Tag: Twilight Saga

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Twilight, Forever! An Epic Finale

Finally.  5 years of anticipation.  Breaking Dawn Part 2 is upon us.  Just how high is my expectation?  As high as Bella can jump with her new found vampiric power.

Twilight Saga has always been the highlight of the tail end of my year.  At the epic ending, I did not hear selective audience bellowing in pain like last year.  Instead, the pair of Javanese girls sitting beside Cynthia went “This is so sweeeeeeet!  This is so sweeeeeeet!” non-stop.  As the audience slowly filtered out of the theater, still holding onto whatever Twilight fever that lingered, a large group of girls no less then twenty were taking photographs to commemorate the completion of this 5 years journey.  Throughout the movie, the audience laughed in unison, clapped hands at the triumphant moments.  The love to the Twilight was felt everywhere, in this enclosed environment.  Is Breaking Dawn Part 2 really the end?  I mean, out of nowhere, that hobbits infested franchise Lord of the Ring has sprung out a new movie The Hobbit, hasn’t it?  I don’t know.  Thinking that Twilight Saga has finally ended leaves a hole in my heart.  What am I going to look forward to same time next year?

Initially, I questioned the wisdom of splitting Breaking Dawn into two parts.  Having watched part two, I believe it is a necessity.  The mood is completely different.  Part one was a struggle, on Bella’s side of the story.  She was pregnant, with a ‘demonic’ child of an unknown status.  Half human and half vampire.  Bella was also at her weakest, weaker than even her human form from episode one to three.  It was painful to watch, not because the story is terrible.  But the entire struggle is painful.

Now, in part two, Bella has finally become a vampire.  A wish that she has stated in the first installment.  A proposal made by Edward with a condition in New Moon.  An agreement to Edward’s terms in Eclipse by Bella.  And in her dying moment, a bite that concluded in Breaking Dawn Part 1.  I have waited 5 long years to see Bella transformed into a powerful vampire, breaking free the human frailty that has made her so vulnerable in the large part of this saga despite her strong human will.  I want to see what she can do, how the character emerges in this final installment.  Breaking Dawn Part 2 delivers.

There are still the legendary kisses between Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in this final episode.  Taylor Lauther once again takes off his shirt and has won swoon from the female crowd.  There is more character development on the expanded vampire reinforcement.  The Volturi – powerful vampire coven – looks deadly as ever.  The werewolf pack is there, albeit having a much lesser role to play in this last episode.  Almost all the human characters are gone, saved for a few.  This is a battle between the vampires.  Those who have missed any of the previous episodes would likely not able to follow the plot as the narrator makes little effort in recapping the past.  But the fans would love this climax ending.  The generally depressing and at times desperate overture is gone.  Now is time for the glory.

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 – A Deeper Look Into The Saga Thus Far

Cue to perfection, at the very nanosecond that this show was ended, the dude next to me bellowed in pain.  For a good ten or twenty seconds, I wasn’t counting.  It could well be half a minute.  I was giggling.  I could feel his pain, even though I could not relate.  Like having 117 minutes of his life utterly wasted, not going to get it back.  And then he screamed with his face and hands offered skyward, “Thissss issss teeeerrrriiiibbbbleeee!”  His two female companions next to him broke into laughter.  And I too laughed out loud as he switched back to the bellowing mode.  Cynthia did not catch on initially.  But when she did, she too laughed along.  Poor guy.  He should have been indoctrinated before watching any Twilight movie.  We Twilight followers are like movie cultists.  There isn’t even a discussion on which Twilight installment is better.  It is irrelevant.  To give you an analogy, Gossip Girl [guy] fans will not say season 3 is the best because there is a threesome scene involving Hilary Duff.  A true Gossip Girl fan would love every season, every episode.  In the eyes of a true Twihard, the entire saga is like a wondrous feast that spans five long years.  Five long years of anticipation and we are so close to climax.  I hope there will be a climax in 2012 when this saga ends.  Because “Breaking Dawn: Part 1” is neither a foreplay nor a climax.  The first three installments – “Twilight”, “New Moon”, and “Eclipse” – are foreplay.  Should the two kiss, should they not?  Should the two have sex, should they not?  Twihards are treated like a rubber band, played by the filmmakers.  This formula has been successful because if for a moment you think Twilight saga is a series of movies on vampires and werewolves, you are misinformed.  Twilight Saga is a teenage romance story, a soap opera.  And on that note, I sincerely hope that “Part Two” will blow our Twihard minds away.  Give us the climax please!

