Guest Post — The Twilight Saga So Far: A Male’s Perspective

Today I would like to bring to your consideration the set of reviews, contributed by Dan Spicer, who maintains his own film blog that you are more than welcome to visit. Dan decided to watch all Twilight films that are released nowadays and give his objective opinions on the saga.

The Twilight Saga So Far: A Male’s Perspective

The First ‘Twilight’ movie – DVD Review

Bella Swan has moved back in with her father Charlie while her mother is away with her new boyfriend. Bella starts school in her senior year and makes friends quickly. But the mysterious Edward Cullen takes her fancy and she strives to figure him out. When she realises he’s a vampire, he’s tempted to consume her blood but refuses. He introduces her to his family and she becomes one of them. Then evil vampires show up and they have decided to make a game of Bella for some reason. Bella becomes the prize and it’s up to Edward to defend her. This vampire romance is tolerable. It’s not the greatest thing ever, but I do understand the slow burn chemistry. The movie does drag it out a bit. Still, there’s a lot to like about the romance, despite how dull it might seem from an outsider’s perspective. I didn’t think it was boring, not exactly.

The first half is really good and it would have been better if that sexual tension was maintained. You just have to like Bella who’s the main character. Everything else should fall into place. If you think Bella is a snot, then you’ll hate this. She rarely smiles, her love for Edward only touches the surface, but that’s what teenagers are about and you can tell just how angst-ridden Bella is. It’s a good performance from Kristen Stewart who I think is really attractive anyway in order to be likeable. Her character Bella is not nasty, but she’s shy and you sometimes wonder what’s wrong with her, why is she so angsty. She doesn’t have her head on straight. In terms of the whole vampire story, it’s very basic. Nothing to write home about. But I think now I understand the appeal of the romance side of things.

6/10

New Moon – DVD Review

It must be tough not being a Twilight fan and trying to like these movies. For one, their pace is slow and in this movie there’s hardly anything going on apart from Bella moaning about the loss of Edward who has decided to leave the town of Forks with the rest of the Cullen Family. Jacob Black steps in to give Bella comfort as they work on motorcycles and generally just hang out. It’s a good relationship, but Jacob wants something more. Victoria, the enemy vampire from the first film, is after Bella and the werewolves are out to hunt Victoria down. Bella hears that Edward is going to kill himself because he thinks she’s dead, so Bella travels to Italy to save him. They meet the Vulturi who are vampire royalty and Edward makes a promise to convert Bella into a vampire.

I’m starting to like these movies, not that I’d watch them obsessively. They’re grim, but they’re also interesting and a little fun at times. If it wasn’t for the beautiful Bella, I probably wouldn’t care too much about them. The performance by Kristen Stewart in the three movies is so nuanced and sharp, you can’t believe she’s acting. It’s understated how complex she is in the role. Losers who diss the franchise for being romantic completely sicken me. And the people who judge without watching them are worse. Seeing this movie, it’s hard to be critical when I had the appropriate expectations. It’s a love triangle and it’s fun to watch. It’s not the gooiest of films – Eclipse is probably worse – but New Moon is basically about setting up Jacob as the second love interest. I hope Bella doesn’t choose to become a vampire. That would be selfish. I hope instead Edward turns back to normal, and she marries them both.

6/10

Eclipse – Cinema Review

Two screenings:

Thursday 1st July 2010 - 3:10pm-5:34pm Hoyts Erina Cinema 4

Wednesday 7th July 2010 - 3:10pm-534pm Hoyts Erina Cinema 3

Bella and Edward the vampire are a couple, but Bella is in trouble because there’s vampires after her. Someone is creating an army in Seattle, turning innocent people into bloodsuckers (and I didn’t really understand why Bella is so important, but now I do. Victoria, who in the first movie lost her friend James, is seeking revenge on Edward by tormenting Bella. A guy called Riley, a newborn vampire is her pawn). Bella is having even more trouble with Jacob. Jacob is a werewolf who fancies Bella, but Bella won’t admit she loves him. Edward and Jacob have this rivalry, with Jacob saying Edward is cold, lifeless and without a soul. Edward proposes to Bella and they agree to get married. Jacob tries to convince Bella that becoming a vampire is a big mistake and she wouldn’t have to change if she chooses him. Then there’s a lot of fighting between the two vampire groups having been led to a field by Bella’s scent.

I think the tent scene is the stand out, where Edward and Jacob verbally tussle with each other. I enjoyed Bella’s dad Charlie who I thought was pretty funny. Some might call this movie dreary, but it’s not like that. It’s a simple tale about a love triangle between a girl and two fantastic creatures, a vampire and a werewolf. In that simplicity, there’s all sorts of emotions and expressions. I don’t mind soap opera, and this is soapy, though it’s for young people, not cynics. Oh yes, it’s very beautiful and very romantic, these are good looking people here. I heard things before hand, that this movie would be boring as all hell, but it’s not. It actually goes pretty quickly, it’s likeable and funny at times. I think it’s the best in the series, balancing drama with action quite well.

7/10

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 - Cinema Review

Saturday 19th November 2011 - 1:20pm-3:32pm Hoyts Erina Cinema 1

In this episode, starting pretty early is Bella Swan and Edward Cullen’s wedding. It’s a standard affair and unfortunately so. I was expecting something more, I guess. Maybe an interruption from Bella’s other boyfriend Jacob Black since he threw a tantrum when he received his wedding invitation. At the wedding, there’s speeches, toasts, a cake and dancing. Then Jacob does turn up to wish Bella well, dancing with her, spinning her around and lifting her off her feet. Then when Edward admits he’s not going to turn Bella into a vampire before the honeymoon sex, Jacob is terrified Edward’s seed will kill Bella. Bella seems dumb this episode, not listening to Jacob and journeying down to Brazil to a beach house where the married couple discover sex for the first time. They’re not very good at it either - Edward breaks the bed with his bare hands, forcing the maid to clean up afterwards. Heaps of sex later, Bella discovers she’s pregnant and it’s all downhill from there.

There’s no real magic in the franchise this time. There’s nothing inspiring at the wedding (except Bella’s dad Charlie’s speech), but nothing else stands out. The honeymoon is surprisingly unromantic, and when it tries to be romantic, it’s dull and uncomfortable. The main sex scene is decidedly unsexy, no smoke, no glossiness. None of the film thrilled me, it was occasionally boring and pretty uneventful like the filmmakers were dragging it out. The love triangle seems officially over, and the movie therefore has lost its greatest asset. I knew the movie would be disappointing due to the love triangle collapsing, but they could have substituted it with something else, like action (there’s this poorly directed action scene at the end, the only one). Since there’s no sexual tension, I was thinking more twists could how been implemented, using the whole book rather than dividing the story in two. Because in the end, the characters do hardly anything. Thankfully, the cheese factor is still there, and I am looking forward to the next part, but I didn’t like this movie that much. It needed a proper story, more melodrama. Everything was bland.

4/10

Written by Dan Spicer

What do you think of the Twilight saga?