The first teaser trailer can be seen above and if you ask me it does nothing to make me believe we have a hit on our hands, or even a good movie. Even though this is a romance, it is a dark one. Even though Meyer’s vampires can travel in the day light they actually glitter brightly in the sun, which calls for overcast skies and plenty of rain. Twilight needs to be dark, what is left to the imagination in the book should, for the most part, be left to the imagination in the film. Edward says to Bella all that is needed to be known about him and his “family” we don’t need the comment we see above, “This is wrong Edward, she is not one of us.”
I am sorry, but as I will soon be reading “New Moon” and “Eclipse” (and most likely “Breaking Dawn” should the next two be any good) it looks to me like the film has missed the mark.
I think Kristen Stewart is a great choice for Bella and Robert Pattinson may be a good choice for Edward, but he certainly doesn’t look or act like the Edward I imagined while reading. I also look at the rest of that picture above and I am not sure if you noticed, but it doesn’t reflect the look of the film or the footage shown in that teaser one iota.
So often director Catherine Hardwicke is praised as some kind of great director (primarily because I think one person said it and everyone else jumped on the bandwagon), but outside of her impressive debut effort with Thirteen she has received a 55% RottenTomatoes rating for Lords of Dogtown and 39% for The Nativity Story. Not exactly stellar numbers if you ask me and I just don’t see where the praise came from or why she was actually chosen. Well, scratch that, I know why she was chosen…
Summit Entertainment has gone on record saying they want to make films with a production budget ranging from $20 to $60 million and from what I have seen Twilight is budgeted in the mid-$30 million range. I am guessing that is why the near accident involving Bella, Edward and a speeding van looks so bad in the teaser. Not to mention it’s supposed to be on an icy and snowy day. I can’t help but think these are production budget issues and I am surprised the massive “Twilight” fans are so enamored with it (NOTE: OME means Oh My Edward).
You may think a complaint about the weather is a nit-picky one, but it is a matter of setting the mood for the film and making an important scene work logically. If I could make a recommendation I urge you to give the book a chance, male or female, as long as you like to read and aren’t insecure with your “manliness” you should enjoy it and it is a quick read.
My pre-viewing opinion aside the producers and Hardwicke aren’t going to delay in getting the sequels started should the first film be successful as producer Greg Mooradian told MTV the films based on “New Moon” and “Eclipse” could be filmed back-to-back as early as 2009. “It’s been discussed,” he said. “I can’t tell you we’re at that place yet, but it’s definitely been discussed. [We like the idea of] shooting them back to back, and shooting them simultaneously as they did with ‘Lord of the Rings’… From a production standpoint, it’s a great thing to do. But it’s quite an undertaking.”
Hardwicke added, “Our vampires can’t age…if they were like 45, people would say ‘What’s up?’ [Filming them together] could be the case. Then, you just get it done.”
Fortunately for fans of the series the small budget means the film doesn’t need to make $100 million to be “successful”. Take the female targeted Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as an example, the first film made just over $39 million and a sequel hits theaters this summer.
It’s strange, as much as Hollywood loves to make the stupid spoof comedies such as Meet the Spartans and Date Movie you would think they would be more open to making films aimed at the teen-girl audience. “Twilight” has also managed to capture the attention of plenty of mature women as well and will certainly intrigue some male moviegoers and if it turns out to be any good could actually be a big hit based on its budget. Lord knows I would watch anything aimed at an all-female audience before ever voluntarily watching anything from the idiots that make those spoof films.
Twilight hits theaters on December 12, for more information and pictures click here.