Now, how Stephenie Meyer murdered the lore of vampires and werewolves is, in my opinion, unforgivable.  It gets worse in “Part 1”.  Of course, I could be bias in taking Ann Rice’s work as canon.  To my best knowledge [of the lore], vampires don’t have the desire to have sex with humans.  They may seduce humans because they have desire for human’s blood.  Sex among vampires is merely an exchange of blood, and their memories.  In the world according to the writer Meyer, vampire and human can have sex, in a humanly way.  The catch is, because vampire is so much stronger, the human may be killed (or crushed I suppose)  in the process.  Bear in mind that in previous episodes, vampire and human have no problem frolicking in the wood, flying from tree tops to tree tops.  No one gets crushed.  But sex, however, is dangerous and can be deadly.  Even a werewolf knows as he (or it) confronts the vampire on this very private matter (how come he knows?)  What is more gruesome is the sex after.  I will not go into details.  All I can say is that if there is one morale of the story filmmakers have quite successfully imparted onto our teen viewers’ hearts, that would be: Sex is bad and marriage is the end of romance.

If you are to ask a Twilight fan: Would you like this “Part 1” condensed into a 10 minutes clip and combine that into “Part 2” or would you like to watch a 117 minutes “Part 1” and wait another year for “Part 2”?  I think most would prefer the latter.  It is true.  The entire “Part 1” can be told in 10 minutes.  The story for this part 1 is not complex.  It is a miracle that this small plot can be expanded into a 117 minutes long show.  Team Jacob should be delighted for “Part 1”.  The werewolf Jacob scores big (‘score’ not in an urban sense).  It is a delight to finally see him coming out of his character, to be something closer to greatness.  Good job, Jacob.  Team Edward, unfortunately, would have nothing to cheer about.  Edward is so skinny, and pale.  His contribution to “Part 1” is minimal.  Personally I am happy.  Because I am Team Bella.  This movie is all about Bella.  Her decision making, her perseverance, and her will to overcome the unthinkable.  Bella, if I were you, I would dump that loser vampire of yours and hang out with the dogs, or wolves more.

I am a hardcore Twilight fan, indoctrinated by Cynthia on the Christmas Eve of 2008.  The year after, we forced our friend TK to watch “New Moon” with us and that did not go well.  He bellowed like the dude sitting next to me on “Part 1”.  Lesson learned, we watched “Eclipse” on our own.  It is impossible to dive into an installment midway without watching all the previous ones (or to skip any for that matter).  So, friends, you have one whole year to catch up with all Twilight installments before the Saga’s climatic (I hope) finish – “Breaking Dawn Part 2”.

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – So Far So Good

OK.  I promise I am not going to poke fun at the Twilight Saga like before.  Looking at the record breaking ticket sales, I think the fanatic fans have gone beyond caring about what the critics say and have dived straight into yet another episode of this bizarre love triangle of a vampire, a werewolf, and a human girl.  I for one have convinced myself that what I see is not bad acting.  You can’t expect a several centuries old vampire with no beating heart and cold to touch to be more animated than Robert Pattinson, can you?  Perfect casting.  And I suppose the over-reacting, hot blooded Taylor Lautner is merely acting to the role of an animalistic werewolf.  Or did he take it out on the break-up-make-up experience with Taylor Swift?  Cynthia asked if I am a Team Edward or Team Jacob.  My reply?  I am Team Bella.  I think in this entire saga so far, only Kristen Stewart can act well (while the other two are improving, so it seems).  Without Kristen, there will be no Twilight Saga.

In fact, I think I am Team Alice.  She is by far the hottest vampire I have seen.  Please bite me, Alice!  Come to think of it, I begin to be able to relate to Bella’s strong desire to be bitten by a – I presume in the eyes of the girls – hot vampire.

As though the filmmakers have read my lament earlier on, they have done something positive to the new soundtrack.  “Twilight” soundtrack is great.  There are good tracks by Muse, Paramore, and Linkin Park.  “New Moon” soundtrack is forgettable.  As for “Eclipse”, while there are quite a few album fillers, Muse has returned.  Howard Shore’s composition on “Jacob’s Theme” is beautiful.  He is the composer for “The Lords of the Ring” and “The Avatar”.  And another strong track is “Heavy In Your Arms” by Florence + The Machine.  The Australian jazz-pop singer Sia’s “My Love” is soothing to listen to and not to be missed.

This third instalment has the advantage of diving straight into the drama without the need to go through how vampire (episode one) and werewolf (episode two) in this bizarre Twilight Universe works.  In addition, since the romance between a vampire and a human and the friendship between the same human and a werewolf have already been established, there are more rooms for drama beyond Bella and Edward or Bella and Jacob.  For example, we now have Bella and Edward and Jacob locked in a PG version of a threesome.  And there is story development for other characters too, which I enjoy watching.  Less CGI, more dramas.

