Book Review: Midnight Sun

 

Chances are, most people are aware of the story told in the Twilight series, either through reading the books, seeing the movies, or both. This is basically a remastered version of the original novel, told from the perspective of Edward instead of Bella. It tells the same overall story but gives insights into things that were not shown or told in the original book because everything was told from Bella's point of view and what she was experiencing. So, we get much more interaction between Edward and the other members of the Cullen family and see how he was trying to deal with his feelings for her, and hers for him.

Certainly, some of the issues with the original books still remain. This is largely a young adult love story and so can get sappy and schlocky in parts. The author's writing does get panned quite a bit, which is mostly unfair. No, she is not Shakespeare, but she does not try to be or even pretend to be. She is telling a contemporary (at least as of the early 2000s) teenage love story set in a world of vampires. Yes, some of the choices she makes, like the vampires sparkling in direct sunlight as opposed to being burned to a crisp and dying are kind of silly, but I think that was because she was trying to do something unique.

Overall, whether you loved, hated, or were lukewarm to the original novel you will probably feel the same way about this. It is not likely to change your mind either way. The novel is basically to set up the larger story and develop the characters (although it does tell its own self-contained storyline as well). It will be interesting to see if she does the same thing with the other novels, but overall I think this allowed for more of the story to be fleshed out and was able to focus on different characters than the original novel did.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Twilight

 

Twilight is a movie that is adapted from a series of books that are mainly aimed at teens or young adults, setting teenage love drama in the world of vampires and werewolves (although the wolves are only hinted at in this movie). It stars Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, a vampire who is over 200 years old but perpetually stuck as a 17-year old, and Kristen Stewart who plays Bella Swan, a teenager whose parents are divorced, who just moves in with her dad in the Pacific Northwest, and ends up going to school with Edward and his "siblings" played by Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, and Jackson Rathborne. Of course, Bella and Edward fall for each other, and chaos (and sappiness) ensues. Taylor Lautner plays Jacob Black, a member of the local Native Americal tribe who also falls for Bella. His role in this movie is limited but gets more extensive over the course of the series.

The movie is decent to good in some parts and bad in others. Despite having a cast with people who have proven acting chops (including Anna Kendrick, Peter Facinelli, Sarah Clarke (whom fans of the show 24 will recognize), and Billy Burke, it definitely suffers from some of the clunky dialog carried over from the books or made worse by the screenplay. And, the special effects have (at times) a lot to be desired for a big-budget movie. That said Pattinson and Stewart have very good chemistry (they would actually start dating while filming the movie) and did their best with sometimes very limited material to work with. They were both still pretty young when the movie was filmed (especially Stewart) and each has grown into being very good actors beyond what was shown in this film. Another issue with the film is that the ancillary characters truly do feel ancillary. They were always trying to get to the next scene between Edward and Bella and so the other characters (especially the other high schoolers) really did just feel like filler. Kendrick had a couple of good snarky lines, but beyond that, those characters were pretty useless.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the movie looks and sounds great. Especially the cinematography. As I said, some of the special effects left a bit to be desired, especially when the vampires were moving fast (superseded is done a lot better on the Flash TV series), but still I think the movie is worth seeing in the HD format. There are actually a ton of extras, including a commentary track on the film with the director, Pattinson, and Stewart, deleted and extended scenes, music videos, an almost hour-long making-of feature, a feature on the movie at comic-con, the trailers, some promotional material. All in all a good amount for people who like going through extras.

Overall, the movie is good, but not great. Obviously, anything that is adapted from a series of novels that are aimed at teens is going to have a lot of people that love it and a lot of people that hate it. I think that the movie can be enjoyed even if you are not in the target audience if you know what to expect. It is mostly a love story, and one set in high school at that, and while it does have some action and a bit of violence, it is not a gory horror movie. That said, it is worth a look.