Snapped Lead

I first knew about Twilight during our school’s annual nutrition day, when a good friend told me about a book she had read a few years ago. That was July 2008. But back then, I had no idea that the story she was telling me about was the best-selling novel that was recently adapted into a film, the newest craze of every teenager and young adult all over the world. Just like every time I watch an anime show or a movie which I am not very familiar with, I did my own research. I looked it up on wikipedia and the author’s website to know more about the books while I sought to buy the book. I saw the actors who played the main couple and the vampire family members that I later learned were the Cullens. By the time I watched the first two trailers of the upc

oming movie, I was already bouncing with excitement to see it.

At this time, I learned that Twilight was actually the first of four books in what is now known as the Twilight Saga. Before I knew about the books, I’ve seen one of my classmates with a black paperback novel, one with a chess pawn and queen on the cover. It did not capture my interest at first; I suppose I could say I was used to those creative, expressive art covers of the Harry Potter series that I considered that book with the simple black background and chess design as (-drum roll-) ‘boring’ (Yes, I’m one of those naive people who judge books by their covers) . Of course, after that fateful research I proved myself wrong.

I started looking forward for the film last August–no mistakes. It was around our first periodical exams that I began to read Twilight, up until before the Intramurals started in the first week of September. My sudden reading activity even influenced my close guy friend, who borrowed my copy while I read the second one, New Moon. It was then that the others began to read the series as well– the others used eBooks, others borrowed, others read off the Internet. Soon, everybody got caught up with the Twilight craze– the book and the movie. It was rare to see a lot of people in the class reading books. BOOKS. A lot of them don’t read at all. It was nice to see some changes.

And so, moving forward–yesterday, I finally got to watch Twilight with a few friends. Twice, since we had to endure the first round squashing our butts at the crowded stairs in the theater.

I couldn’t decide yet if I liked the movie or not, even after watching it twice. It has its good moments, and its share of bad scenes as well. Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan did a fine job, nothing special, although I find it unnerving when she stammers a lot more than normal. She seems to be very sullen and tends to be anxious about something, which for me is not very Bella-ish. Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen, also did well. His tuning up his British accent was great, but like Kristen, he sounds expressionless at some point. Most conversations in the film felt awkward, too. They ditched a lot of scenes from the book, but the fight scene at the ballet studio was wonderful. Alice grabbed the single most violent scene there. =D

People would love Robert as Edward–or at least, learn to accept him as Edward. Actually, he isn’t that bad. He fit the role, the look and, my favorite, the gorgeous bronze hair. SWOOOON. Although I admit that the movie did not live up to most of my expectations—-it turned out to be wonderful, especially for a female director and a low-budget production. So, go and watch it, but watch yourself. Seriously, Rob and Kristen’s on-screen chemistry might cause some hyperventilation. XD