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You're getting the "Cliff's Notes" version of the book. The whole thing was so rushed and they spend a great deal of time trying to explain details using exposition. It felt stunted. They didn't even leave time for dramatic pauses where there should have been dramatic pause. Like the scene where Mike Newton is waiting to ambush Bella the minute she steps out of her truck about her relationship with Edward. It was like they thought, "Oh this line was ironic in the book we have to stick it in the movie somewhere." Then the actor playing Mike delivers the line without any context to it and then walks away. They waste screen time on insignificant details that if they had just done it the way it was in the book would have taken less time and they could have had more time for other things. (The Stephenie cameo was kind of long.) If they had left the conversation in the restaurant and the drive home as it was in the book, they could have covered several of the scenes in the movie in two and it wouldn't have been so choppy. This movie has a huge built in fan base, do they really think fewer people would have gone to see it if they had made it longer and not rushed it so much?
For example, why didn't they just have Jake tell Bella the whole legend instead of having her go home, look up a book on the internet, and go buy it in Port Angeles? Also, I had a problem with the whole Port Angeles scene anyway. Edward would have never lost it like that in front of Bella. In the book, he was seething, you could feel the tension radiating from him, he would never openly threaten to "go back and rip their heads off". Part of Edward's charm is that he is always fighting to remain calm, cool, and collected. He also would have never just come out and said that he can read minds, until Bella figured it out for herself. However, that is obviously a script issue and not Rob's fault.
Edward is confident, eloquent, and extremely controlled. I think it would have helped Rob's performance if he had studied people that have Edwardian like qualities. For example, I always pictured Edward's rude behavior towards Bella in the beginning of the book to be a cross between how Mr. Darcy treated Eliza Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and a lion tracking it's prey on National Geographic. (Aren't animal exercises a basic part of any acting class?) Colin Firth pulled it off without a problem, but Rob just seemed uncomfortable. The biology class scene he looked like he was going to throw up, but didn't really come across as hostile. Rob did seem to nail it towards the end, but it took a long time to get to that point. I want to see Rob as Edward again, but I hope he takes more time to get in touch with his inner Edward. Hopefully, he'll fall in love before the next one starts filming then maybe he'll have more of an understanding with what Edward is feeling.
I didn't really care for Kirsten Stewart's portrayal of Bella either. Her look is perfect for the role, but the way she delivered her lines was like she was trying to be intense, but it just didn't work. Also, Bella is extremely perceptive and they didn't bother developing that aspect of her personality. Maybe they were trying to appease the feminists that critisized the book, but so much of the development in the story takes place in Charlie's kitchen that to replace it with a diner also hurts the development of Bella's character. You see how her relationship with her mother is, which is a detail I think they could have spent less time on, but you don't see how she also takes care of Charlie.
The scene where Bella meets the family is another that I think would have given more details in less time if they had just kept it the way it was in the book. Poor Jasper had zero character development and no mention at all of his abilities. Which I understand would be a hard thing to present in a movie, but to leave it out completely is an injustice to the story. Because it's how you find out that Jasper wants her to feel relaxed and comfortable around them and it tells you how he feels about Bella being part of his family.
The whole plot with James was covered in like 20 minutes. You see Edward's anguish when he has to suck out the venom, but not at all before that.
The laughter at places that weren't supposed to be funny was distracting, but I can understand why people thought is was funny.
I think Emmitt was perfect. Granted, he didn't have much screen time, but the actor nailed him perfectly.
I really wanted to like this movie. I'm going to go see it again today to give it a second chance and I will still buy it when it comes out on DVD.
_________________ Tricia
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