Adapted from the first novel in Stephenie Meyer's wildly popular YA vampire series, this goopy mixture of neo-Gothic horror and teen angst (falling somewhere between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Saved By the Bell) is built around the premise that benevolent vampires live among us and slake their unholy thirst on the blood of animals rather than humans. When Edward (Robert Pattinson), the dreamy young scion of one such clan living in a remote wooded area of Washington state, falls in love with a newly arrived human classmate named Bella (Kristen Stewart), their unconventional romance poses a risk to his “family.” A disaffected teen living with her divorced father on a trial basis, Bella agrees to keep Edward's secret, but soon finds herself becoming a pawn in a deadly game between Edward and a visiting vampire (Cam Gigandet). Stewart's heartfelt if slightly mannered performance is impressive, while Pattinson plays the self-repressed bloodsucker with appropriate intensity, but this is an old story in new goth clothes: what shy, uncommunicative new-girl-in-school wouldn't crave the attention of a hunky classmate whose appearance epitomizes the phrase “dark and handsome”? Unfortunately, director Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight winds up being so bloodless a horror movie that it will appeal to few outside the target audience of ‘tween/teen girls. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Catherine Hardwicke and costars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, the 55-minute “making-of” documentary “The Adventure Begins: The Journey from Page to Screen” (also offered on the Blu-ray version as a picture-in-picture track), 16 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, an eight-minute Comic-Con featurette, music videos for “Decode” performed by Paramore, “Supermassive Black Hole” performed by Muse, and “Leave Out All the Rest” performed by Linkin Park, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a huge hit.] (E. Hulse)
Twilight
Summit, 122 min., PG-13, DVD: $32.99, Mar. 20 Volume 24, Issue 2
Twilight
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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