I’ve had no reason to hate the TWILIGHT series up until this point. Well, except when the fans of the book abuse, bully and threaten my life because I mis-spelt the author’s name once.
Oh and because I was bored by the teaser trailer.
And well, because of the many conversations I’ve had with young female fans of this novel. “been there, done that… having you read Anne Rice’s series of novels?” I say, and I either get called ignorant or they go, “Anne who… Interview with the what?”.
My bad. I’m actually planning on watching TWILIGHT for the first time today, I just told the P.R. woman who offered me a disc to review last night, that I wanted to watch it myself instead of sending it off to my comrades. I will let you know what I thought in due course but I’m sinking my teeth into it finally.
I now have a further reason to be curious by this vampire series. Juan Antonio Bayona, the Spanish protage who gave us THE ORPHANAGE last year is directing the third book in the series, ECLIPSE. That one is due in June 2010, right after NEW MOON (from studio killer Chris Weitz) opens this November 20th.
Sadly it means his movie at Universal about an epidemic which sends ordinary people into violent ruptures, the adaptation of HATER he was to direct for the buy Guillermo del Toro will probably be delayed.
For fans of the novel, is ECLIPSE a more adult book in this series? Has it got enough material for Bayona to wow us with his talent of suspense?
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Damn, i was gonna do that today as well! i watched half and almost killed myself. But who knows? maybe the second half will be better.
I wish you good luck, Matt.
I made a point to read the books before seeing the film to try and figure out what all the hype was about. Book three is by far my least favorite of the bunch, with #2 being my fav, and I admit fear at the many ways a writer and director could mangle what I love about the second book into a whiny tale filled with meaningless scenes that in no way capture the turmoil that makes book #2 so much fun. Maybe, though, I’m simply a masochist unable to appreciate whiny teenage love stories for the brilliant tales they must all be.
That would be my point; that the way #2 turns out will all be in how it is written and directed. If you stray too far from the book, you risk it coming off too cheesy to bear. On the flipside, staying too true to the book might alienate newcomers, as it did with “Twilight.” My husband admits had I not filled him in on half a dozen things, he would have walked out of the theater with nothing more than an empty popcorn box and a lot of confusion.
I will say that #3 has some darker themes, but the book does not focus on those. Instead, it spends far too much time agonizing over an imaginary choice the lead female has between two men in her life, a choice I thought, as a reader, had already been made clear by the end of book #2.
If the director is keen on focusing his efforts on rocking out the half of the story dedicated to the constant battle between Vampires and the “Werewolves” in their quest for dominance over one another despite common interests of protecting Bella, this could be fun and quite dark if done correctly. However, if the director chooses to emphasize the romantic triangle between Bella, her friend Jacob and her Vampire boyfriend, things will quickly turn cliche and dull.
I admit to never glimpsing any of Juan Antonio Bayona’s work, but here’s hoping he knocks it out of the park.
On a side note: as someone who read the Twilight series prior to seeing it, I was at first exhilerated by the adaptation, but upon second viewing and further analysis highly disatisfied. Many of the moments necessary to tie the three films together were missing. Somewhere along the way, someone chose to take out the conversation about the Volturi, which sets up books two and three. They decided to not explicitly explain Edward’s lullaby to Bella, thus cutting out the importance of her quest for a melody-less existence in the second book upon the departure of her love. In many ways, they dropped the ball on the first movie so badly that I worry the others will not gel together into the happy trilogy they so easily fit into in the book world. Again, we shall see.
Sorry for the novel of a response. Love this site muchly. Been coming here a few years, and abso-adore it!
Having read the series, I think he could do good things with the third book. I’ve only seen The Orphanage but judging by his work on that, I think he will make it very interesting. The third book was actually my favorite because I found the second to be a tedious read until the very end and quite honestly, I’m not that concerned with its adaption to film. The first film was okay, I much prefer the book (as I usually do). But I think it will be fun to see where the adaptions go, whether they’re good or bad. But as for Juan Antonio Bayona, I’m all for that.
Great response Starseneyes, it actually makes me wanna read the series even more now, I’m doubly intrigued.
And thanks for the kind words, always nice to know we have fans out there.
*blushes* Thanks!
I’d be careful about being too enthusiastic about reading the series. Keep your expectations low and you may enjoy it. I did, but firmly acknowledge it as a “guilty pleasure.” However, I think those “guilty pleasures” could translate into BRILLIANCE on the screen. It’s all about how it’s played. The book follows everything through Bella’s eyes at all times, and her view can be a bit narrow. However, if the director sinks his teeth into the kick-butt awesome backstory of the Vampire wars, that could be awesome. :)
Selective reading can be a gift. :P