Cheesy dialogues still exist.  Jacob still takes his shirt off – twice (if you miss it the first time he shows off his torso, you will have a second chance).  Dakota Fanning’s involvement with the movie is still disappointingly minimal.  The scale of the movie has grown and it begins to look more like a blockbuster, which is good.  I feel that Edward the vampire does not seem to demonstrate his power as much as before, Jacob the werewolf does not seem to be as uncontrollably dangerous in wolf form as before, which is strange.  What is missing, currently, in this Twilight Saga is for Bella to fall in love with a human boy.  That would make a wonderful foursome.

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews Romance

The Twilight Saga: New Moon – The Non-Fans Won’t Get It

2nd Installment

The question, I think, is why “New Moon” can get away with the disjointed subplots and cheesy dialogues and yet able to make tons of girls in the theatre we visited swooning all the way from opening to the end credits – literally so.  Some guys would play along and ‘swooned’ ahead of the girls causing lots of giggles from the audience.  We love the crowd at Cineleisure.  Movie distributors seem to know that this second installment of the Twilight Saga would be a hit in this small island of ours.  Multiple theatres are playing “New Moon” simultaneously to meet the demand.  Cynthia and I  forcefully brought our buddy TK to watch “New Moon”.  He has not watched the first episode and at the end of the show, he said to us, “There won’t be a third for me”.  And we had a good laugh.

The answer, I think, is fantasy.  It is fantasy beyond the beautiful cold-blooded vampires that shimmer under bright daylight (?!) and the over-sized hot-blooded werewolves (?!) that transform from human form at will (and back with the pants on); it is a fantasy beyond the teenage flirtation of lips licking, body hugging, almost kissing, countless promises of the forever-and-ever; it is simply a fantasy of a regular girl becoming the object of great desire and a man’s desire to protect the vulnerable girl at all cost.  Who wouldn’t want to be Bella?  Who wouldn’t want to protect Bella?  And hence, the ticket sales.

To say that Cynthia adores the Twilight Saga with a capital A is an understatement.  It is almost illegal for me to raise the question on what she sees in the pale withering malnutritional vampire played by Robert Pattinson who was named as one of the “Sexiest Men Alive” in 2008 by People magazine (?!).  Equally illegal for me to ask why she has so fallen in love with the werewolf played by Taylor Lautner – like I suppose many of the fans of the saga – who mind you has a stunningly solid body at the age of 17 and a beautiful smile.  The filmmakers seem to play that to its fullest.  Every time Taylor takes off his shirt, all the girls simply melt and swoon and cry for more.

Right.

I for one am not complaining watching Kristen Stewart playing the role of Bella.  I am a big fan of her since the days of “Panic Room”.  Nor any complain with some of the vampire girls like Ashley Greene (plays the role of Alice) and the brief appearance of Dakota Fanning, which I hope I can see more in later episodes.  My only complain is the weak soundtrack compares to the first episode.  There were Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole”, Paramore’s “Decode”, and Linkin Park’s “Leave Out All The Rest”.  What does the soundtrack of “New Moon” have?  Terribly depressing, terribly boring.  I really hope that they can make a better soundtrack for the next installment.

By the way, “Twilight” the first episode will be on Star Movies tonight.  “Haven’t you watched that on TV recently?” I asked over breakfast.  “It doesn’t matter.  It’s Twilight!” Cynthia answered.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews Romance

We Celebrated Christmas Eve the Twilight Way

Twilight

Wow.  How Kristen Stewart has grown up from the 12 years old Panic Room diabetes into one fine young actress who is in love with … a vampire.  Twilight watched like a mix of my favorite TV series Buffy and Felicity.  Add that with the cool rock numbers by Linkin Park, Muse, Paramore, and more – OK, this concoction is rather appetizing.

Cynthia and I are both big fans of vampire stories (for different reasons of course).  Watching Twilight to me is like watching a chick flick.  A film adaptation of a young adults book, I am not surprise on how far the film wouldn’t go.  So we have vegetarian vampires, vampires that shimmer in light of diamond under the sun (?!), and a lust so strong that … turns into a series of friendly, cosy conversations on the bed.  Now, if I was the filmmaker, I would have created a Twilight Reload and chopped it with a R(A) rating.

There are moments of awkwardness – at least to me – like the attempt-to-be Romeo & Juliet style of courtship at the woods, or those Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon kind of flying and flirting scenes.  But there are also moments of tenderness and fresh ideas such as vampires playing baseball games (I know) that is really cool to watch.

Pairing the talented Kristen Stewart with the rather stiff looking one dimensional vamp Robert Pattinson to me is like pairing Natalie Portman with the dude who plays Anakin Skywalker.  Hey, I am a guy.  Maybe girls do love Robert Pattinson for his cool factor.  Who knows?

I think Kristen Stewart has potential.  I am keen to follow her acting career.

By the way, Merry Christmas to y’all and watch out for our Movie Review Squad’s nomination for the Year 2008 Movie Awards.  It will be fun, I promise.