When Bella Swan moves to a small town in the Pacific Northwest, she falls in love with Edward Cullen, a mysterious classmate who reveals himself to be a 108-year-old vampire. Despite Edward's repeated cautions, Bella can't stay away from him, a fatal move that endangers her own life.
I think this film is definitely a victim of it's own expectations.
– Ben Mankiewicz,
At the Movies,
24 Nov 2008
fresh:
I succumbed to the palpable chemistry between the leads, and remembered my own girlish fantasies with something of a head-spinning rush.
– Ruth Hessey,
MovieTime, ABC Radio National,
12 Dec 2008
fresh:
Some will find it all too polite, but compared to rival blockbuster exercises in explosive CGI mayhem, its character-based index of longing and protectiveness at least provides a viable alternative moodscape.
– Trevor Johnston,
Time Out,
19 Dec 2008
rotten:
A deeply sincere, outright goofy vampire romance for the hot-not-to-trot abstinence set.
– Manohla Dargis,
New York Times,
8 Apr 2011
rotten:
My hope is that the sequels are actual attempts at movies. The world doesn't need any more toothless cinema.