Somehow, I have never seen any of the “Twilight” movies. I’m not sure how because I have siblings and friends who enjoy them, and I have had many chances to watch them. With the movies being added to Netflix recently, I was able to sit down and give the first one a watch. I am typically particular about my movies, so I anticipated that I would not enjoy it, especially since I was never obsessed with the series in middle school. With that being said, here are my random thoughts while watching “Twilight” for the first time.
I went into this movie with very little knowledge about the plot. I have seen a few of the memes and I know about the Edward vs. Jacob love triangle with Bella, but that is about it. However, nothing could prepare me for the two hour and two minute movie I was about to view. I was surprised with how amusing I thought it was. Specifically, the awkward silences and stares between Bella and Edward, and the unusual cinematography. Not to mention, the incredibly cheesy dialogue which provides gems like, “You better hold on tight spider monkey” and, “The blonde one who looks like he’s in pain.” These are quotable lines that I have heard multiple times in conversation, so I was happy to finally understand their context.
While I do not necessarily think that it is a good movie, I did think that it was relatively enjoyable to watch. For example, I loved the baseball scene at the end, and I enjoyed the perfect mix of hilarity and drama that it brought. Also, while I wasn’t expecting much from the special effects for a 2008 teen vampire romance movie, they definitely could have been worse. However, the sparkly shine of Edward’s skin and the weirdly mechanical running was simply too much for me.
One thing that I disliked was the romance in the movie, which is arguably the most important part. The first time I saw a genuine connection between Bella and Edward was when they were dancing at their prom and the movie was almost over. I would have enjoyed seeing them in less awkward scenes and more genuine romance instead. However, I understand that the romance may not have translated as well from book to movie.
Overall, I didn’t enjoy this movie, but I understand why it is a cult classic. Personally, I think that it views like a bad soap opera, and it is super cheesy. I think that the movie could benefit from more Edward and Jacob content, so that the love triangle could have been more established. Also, this movie was not at all what I thought it was about, and it was quite different from what I expected. I think the problem is that I never had a “Twilight” obsession when the books and movies were popular. If I did, then I’m sure that I would have enjoyed it more. With that being said, I will watch the other movies in the series some time in the future, and I am excited to see where the story is taken.