Michigan Journal

Issue date: 11/25/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: smashfilm.com

Media Credit: filmgrenade.com

Crowds of screaming girls, a number one album on the Billboard 200 charts and merchandise moving off shelves faster than the sales clerks can stock them. No it's not the Beatle-mania, it's Twilight-mania.

The über popular book series by Stephenie Meyer recently saw its first book made into a major motion picture. In it 17-year-old Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart, "In the Land of Women," "Into the Wild") moves from sunny, warm Phoenix, Arizona to the perpetually cloud covered and rainy Forks, Washington to live with her father, police chief Charlie Swan (Billy Burke, "Untraceable").

There she meets Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire") and his family, who are just a little bit different than everyone else. They're pale, disappear when the sun finally decides to shine and they never eat. Thus begins the tale of the human who fell in love with a vampire.

Fans will be satisfied as the tale unfolds onscreen because director Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen") and scriptwriter Melissa Rosenberg ("Step Up") have stayed as true to the book as they possibly could.

The movie's opening line - "I'd never given much thought to how I would die" - is also the opening line in Meyer's book. From there on, many familiar lines can be heard along with a few changes here and there.

However, diehard fans might be disappointed to see the pivotal meadow scene has been tweaked a little and that the Cullen family history is not explained as in-depth as it is in the book, virtually nothing is said about Dr. Carlisle Cullen's (Peter Facinelli, "Damages") extensive background or the mystery surrounding Alice's (Ashley Greene) entrance into the vampire world.

Yet some scenes translate better onscreen than on page. Set to "Supermassive Back Hole" by Muse - one of Meyer's favorite bands - the baseball scene allows viewers to see (and hear) just how strong and fast this clan of vampires really is if they need a thunderstorm to cover up the sound of the bat hitting the ball. And although the circumstances changed leading up to the meadow scene, viewers are treated to a neat little visual effect as Edward "sparkles" in the sunlight.

The prom scene could have been a little better, perhaps by adding in the other Cullens, but as the final scene of the movie it set everything up so perfectly for the sequel "New Moon" that surely the director and screenwriter can be forgiven.

The casting of the "Twilight" movie is spectacular. The chemistry between Stewart and Pattinson onscreen has left some wondering if things are heating up between the two stars off screen. The rest of the Cullen coven includes Nikki Reed ("The O.C.," "Thirteen") as the beautiful Rosalie, Kellen Lutz ("Prom Night") as the bear like Emmett, Jackson Rathbone ("Beautiful People") as the calming Jasper and, rounding out the bunch, is Elizabeth Reaser ("Grey's Anatomy") as the mother figure, Esme. The family dynamic between the actors is sharp and believable.

"Twilight" also gives Reed a chance to catch up with former "The O.C." co-star Cam Gigandet who plays the nomadic hunter James, who is out for Bella's blood in both the novel and the movie.

But "Twilight" is about more than just vampires and blood, it's about the magic and fierceness of first love, something everyone from teenage girls to their grandmothers can relate to. The added fantasy of a forbidden love between a human and a vampire is what gives "Twilight" its edge and creates the manic craze that surrounds both the movie and the novel - and it doesn't hurt that both the men and the women in it are dazzling gorgeous.

The movie, along with its soundtrack, has broken records already. The soundtrack debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts in its first week and still continues to sell well. The movie premiered on over 6,000 screens in 3,400 plus theaters at 12:01 a.m. Friday morning and raked in $7 million from that first showing alone. Over the span of three days, "Twilight" grossed just over $70.5 million, putting it in the top five for most grossed opening weekend of 2008.

The only question left on both fans and studio execs minds' is…how long before "New Moon" comes out?

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