Twilight

I should explain up front that I went to this film with my brother and sister-in-law.  So, I wasn't a lone forty-year-old guy in a dark theater with five hundred teenage girls.  Because that simply wouldn't be right.

I started to read the book, before the film was released, but I didn't get very far (not for lack of interest, for logistical reasons).  So I went into the movie with only the previews and the general pop culture osmosis that surrounds an event like this.  The previews had a lackluster, too bright look about them that made me think of TV shows on one of the lesser networks, not a big budget movie.  The film itself didn't dispell those worries.  I don't know what they spent to make this, but it wasn't much.  The effects are entirely pedestrian (though never outright annoying). 

The cast is pretty good, but not truly stellar.  I hope that Robert Pattinson (as vampire heartthrob Edward) and Kristen Stewart (as everygirl Bella) grow into the roles.  I liked the romance aspect of the story, and they pulled it off, but it wasn't really dramatic the way I think it's supposed to be.  In fact, my favorite character was Bella's stoic single dad, played by Billy Burke.  His understated performance was really great.

As for the vampire stuff, I did like the extended family that we meet, and the comedic aspects of them trying to welcome a human into their family.  The baseball game is hilarious.  The random vampire deciding he has to kill Bella didn't make much sense.  Maybe it's explained in the book.

There were a number of little details that were dropped into this movie that are clearly setting us up for the sequels.  I hope, since this one was such a hit, that they put a little more money and effort into the next one, and really make it sing.