I caught the midnight showing of the movie “Twilight” last night at our local theater. I think my husband was quite amused at the sheer volume of gasping and squealing from the (mostly female) crowd, every time “Edward” made an appearance onscreen. There were a few guys, and some older people like myself who get all gushy when it comes to romance anyway - especially romance involving vampires! I had purchased advanced tickets, which was a good thing - my local theater sold out of all the tickets from last nights AND tonight’s showings!

As a complete fan girl, I gotta say that I was not disappointed in Twilight last night! The effects were not nearly as cheesy as I had feared, and they really stayed true to the essence of the book. They did a pretty good job of keeping the pivotal scenes that everyone was hoping for as well.

As far as the acting goes, I was really impressed with Robert Pattinson’s portrayal of Edward. I was iffy on if this rather funky looking guy who pretty much looks stoned in all his photos and interviews would be able to pull off this character, but he did an amazing job IMO. He was intense, charming and confusing, which is exactly how the character should have been played. A+ for Pattinson.

With Kristen Stewart playing Bella? I’m not as thrilled with her performance. She was a little stiff and monotone and didn’t really make me think “yup, that’s Bella!” with her portrayal. She wasn’t terrible - it could have been much worse, but I’m hoping she will spread her acting wings a little bit before the next film (New Moon). We need to see a better showing of emotion without it seeming quite as forced. That being said, there were some really good, pivotal scenes that she nailed. B- for Stewart.

There were some hits and misses with the rest of the cast, but overall, I think they did a pretty good job bringing to life the characters so fascinating to a good chunk of the young-adult female population. The cameo by Stephenie Meyer herself was pretty cool.

A warning though - if you aren’t a fan of the book(s), I don’t think you are going to enjoy the movie. This may be the first movie I have actually thought that about, but I feel it is pretty accurate. The movie was cheesy in a lot of ways, and even though they did a good job with the budget they have, it was still a low budget film. However, if you are a fan of the books like myself, a lot of sins are forgiven because they did a decent job of capturing the mood and feel of the series. If you aren’t a fan of the book, you won’t really get it and it just might be a confusing or overall bad experience for you.

For the most part, this movie was pretty much an offering on a silver platter to the millions of ready-made fans.