The Twilight Saga comprises itself from books and includes Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn which was written by the young adult author, Stephenie Meyer. Now as a keen reader and obviously being a teenager at the time these books were released I picked up the books without any prior knowledge on how good they were or really caring too much about the writing itself. However I was by then already a horror fan and vampire fanatic, therefore, my knowledge on vampires were already extensive enough to realise that Stephenie Meyer was for all intent and purposes ripping off other vampire writers’ works. Okay, so yes, I do understand that sometimes originality is just a state of mind and that nothing original really exists anymore, but Meyers was border lining plagiarism. Why do I say that? Easy, because before Stephenie Meyers even became known as a writer there was L.J. Smith, author of The Vampire Diaries, who not only created vegetarian vampires that drinks the blood of animals, but also brought that teenage angst to the vampires. Anne Rice was ripped off by the way Meyers used the Volturi to take over the First Brood’s place.
In all regards, the only original thing about Meyer’s vampires is the way they sparkle like fairies and with all do respect, it is probably the lamest part of her vampires (not taking into account that the vampires do not have fangs, of course) and the part that many readers lament the most, even thinking about it while doing other things like playing partypoker or going to work. .
When it comes down to the werewolves (or as Meyer’s tried to rectify her mistake in the last novel, Breaking Dawn, by saying they are actually shapeshifters), there is once more nothing original about it. We all know how pack animals communicate and how they react, so she brought that into the books, which is fine, except for of course the werewolves vs. vampire tactic… The age-old battle continues and they come face to face once more for no apparent reason. I can’t really become too intense about the werewolves though, mainly because the werewolves weren’t necessarily the main reason the books were written in the first place.
However, perhaps with an in-depth analysis of each film will we become more aware of why the whole franchise is a problem for the majority of vampire lovers and why The Twilight Saga is such a thorn in the side of horror movie lovers:
Twilight
Starring the British actor, Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) as Edward Cullen, our hero and supposed heartthrob #1 as well as Taylor Lautner (Valentine’s Day, Shark Boy and Lava Girl) as Jacob Black, supposed heartthrob #2 and the werewolf with his eye on our leading lady and human girl Bella Swan with a difficult decision, Kirsten Stewart (Panic Room).
Now, the first film/book is the introduction to this romance between the human girl and the vampire (also notable in both Anne Rice’s novels and L.J. Smith’s novels) and the introduction to this world, where vampires are not what they seem to be and humans are actually just a snack. You come to learn about the Native American tales that Stehenie Meyer twisted and turned to fit her story (which in my opinion is alright to do, if she did it carefully and did not make it offensive to the tribe). You do not necessarily see the werewolves as of yet, even if they are in the backstory and will eventually show up in the saga, but the plot thickens as a vampire suddenly has his eyes set on this innocent human girl, Bella, and it is up to Edward to save his love interest.
I will admit that the first film/book in the saga was not necessarily a bad idea, I would have liked it if there weren’t bad acting, bad cinematography, horrible writing and annoying one-liners that would make any person cringe by the sheer lack of unoriginality involved. I say this because firstly, the acting of both Kirsten Stewart, who in my personal opinion always looks like she’s high on some crazy new untested drug, as well as Robert Pattinson, who cannot do an American accent to save his life, were utterly pathetic. But I can overlook this in the sense of them not being seasoned actors at this stage and because they do have some chemistry. Secondly the cinematography is shaky and although there are nice nature shots in the film, the CGI (which brings Pattinson out to shine quite literally like a fairy) was lame and was not necessary. Director, Catherine Hardwicke (Red Riding Hood, Thirteen) is not the best director in the world, but I can overlook this too… As far as the book is concerned, the writing was terrible and the editing was even worse, with numerous spelling mistakes and grammatical errors involved, what could screen writers really do? Well they made it worse, by adding stupid one-liners like: “Hold on spider-monkey”, which the actor could choose from a list of things to say!
So although I do think this was the best film of the lot, saved by some talented actors like, Rachelle Lefevre and Peter Facinelli, it still cannot be deemed as a horror film, due to the lack of gore, violence and fangs involved during the making of this film.
I would also like to let it be known that in the “final battle” sequence in this film, that there is no hard evidence to state this as horror, in fact it was annoying to hear Kirsten Stewart scream like she was on fire and weirdly enough, I still admit (as do Stewart on the commentary part of the DVD) that her contact lens slipped during the filming of that scene and her eyes went all weird. I would have asked for a retake on that particular scene if I was the director or cut out that part completely.
