The Twilight Saga: A Franchise to Sink Your Teeth Into

One thing you haven’t seen me write about on Tinsel & Tine is the Twilight Movies and I can’t tell you why. I’m not one of those that hate things just because they’re popular. I love eerie, romance, science fiction, fantasy, magical type stories. I’ve always enjoyed The Harry Potter franchise and Chronicles of Narnia, so it’s not as if I feel Twilight is aimed at too young a demographic.

Kristen Stewart gives off this persona of being ultra self-conscience and at the same time, judge & jury of what is cool or uncool. Which is annoying to me, but certainly wouldn’t keep me away from a movie.

I know one day I will catch up on Bella, Edward and them; however, until then, Rose Redding has sent me a second guest post. (See previous post One Day). Her take is not for those that love and revere the series; but more for people like me, who need an introduction, catch up or refresher course before the November release of the final installment of the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

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Guest Post by Rose Redding

For fans who have followed the supernatural,
romance saga, the final movie is set to be an anticipated, but emotional end to the
much loved film series based on the books by bestselling author
Stephanie Meyer. What better time to look back over the past four films
and see how the characters and story have developed over the past four
years.

Twilight (2002)

With the book steadily becoming a teen phenomenon, director Catherine
Hardwicke was faced with the difficult task of bringing to life the
intense relationship between dark, brooding Edward Cullen (Robert
Pattinson) and archetypal teenager Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). The
film follows the development of their relationship following Bella’s
move to Forks and her consequent emergence into the supernatural world
after discovering that Edward is a vampire. As such, this film is more
about character identification than action and whilst this makes it the
least impressive in terms of CGI and special effects, the bubbling
romance more than gratified viewers (particularly of the teenage girl
variety). Towards the end of the film, Bella becomes stalked by evil
vampire, James, who Edward defeats setting up the perfect revenge tale
for the upcoming films.

New Moon (2009)

As Bella struggles to adapt to life as part of a vampire family, Edward
decides the kindest thing to do would be to leave her. New Moon follows
Bella’s descent into a deep, dark depression that many broken hearted
teenagers could relate to. She finds solace in Jacob Black (Taylor
Lautner) for whom she becomes an object of desire. But when it
transpires that Edward is in danger, Jacob is a werewolf, Victoria
(James’s partner) is after her and the Volturi begin insisting that she
is ‘changed,’ it seems like Bella just isn’t destined for a simple life
in Forks. CGI technology was used heavily in this film to capture the
introduction of the werewolves and as protection for the actors in some
of the more dramatic scenes – for example when Bella jumps off a cliff.
This, combined with the standard romantic element, made for a more
rounded film that boyfriends who were dragged along to the cinema could
also enjoy. To date, New Moon is the highest grossing film in the saga
making a staggering $709 million worldwide.

Eclipse (2010)

With Edward and Bella reconciled, the ‘love triangle’ is an important
part of this film. When Bella learns that Victoriais still stalking her
along with an army of newborn vampires, we anticipate the first proper
‘battle’ scene in the franchise. And when Jacob is badly hurt, Bella
struggles with her emotions. Who does she love the most: dark, dangerous
Edward or angsty best friend Jacob? With back stories from Rosalie and
Jasper, there is room for character development in this installment but
it is by far the most action packed out of the saga and the special
effects have definitely been turned up a notch for the epic battle
scenes at the end. Whilst Eclipse stole the record of best domestic
opening night from its predecessor, it grossed $10 million dollars less
worldwide.

Breaking Dawn: Part One (2011)

The concept of splitting the final installments of book into film
adaptations has been used once recently in the Harry Potter franchise.
Not only does this create more profit for the filmmakers but it gives
them scope to really explore and tie up the loose ends of the previous
films. However many critics felt that Breaking Dawn: Part 1 dragged a
little and lacked some of the fast paced action of the first three
films. In this film we see Edward and Bella finally tie the knot while a
heartbroken Jacob tries to deal with their marriage and Bella’s
revelation that she is going to be turned into a vampire. When Bella
learns she is pregnant, the werewolves prepare to attack. Whilst this
film certainly isn’t lacking in drama (particularly in the final scenes
where Bella gives birth) it lacks the epic adventure factor of the
previous film, although if the books are anything to go by we should see
plenty of this in the second chapter of Breaking Dawn.

Overall
this franchise has been very well received. The gloomy setting of
Forks,Washington creates the ideal backdrop for the eerie, fantasy tale
and despite a few critical reviews, the actors seem to have lived up to
the fans expectations well. Pattinson in particular had a tricky job of
portraying the Adonis-like Edward, a supernaturally beautiful being.
Whilst Stewart has been criticized for being too sullen and lacking
personality in her portrayal of Bella, nobody can deny that the camera
loves her and she appears to have settled into the role more as the
films have progressed.

Now
fans eagerly await the final section of the Twilight franchise after
which, they will be able to buy the box set of all the films. With the
Harry Potter box set costing in excess of $120, fans may need to
consider getting a good home insurance out to protect their valuable collection of this well loved, epic supernatural saga.