‘Twilight’ fails to develop plot

Catherine Hardwicke’s newest film is the adaptation of the best-selling book “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer. Hardwicke, who also directed “Thirteen” and “The Lords of Dogtown,” lost her footing on her newest project and turned yet another great novel into a disappointing film.

The film, which stars Robert Pattinson as Edward, an eerily handsome vampire, and Kristen Stewart (of “Jumper” and “Into the Wild”) as Bella, an unsuspecting teenage girl who falls in love with Edward, was released on Friday by Summit Entertainment.

The teens and tweens were lined up at the box office on Friday night to be the first to catch a glimpse of the flick, but for any person over the age of 18, the $7 ticket was probably a waste.

The movie was cheesier than fondue with a cast that couldn’t act their way out of a paper bag. The scenes that are clearly suppose to be the climax of emotion seemed to draw more laughs than tears from the theater. The biggest challenge that “Twilight” faces is trying to make a serious subject out of a high school vampire with skin that sparkles in the sun, and his incestuous family members that scoff at his human girlfriend.

And while there is great chemistry between Edward and Bella, viewers don’t get much of a back story on either of the main characters. During the emotional scenes, viewers may try to feel some sort of emotion for the love-stricken teens, but they hardly know enough about them to care.

Simply put, “Twilight” is a film for fans. For those who have read the book, “Twilight” will probably seem like another great feat for the vampire series. However, as a stand-alone film, “Twilight” fails to develop the characters or carry an exciting plot.

By far the best part of the film is when Bella climbs onto Edward’s back ready to fly amongst the treetops and Edward exclaims, “You better hold on tight, spider monkey.”

The movie is a dark love story, but with very little plot. That is, until an evil vampire hunts down Bella, and Edward, along with the rest of his albino clan, is forced to get involved and try to save the fragile Bella.

But the worst part of the movie is certainly the ending. A prom dance between Bella and Edward would have sufficed as a decent ending, but for some odd reason Hardwicke decided to leave an open ended film with an out-of-place scene whose only purpose is to set up a sequel.

So consider this a warning. Thinking of heading to the local movie theater to catch a neat vampire flick over the holidays? It would be best to turn the car towards the nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of the novel before indulging in the film.