Reviews: Twilight (2008) Movie Review
Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Vampires, Werewolves
Subgenres:
Our honest review of Twilight (2008) breaks down its scares, pacing, and whether this horror movie truly stands the test of time.
Twilight (2008) is an American vampire romance fantasy movie that is the first film in The Twilight Saga film series and is based on Stephenie Meyer‘s novel of the same name. The movie had an estimated budget of $37 million and grossed over $392 million worldwide. Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen (2003), Red Riding Hood Red Riding Hood (2011), Lords of Dogtown Lords of Dogtown (2005)) did a marvelous job executing this movie although it strays from the book a little. The movie is made for a certain age group of females so it is understandable that a lot of people might find this movie to be mediocre. I love the romance aspect of the film although the acting could have been better. The actors did not do a good job with their roles that affected the film giving a more realistic feel. The special effects were fantastic as well as the cinematography. There were some goofs where mics can be seen in several scenes and other mishaps, but nothing to make the movie a bad watch.
Twilight revolves around Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart - Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)) who is seventeen years old and her new love in her new hometown. Bella’s mother, Renée (Sarah Clarke - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011), 24 (2001), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)) and father are divorced. Renee married a minor league baseball player, and they travel a lot leaving Bella feeling as though she is intruding on their lives. Bella decides to live with her father Charlie (Billy Burke - The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)) in a small town named Forks located on the Washington coast. Bella made a lot of friends at her new high school but is only interested in finding out more about her biology class partner Edward Cullen, who appears to be repulsed by her. Bella becomes suspicious Edward (Robert Pattinson - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Remember Me (2010), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)) after he saved her from being hit by a van. The strange thing that Bella cannot wrap her head around is that Edward was standing very far from her, and he could not possibly reach her so fast and how did he not get hurt. Bella spent a lot of time researching and discovered that Edward is a vampire that we already knew upon seeing the trailer. Edward admits to Bella that he and his family only consume animal blood and do not hurt humans. Bella agrees to keep it a secret as her feelings for Edwards intensifies. Bella is soon introduced to the Cullens and danger soon follows as three nomadic vampires James, Victoria, and Laurent arrive in their hometown. James (Cam Gigandet - Easy A (2010), Pandorum (2009), Priest (2011), Never Back Down (2008)) is a vampire that can track people. He is very curious to see why Edward is so protective over Bella and decides to hunt Bella for sport. After a few great events, James bites Bella, and she breaks her ankle but will Edward and his family arrive too late to save her from dy**g with James around. Bella has the vampire venom in her and what happens next was a sitting on the edge of your seat experience.
Overall, I recommend all vampire lovers who love romance to watch this movie the entire series. There is a good amount of events that I did not mention in the review although one might think that I gave too much away but that is not the case. The music, sceneries, sets, and makeup was done nicely and gave the movie an added bonus.
Featured movie quotes for Twilight are here.
Similar films like Twilight can be found in vampire movies, vampire movies, werewolf movies, and werewolf movies sub-genre(s), check them out for more movies like Twilight.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Twilight Rating Scores
- Our Score: 8/10
- Overall Score: 6.20/10
- IMDB: 5.3/10
- MetaCritic: 5.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 4.8/10
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