Moonbeams

FOREWORD: I'm not really a big fan of the Twilight series. Honestly, it had nothing new to offer: it was reminiscent of the Sweet Dreams series/Romeo and Juliet, the only twist being that one of the protagonists is a very handsome vampire. It had no literary ambitions and there is no compelling urge to turn page after page. To me, it was a simple conversation dragged into a novel.

Understand where I am coming from. I have read probably more than a thousand books in my 27 years of existence, and about a hundred of those are about vampires and even more than a thousand are mostly love stories. And the Twilight series is by far the biggest dissappointment.

But being the vampire lover that I am, I decided to watch this movie with a fellow Twilight "hater" (my friend who shares the same sentiment that it's an insult to JK Rowling that Twilight is being touted as the next Harry Potter) with no expectations --- having been so disappointed with the book, we thought this movie could not be any worse.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twilight fans would be delighted that the adaptation was loyal to the book: storyline, characterization, even the visuals are same as what you would have imagined while reading the book.

Casting-wise, Kristin Stewart, is near-perfect as the clumsy Bella - she's pretty enough to be the lead, but not overly so that it would be impossible to believe her when she expresses amazement that Edward could fall for a simple girl like her. My only comment is that there are times when she seems a bit boyish to me.

As for Rob Pattinson, he acquits himself gracefully from the initial reactions that he is not good looking enough to be the immortal Edward. Judging from the shrieks of teenage and tweens in the audience, it's safe to say they agree with me. He has matured gracefully from when he played Cedric Diggory --- I myself had thought he wasn't handsome enough to be Cedric. (But then again, the make-up department probably did a good job too). And he looks so natural in his scenes you can feel his intensity.

I'm a bit disappointed though with Jacob. I had expected him to be good looking enough to make the love triangle stick, but with his casting, I am left with no choice but to give in to Team Edward, hands down. James (the villain), is cuter and could have given Edward a run for his money.

The other cast members are a bit mismatched though. Carlisle's bleached hair looks more like a rocker guy who accidentally spilled blonde dye on his head and his make up is a bit greasy, like he had a hefty serving of Chin chun su on his face. Esme is forgettable (Ava on Grey's Anatomy), Emmett is okay, and Jasper is a bit weird. Alice is okay for me; a bit quirky but lovable and she makes a bit of an impression. As for Rosalie, I can't help but wonder they could have chosen a natural blonde, or someone more believable as the most beautiful vampire. She's pretty but not really the prettiest.

Acting-wise, you hardly notice them at all. They just come and go at each scene most viewers probably won't even remember their dialogue.

Needless to say, the two lead stars are the only things carrying this movie. The editing is amateur; it feels like you're watching a high school project shot with only one camera: it keeps swingin back and forth and the transition from one scene to another is not neat.

Cinematography is okay, which they owe mostly to the location itself.

At least though, they didn't mess up the dubbing (I was very irritated with the dubbing of KC/Richard's movie For The First Time that I just had to squeeze this in. I think a filmmaker should be criminally charged for messing up the dubbing).

So, were my near zero expectations met? Yes, I guess. Would I recommend this to other people? Not really. But given the choices at the cinema this week, I guess so. But don't expect any visual or intellectually stimulating plotlines here. :)