you get to be bitten (sorry) by the vampire bug, Twilight is adapted from the gothic novel by Stephenie Meyer, and is the story of Bella (Kristin Stewart), a disaffected teen moving to a cold and gloomy town to live with her emotionally stunted father. Her life changes, however, when she meets Edward (Rob Pattinson), a mysterious boy at her school. The pair become fascinated by each other, but their love comes up against a rather large obstacle - Edward is a vampire. With the instincts of Edward’s vampirism directly clashing with their love, the pair struggle to be together, and an evil gang of new vampires, led by the sadistic James (Cam Gigandet), puts their love in further jeopardy.
The film’s biggest strength is its originality, given that the vampire movie is hardly a fresh sub-genre. It could easily have been the new Buffy, and does feel an awful lot like a modern version of The Lost Boys, but director Catherine Hardwicke’s decision to remain as faithful to the book as possible means that, whilst there is a lot of teen angst and meaningful stares, there’s also an interesting plot. The chaste nature of Edward and Bella’s relationship means there’s sexual tension in abundance, but the dangers that intimacy presents to the pair makes the on-screen chemistry even more intriguing.
Hardwicke has had some great actors to work with in the past, directing Emile Hirsch and the late Heath Ledger in Lord of Dogtown, so the cast is littered with young actors chosen for their acting prowess rather than their ability to fill a tight t-shirt. Therefore what could have been a glossy studio movie now has the feel of an indie, although at its heart Twilight is still a high school drama. Pattinson looks born to play the undead, and whilst looking stricken and tormented is largely his M.O., he does a solid job. Stewart is the strongest of the cast, carrying the movie through its cheesier moments and putting in a fairly mature performance for such a young actress.
More The O.C. than Nosferatu, but what Twilight has going for it is an interesting and unusual story, which leaves you wanting to see more whilst still being its own story.
EXTRAS: With over two and a half hours of bonus material, there's no skimping on extras here. But given the obsessive level of scrutiny Twilight has already received, is there anything new for fans to sink their teeth into? In the extended/deleted scenes – introduced by the infectiously enthusiastic Hardwicke – we get to see more of Edward’s vampire family, and more of the ‘bad’ blood-suckers in action.
Probably of greater interest are the two sexually-charged scenes between Edward and Bella. The first is an extension of Bella’s dream sequence, in which she pulls Edward down onto her bed and they furiously make out. The other involves some kinky finger-biting ("Do you really wanna taste?") in the meadow. Seductive though they are, the final cut arguably benefits from the absence of these scenes in favour of a multitude of meaningful looks and unconsummated yearning.
The real gem though has to be the amusing commentary three-way between Hardwicke and self-conscious leads Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, with its recurring theme of Edward's immaculately-groomed eyebrows. Elsewhere, footage of Comic Con 2008 allows you to re-live the precise moment last summer when the world went Twilight mental, plus there's featurettes on the film's music (including Pattinson's contributions) and the challenges of filming vampire action sequences.
Nothing groundbreaking, but surely enough to keep fans’ Twilight-lust sated until New Moon hits cinemas later this year.
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