Over The Hill We Go

I was feeling a bit bummed out the other night, so I finally broke down and watched "Twilight". While very much a teen, if not tween, flick, I have always had a soft spot for vampire movies. I suppose it's the reformed goth in me.

The film was, as expected, not fabulous. However, to be fair, it was very well done for a teen flick, and as the first part of a series, it stood up pretty strongly as a standalone flick (as opposed to the Golden Compass, which you'll recall I was terribly disappointed by). So I give it a pass on those terms. All in all, I found it an interesting twist on the whole high school angst/first great love theme, and the shots of the Pacific Northeast were just GORGEOUS. Seriously people, having lived out in those parts back when I was younger, I strongly urge anyone and everyone to visit that region one day. It is positively breathtaking, if mountains and greenery are your thing.

The reason for even mentioning the film at all though, is that once again my favourite character was one of the parents, specifically Bella's father, played bang on by Billy Burke. Yes, I wanted to like Bella, but she struck me as basically just a nervous, run-of-the-mill, smart girl with the poor judgment that plagues those in her age bracket (heck, the film is about her becoming obsessed with a vampire who goes to her school). And please, if any of you are fans of the film, you'll excuse me, but I just don't get the fascination with Robert Pattinson. The man has only average looks, imho, although I admit that he has that beautifully translucent skin that Brits tend to get. Hence the casting as a vampire...I did like a few of the teen characters mind you, specifically the other Cullen teen vampires and Jacob...just not the main ones, lol.

Anyway, back to Billy Burke. The man basically worked as the comic relief, and his timing was perfection. The point when I realized that I was no longer the target audience for the film is when, near the end, Bella apologizes to her dad in hospital. But do we see the apology? No! Because to tweens/teens, that's unimportant to the story, and who wants to see that embarrassing moment anyway, right? So it gets mentioned and not shown. And there I was, left feeling cheated because, gosh darn it! I wanted to see the girl apologize for putting her daddy through the emotional ringer!

That's when I knew I was just plain old. Still, I'm happy to report that despite my sad realization, I also realized that I can still enjoy teen flicks. As a solid addition to that genre, including a pretty massive soundtrack (as befitting a love story in the Romeo/Juliet tradition), I give it 3 out of 5 stars. Feel free to judge for yourself...