I wasn't dazzled

After a painful week of waiting--and stumbling on landmines of spoilers online--I was finally able to take the girls to see Twilight last Friday. It was my day off and I'm usually very jealous of rare opportunities to regenerate. I also hadn't been sleeping enough since the week before and normally I'd be grumpy. But having been bitten the previous week, the vampire venom in my veins made me jumpy and giggly. I was feeling smiley and warm and loving the whole day! Some venom...

So after cashing our paychecks, Jen and I went to rescue Louise from the belly of the  beast, aka 38th floor Rufino Tower. We had to wait 3hrs before we were able to snatch Louise from the monster's fang. TJ, who had earlier cancelled a date, was able to extricate herself from the beast's claw an hour or so later, and met up with us at the cinema just in time for the opening credits.

Verdict? It had its shining moments, but I was left less than dazzled. 

First, they omitted my favorite cheesy lines... "Do I dazzle you?" and "Your number was up the first time I met you" and "You smell so good in the rain." They included the one about the lion and the lamb, but I'm not so crazy about that. But they also added some good lines in the script. I like the one where Edward was rattling off answers to random imagined questions and said 1.78125, which Bella figured out as the square root of pi. You know, a nerd bait.

Second, Edward's scene in the sunny meadows, which was supposed to show how he sparkled like he had diamonds on his skin, made him look like--I don't know how to describe it any better--like he just got off the treadmill! Granted, a sweaty Rob Pattinson wasn't unpleasant to look at, but I wanted my sparkly Edward!

Lastly, isn't it a universal makeup rule to make sure you blend it well, such that your face would be of the same color as your neck? Carlisle looked like a Kabuki actor! Makes me wonder if it was his good looks at all that distracted the nurses at the hospital... could have been his strange makeup. 

Other memorable scenes in the book that I missed were Edward and Bella on Edward's chair in his room; Bella waking up one morning and seeing Edward on her rocking chair ("You stayed!"); the kiss that made Bella faint ("I think I forgot to breathe!"); Edward and Bella at the cafeteria; and Edward waiting for Bella after volleyball class.

On the plus side, I think the movie had enough to go on for a sequel. It had its highlights that I think I would've appreciated more if I didn't already have a picture of how the story went in my mind.

I loved the Charlie character. He was almost exactly as described in the book. 

I loved the brief shot of Edward and Bella under the rain.

I loved the part where the Cullens were trying to cook Italian, guessing that Bella would like it because her name was, well, Bella. 

I loved the Port Angeles rescue and restaurant scenes. Those were the shining moments for me.

I loved Linkin Park's "Leave Out All The Rest."

I kind of liked James, the sadistic vampire.

I loved the first time Edward spoke to Bella. His voice wasn't angelic or otherworldly; it was very human--the kind us mortal girls could react to!

The light peck on the neck after the dance... that was better executed I think than the experimental kiss at Bella's room.

And Jacob Black? More on him next time. I'm thinking of doing a structuralist examination of the character elements, particularly of Jacob and Edward, who are obviously binary opposites.