TWILIGHT: Is it worth the hype?

Twilight: New Moon debuted at the box office this weekend and it’s a big hit. $258.8 million dollars worth of fans can’t be wrong…. Or can they? In my opinion the enormous profit being generated by this movie has little to do with the overall production value of the film. Raging teenage hormones and less than stellar love lives are the secret to Twilight’s success. Before anyone reading this thinks I’m just a hater or a bandwagon anti-Twilight rebel who has never seen the movie let me set the record straight. I watched the first Twilight movie over the weekend. I did so for two reasons, #1 was to see what all the big hype over this movie was about, and #2 was so I may properly bash or praise this movie. This article will not be “Twilight is the biggest piece of crap” nor will it be “Twilight is the greatest thing ever”. This entry will be more about what I personally think about the movie, the hype, and the hatred that surrounds it.

I have to admit that I already hated Twilight without even watching the first movie. The trailers, commercials, and posters introduced me to bunch of Abercrombie models in blue tinted lighting with vampire fangs. Tons of meaningless merchandise with the Twilight logo and all the overrated super hype being displayed by the fans made me sick. Even if I wanted to like the movie it was impossible because of the way Twilight was being thrown in my face and shoved down my throat. I wanted to gag every time I saw a stupid piece of merchandise with the logo on it. Do we really need Twilight tampons or Twilight hemorrhoid cream?

So how do I feel after finally watching the first movie?

Well it didn’t suck but it is no way near worth all the hype and admiration it’s receiving. On that same note it wasn’t as bad as the haters would like you to believe. Let me break this down into two parts. First part will be for the fans and the second part will be for the critics.

To the Fans of Twilight: This movie is not the greatest love story ever told and it’s not the best representation of vampires ever seen. The main star is not a super hottie unless you’re talking about Kristen Stewart or the vampire girl who can see the future. Robert Pattinson is far from People Magazine’s sexiest man of the year. His role as Edward the vampire has blinded females from seeing his true unhealthy drug junkie appearance. He looks like a 90’s rocker two weeks away from drug overdosing. The movie itself isn’t groundbreaking and actually very generic. The acting is very bland and uninspiring, and the special effects are TV show quality. The movie overall seems like it could have been a two hour teen special on the CW Network.

To the Haters of Twilight: When I hear people complain about this movie I usually hear the same things. The bad acting, the boring storyline, the vampires in the daytime, and the biggest complaint is “The Shine”. The acting was lackluster and you can’t redeem that, but the storyline was only as boring as your taste in movies. Twilight is a simple love story but with a supernatural twist. The storyline will be as exciting as a Sandra Bullock movie so if you’re expecting anything beyond that then you are stupid. What about the vampires walking around in the day? This movie is not the first to feature vampires walking outside during the day. The vampires in Twilight hanging out during the day works with the story they are trying to tell. It increases the possibilities for interaction between characters. Credit should be given for the way it was handled. At least the vampires were only outside on mild or cloudy days when the sun wasn’t beaming down on them. “Vampires always burn in sunlight! What the hell is this Shining nonsense?” The main thing I wanted to see about this movie was the infamous “Shine”. I heard so many negative things about “The Shine” that it became the must-see factor for me. After seeing it I realized that the haters were seriously over reacting. In my opinion “The Shine” element was the only innovative thing about the movie. I actually liked the idea of the vampires hiding from the sun because their skin shines. If vampires really existed and they shined in the sunlight they will hide because people will bust caps in them immediately. What people need to understand about Twilight is that above all things it is a love story. “The Shine” provides the movie with dramatic and romantic imagery and if you can’t see that then you are just being an ignorant hater. Not ever vampire movie needs to follow all the same mythology and conform to the same rules. Twilight changed things up to suit the story they are trying to tell and it works for them. After the initial reveal of “The Shine” I was already counting the seconds until I was given a romantic scene with Bella and sparkly Edward, and I didn’t have to wait long.

The Twilight series is not for everyone. Many will like it and many will hate it. At the end of the day Twilight is just a regular movie. It is not worth all the craziness and hype surrounding it, but not worth all the over-the-top hatred either. It is your average love story seen in countless movies before. The only difference is the inclusion of werewolves and vampires. If you are into romantic movies I recommend it but if you’re a general movie fan you can watch it on HBO or borrow the DVD.

Are you a Twilight fan? Are you a Twilight hater? Do you think Tom Cruise is a better vampire than Robert Pattinson?

Leave a comment