In my own opinion, it is never a good idea to convert a popular novel into a movie. It will never live up to the expectations of the many devoted fans. The ability to imagine yourself inside the story gets taken away as soon as the movie is viewed. Instead of everyone thinking of their own personal Edward Cullen, there is only one face we see: The face of Robert Pattinson. The amazing world that Stephenie Meyer has created in the minds of her legions of fans is gone. As a devoted reader, it took a lot for this movie not to live up to my expectations. Since it's Twilight, it has to be good, right?

Though it was Twilight, it was not an enjoyable movie. While reading the books, you are engulfed in a sense of hope for Bella, the protagonist, and her vampire boyfriend Edward. This hope is dimmed in the movie. The script had holes in it, and left out several interesting details from the novel. The story of Carlisle, the vampire leader, is not told. It was too easy for Bella to sneak away from Alice and Jasper, two vampires. The book tells the story of a new girl in school named Bella. She grows increasingly confused by her Biology partner, Edward Cullen. She wants to get to know him, and finds out that he is a vampire. They fall in love and Bella is put into a life-threatening situation. The teasing, playful nature of their relationship is missing from the movie completely. Although some amusing touches were added here and there, they didn't add much to the story line. The events from the book were out of sequence, and didn't make sense.

When the movie opens, deer is shown running through the forest, with something pursuing it. I thought that this scene started the movie off on the right foot. In comparison, Kristen Stewart's narration had no inflection and no emotion, which made the movie feel fake. Bella is supposed to blush at EVERYTHING, and, in the movie, she didn't blush once. In the book, she has a more complex character than the way she was portrayed. I did think that the movie, up until the nomads came to the Cullens at the end of the baseball scene, was very good, with only a few revisions from the book, like the scene in the bookstore, and the diner, instead of Bella's cooking. It just got worse from there. The danger was not as heightened as in the books, and it was very downplayed. I think that less time should have been spent focusing on the strange deaths, field trip, and kitchen scene, and more time should have been spent on the ‘escape and attack' part of the movie. It shouldn't have been so easy for Bella to leave the hotel, and the scene at the ballet studio should have been prolonged. That being said, I did like the prom scene, especially the part with the gazebo. Although the gazebo was not in the book, it added atmosphere to the events of the prom.

There were several enjoyable elements to the movie as well. Although the scene in the Cullen's kitchen took up a lot of time, it added a lot of humor to the movie. Bella's dad, Charlie, played by Billy Burke, was also extremely funny. I liked when he gave her all the pepper spray an snapped his gun when Edward came. There was more of Bella's mom than was in the book, which I thought was nice, because even though she is described in the later books, in Twilight, she doesn't really have much of a role. This is different in the movie, and I think that adds some humor as well. I think that, on a more serious note, Robert Pattinson was excellent in the prom scene and when he is saving Bella from James. I also thought that Ashley Greene, as Alice , was very good. Shy, but somehow still outgoing, just like Alice in the first book. I would have liked to have seen more of the other Cullens besides Carlisle and Edward. Bella and Alice become best friends, and that starts in the hotel room, which was not in the movie.

Overall, I thought that the movie was good as a film, but, in comparison to the book, was only okay. I would be willing to watch it again, just as I have read the book multiple times. While watching it, a reader cannot help but compare to the book, however, watching the movie will be, overall, a more enjoyable experience if you forget about the book. As with the Harry Potter books, both the books and the movie were excellent and enjoyable, but very different. Maybe, with a bigger budget, New Moon will be more impressive than Twilight. The movie adaptations of this wonderful series can only get better.