The opening of Twilight, the film adaptation of the first book of the bestselling four-part Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer, brought in a lot more fans this weekend than anyone expected.  Theaters across the country were sold out days in advance, some several weeks, to the midnight and in most cases the following evening showings of the blockbuster movie.  The Summit Entertainment film raked in $70,553,000 opening weekend, much more than the initial projections.   Summit has announced that the sequel, New Moon, is already in the works.

The vampire romance, set in the town of Forks, Washington, follows the life of high school junior Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart, whose life is saved and irrevocably changed by the inhumanly beautiful and pale skinned Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).  Bella knows that Edward is different and eventually figures out that the boy she is in love with is a vampire.  However, Edward and his adoptive family – consisting of his parents, Dr. Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) and Mrs. Esme Cullen (Elizabeth Reaser), and his siblings, Alice (Ashley Greene) and Emmett Cullen (Kellan Lutz), and Rosalie (Nikki Reed) and Jasper Hale (Jackson Rathbone), are not like most other vampires.  They are what they jokingly call “vegetarians,” surviving on the blood of animals rather than that of humans.  However, Bella affects Edward in a way no one else ever has.  She has a unique scent which he describes to her as being like his own personal brand of heroine.  Despite the blood lust Edward feels, he quickly falls for Bella and can’t stay away from her, even though he knows it’s dangerous.

            Though the relationship between vampire and human is a big part of the story, the movie also contains suspense and action.  Part of the plot revolves around the mysterious murders in the small town that are believed to be animal attacks.  Things take a turn for the worse when a nomad group of “non-vegetarian” vampires encroach on the Cullen territory and the tracker James (Cam Gigandet) decides that Bella is a snack worthy of the chase.

            Though Twilight seems to mostly appeal to teenage girls, in actuality the book series is enjoyed by all ages – another large fan group consisting of young adult and adult women.  While the movie does seem to be geared towards female tweens, it definitely can be enjoyed by adults as well.

The movie script is written in such a way that no previous knowledge of the book is needed; however, it does contain quite a few jokes for the fans of the series.  The story for the most part, however, is faithful to the book and remains true to Meyer’s vision, thanks in part to screenplay writer Melissa Rosenberg, who did a great job of adapting the book to the screen.  Readers however will notice a few differences in the movie, mostly with what was left out, most likely due to time constraints. For instance, there is one part that is surprisingly absent from the film.  Although Edward tells Bella that Alice can see the future, he fails to mention Jasper’s ability.  Another part that is altered fairly significantly is that for the most part the Cullen family does not seem to be bothered by Bella’s scent. Only Edward and Jasper seem to have much of a reaction, except for Alice, who is not actually much affected (except for mentioning that Bella smells good) until she literally has Bella’s blood on her hand.

            There is one thing, however, that many readers may be disappointed in, which is the lack of scenes with certain characters, especially that of Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) and Alice, who had much larger roles in the book.

            The director, Catherine Hardwicke, did an exceptional job with the film, except with some of the camera movements – especially rotating around the trees in the woods – which though unique, were slightly dizzying.

            The special effects in the movie were adequate, though could have been more effective.  While the scenes of Edward showing off his speed as well as running Bella through the woods were executed fairly well, some of the effects were somewhat lacking.  One example is the effect of Edward’s skin sparkling in the sun – while it sounded amazing in the book, in the movie it did not look like diamonds, but rather like Edward was doused in digital glitter.

            With the exception of a few of Bella’s outfits, such as leggings under her prom dress, most of the costumes worked well and were as one would expect from the book, as were the sets, which brought the town of Forks to life.  The vampire makeup, however, left a lot to be desired.  At times, the Cullen family, especially Dr. Cullen, looked over powdered rather than pale.

            Pattinson, as the brooding vampire, is convincing in his role, as is Stewart, who breaths life into her character, actually making her seem more independent and capable of thinking for herself than in the book.  The chemistry between the two on screen makes for great angst-charged scenes of their forbidden love.  Those playing the members of the Cullen family are believable as the supporting characters, but it would have been nice to see more of them.  The other supporting cast was also chosen well.  Billy Burke (as Charlie Swan) especially fits in well with the cast and with his attitude towards his daughter and Edward.  All three of the protagonists of the film, Cam Gigandet, Rachelle Lefevre, and Edi Gathegi are believable as the nomads.

            Overall Twilight will mostly be enjoyed by fans of the book who will enjoy seeing their favorite romance come to life in this adaptation, but it is also a movie worth watching for the uninitiated.