New Moon
New Moon is the second part of this saga and starts off where we left off in the first part. Bella and Edward are now an item and the vampire threat is non-existent… or is it? When Bella suddenly bleeds due to a paper cut at a birthday party full of vampires and she gets attacked, well Edward has no other reason but to leave his human girlfriend to her own demise. Now Jacob (Taylor Lautner) comes into play as her saviour… but if I tell you the gory details, I’d be spoiling the movie, now wouldn’t I? Anyway, so in New Moon the werewolves are introduced as well as the Volturi (the rip-off vampire clan from Anne Rice) and Edward is ready to commit suicide (that much is seen in the trailer)…
Why I hated this film is simple really, once again Kirsten Stewart showed her lack of acting experience by sounding like a pig giving birth during her “depression” sequence, her lame skills when she should be saving her “soulmate” from certain death and then of course being a cocktease to poor Jacob (which is now a werewolf). Taylor Lautner actually showed more acting ability than both Pattinson and Stewart in this film and although there were more action scenes, the CGI was once again a turn-off (although slightly better). David Slade (30 Days of Night), the director of New Moon, tried to make this film better, I would give him credit for that, but there’s only so much one can do to make the worst book in the saga “better”. The cinematography was better, yes, but the acting was worse and the storyline from both the book and film lacked editing.
Eclipse
Eclipse brings us more drama. Now Edward and Bella has not only the werewolves to deal with, but also the Volturi and a homicidal vampire that wants revenge because Edward killed her mate to save Bella, here we get the battle of all battles (for now) and it’s chaos. The werewolves and vampires have to stand together against the newly made vampire army that’s making its way to the small town of Forks and it’s up to them to make sure nobody innocent dies…
Okay, this one was a little darker, a little more action and had the promise of being a really good flick, but alas, once again the acting failed and sadly there was the “no blood” policy that apparently took its place alongside the film. Now I ask you, why would there be a no-blood policy in a vampire film? Apparently it’s to make it more child friendly, but it’s a VAMPIRE film! Okay, the directing was much better than the first two films too, I actually liked that part, but Rachelle Lefevre isn’t in it and the vamp that played her was not very good as a vampire either… It confused me.
Anyways, so I disliked this film, but not as much as the previous two. It was a better book, a better film and although the acting was very much as the previous two, there were certain parts that saved the film from being completely terrible. I had high hopes for this film actually and yes, it was better than I had expected after the first two flicks, the book was also the best from the rest, but alas… it didn’t really save the whole series.
I just had one major problem with the whole series up to this point… Bella’s cockteasing. Yes folks, this teenage girl is one dangerous bloody thing. Not only does she have a thing for Edward but also for the fluffy puppy and she plays them off against one another. “I love you Jacob, but it will always be him.” Who says that?
Breaking Dawn
(This rant will be on the book seeing as the film is yet to be released… don’t worry, I won’t give spoilers… but unless you don’t read entertainment news and follow these films, be advised that there might be some spoilers for you.)
Breaking Dawn is one long book that was badly written and I struggled to get through it, quite honestly. The spelling mistakes are so apparent, I’m not amazed Stephen King told Meyer’s off. As for the plot, well let’s just say, there’s a “horror” part where sparkly Edward has to rip open his now-wife’s pregnant belly with his blunt vampire teeth and another scene where we get some idea of “erotica”, but it fails once more due to the lack thereof. Not to mention there’s some crazy pedophilistic tendencies happening in the book when Jacob “imprints” on the baby. WHAT THE FUCK?
Now, okay, I get that girls like this type of books and movies, I was there not so long ago in my life, so I know how it feels to want that type of love, but why I have always despised The Twilight Saga is because Bella is not the type of role-model I would want my daughter to have (if I had one). She not only gets involved with the wrong kids, but Twilight promotes the following:
- Cockteasing
- Not respecting your parents and their wishes
- Lying
- Getting married young
- Getting pregnant young
- Giving up your own dreams for the sake of a man
It may sound like silly reasons, but think about it, would you let your daughter do the things Bella Swan did and be happy? I think not.
So all in all, I hate this whole saga. The films, the books, the whole premise of the story is flawed and the acting is terrible. Now you know my opinion on the film and why I hate it. So in future, when I say something sucked, please know that there is a reason for my dislike in certain things.
