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Just watched Twilight last night and I can say I’m still in a bit of euphoria. I’m sure the initial question everyone would want to ask is “is it as good as the book?” The answer is definitely “no”. If I am to look back at the novel-gone-to-theaters movies genre, I can’t think of any movie of that kind that became as good as the book. I believe it is not possible to fit the reading experience in only two hours. Maybe, the better question to ask about this is, “if a person wasn’t able to read the book, would he or she have liked the movie?” I would say “yes”. I’m sure not everyone would have the patience of reading an almost 500-page book. Although changes in the story were made for the movie’s sake, for me the core story of Twilight was excellently preserved and compressed in a two-hour period and I can’t see any reason that just because a person is not an avid book reader they won’t enjoy a great story.
Although generally the movie is good, it is not without flaws. For those who have read it, I am sure everyone would agree when I say the story went by very fast. Especially the part where Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) should have developed their feelings for each other. I think the movie’s writers relied heavily on “love at first sight” to cover up for that part. They were so suddenly drawn to each other. This shortcoming in the movie was made more evident by the lack of Kristen’s acting skills, especially on the facial expression department. She lacked the passion and the head-over-heels picture that was intricately described in the book. But she was so cute though, very much the Bella I pictured her to be (now, that is a one-sided male bias.). Robert, on the otherhand, did great. He is as described in the book. Aside from the overly applied lipstick, I believe he prepared well for the role. He just have to exert more effort in delivering his lines and in hiding his British accent. Anyways, these flaws of the main characters were partially covered by how both of them look good together.
There were many differences between the book and the movie, but I think those were made to cut the length of the story and improve the movie cinematically. The most noted differences I remember are:
- Bella’s Macbook (in the book, she used a very old desktop computer)
- Bella researched about the Quileutes, she just found about the vampires in a Quileute book she bought in a bookstore in Port Angeles (in the book, she researched about vampires and found information about Quileutes on the side; she did not buy any book in the bookstore).
- A friend of Charlie (Billy Burke) was killed by the vampires James (Cam Gigandet), Victoria (Rachelle Lafevre and Laurent (Edi Gathegi) (in the book, no friend of Charlie’s was killed, I believe that happened in the second book New Moon, and that friend died of heart attack).
- The High School Prom Night (in the book, there were two school events: the Girls’ Choice Spring Dance and the Prom Night).
- The climbing of the trees and the fight scene between James and Edward (these were not mentioned in the book).
- The “Danag” vampire from the Philippines was not mentioned at all (that disappointed me…).
I know I shoudn’t be comparing, but I just can’t help it. Maybe it’s just the natural thing to do especially when you first read the book. But don’t get me wrong, I really liked the movie a lot. It wasn’t perfect but it was good. Seeing the characters you just imagined while reading come alive in front of you is just so thrilling.
P.S. If you’re a very keen observant, you would have noticed the Philippine Flag in one of the cafeteria scenes of Edward and Bella.
I know this might have come too late and no, this is not some silly powers-against-powers, fight-to-the-death, dueling-geek-fanbases blog. This is a blog about philosophies, of hero vs. hero.
