Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 7-June-09
Spoiler Rating: Low

Twilight (2008)

Watching Twilight after months of avoidance, I was reminded of another recent hit, Star Trek. Although it is the inferior of the two,Twilight also scores by holding out the promise of future gratification. This tale of a vampire in love with a mortal teen offers myriad angst-ridden and sexually charged opportunities, especially for people unfamiliar with Stephenie Meyer's books. Of course, fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will have a sense of "been there, done that" since Buffy and her undead beau already trod the twisted paths of such a relationship. Like Buffy and Angel, the lovers of Twilight wrestle with an age difference and discover that there is no such thing as safe sex. (And the new matinee idol could easily inherit the moniker "Captain Forehead" from the TV blood-sucker before him.)

So Twilight introduces a high-profile, if not entirely original, series. The plot is a bit thin for the movie to stand on its own, but director Catherine Hardwicke does a good job of glossing this over. She adopts a distinctive, grungy style which jibes with the Pacific Northwest setting where heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) moves during her junior year in high school and meets the pale and unsettling Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). A noble beast, Edward tries to forestall any outcome to their love at first sight, and fails miserably. In so doing he dooms Bella to the role of damsel in distress who needs a man to save her, but at least the oddly charismatic Stewart appears capable of maintaining her dignity. Bella evinces a very human, very adolescent air of suppressed emotion in scenes with her father (Billy Burke) and the love of her life. She is ripe for melodrama.

Given that the movie is two hours long, I would have preferred fewer moony-eyed moments between Bella and Edward and more back story to ground Twilight and define its mythology. Minutes devoted to Pattinson's soulful scowl might have been better spent on explaining the nature of Edward's vampire kind. Were they taken over by demons or infected with a virus that altered their molecules and appetites? Is it sheer will that compels his "family" not to harm humans? Also, I am curious why the neighborhood is crawling with monsters, since the movie foreshadows an upcoming werewolf situation. I hope this development heralds not only the twang of heartstrings stretched to the limit but a fully fleshed-out villain, the lack of whom accounts for some of this movie's flimsiness. Twilight establishes the theme of Bella + Edward 4ever, and that is okay. Now let's see Hardwicke's successors bring color to their world (figuratively — the grunge can stay) and sharpen their challenges so the series can stand up to the bright light of day.

Copyright © 2009 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.