Mixed Reviews
Filed under: Twilight
In his critique of Twilight, Roger Ebert gives the hotly-anticipated film just 2 and a half stars.
Variety also calls the film "disappointing."
And, the Associated Press doesn't like the movie either.
Bummer!
Posted: November 20, 2008 at 10:00 am
ok, i was at the filming with Roger Ebert and a bunch of other Chicago critics… you can't believe everything you read! I am a Twilight fan and i LOVED the movie. they're entitled to their own opinions. i've seen reviews from other cities and there are a lot more positive ones out there! so don't listen to them and decide for yourself what you think about it!
For movies like these, it doesn't matter what the critics say. The fans will decide whether they like it or not, because it's not a movie that is slated to go to the Oscars anyways. It's pure entertainment.
I really respect Ebert, but he is a very smart man and he knows that it doesn't matter what he gives it, it's still going to do huge business at the box office.
OH good grief. I NEVER like the movies the "experts" give high ratings to. This is a movie for the fans of the book, not an Oscar winning film.
Still going to the show - sporting my Team Edward shirt.
thats what happens when they hype up a movie or anything so much… it ends up being just ok or not good at all
First of all Perez, did you even READ Ebert's review? He said "The movie is lush and beautiful, and the actors are well-chosen." How is that not a compliment to the movie? But of course you aren't going to put that in there!!!! What does a critic know anyway about a good movie? Half the movies I love they don't give enough credit for.
I don't pay much attention to movie reviews either… everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I also loved the books and I'm going to see the movie this weekend. I think I will love it just because I love the story so much. And Robert Pattinson will definitely make it worth the while!
If you actually read Roger Ebert's review, he liked it. He said it was 'luch and beautiful and the actors were well chosen'
I'm still going to see it!
Noooooooo. I almost cried reading this. I am going at 11:59 p.m. and I can't wait!!
the movie may not be that great…but it will make a crapload of money atleast for the first two or three weeks…i dont get the big deal about the twilight series because i dont think the books are that good and the movie doesn't seem interesting at all….
i know 2 people that went to the premiere (1 had read the books, 1 had not) with NO expectations and both LOVED it.
No one ever ends up liking the movies they have too high of expectations for…
u have to have read the book to understand…only twilight fans are going to appreciate and love the movie!!! r-patz and cam-g will provide enough eye candy to give it 5 stars from me!
Re: anoceanbetween –
I don't understand how beautiful sceneries and actors make a good movie. It was a compliment to their looks, not their ability to carry a film.
those aren't mixed reviews perez. they were all bad.
Re: alleycatprincess –
I've read the books and they don't stimulate the mind. The dialogue was as if a 5th grader wrote it. Twiligt fans are pre adolescent and shallow girls that don't know what makes a good book.
Looks bad to me. A friend here likes the book and thinks the movie looks B-gradable but she's still excited to see it at a midnight screening while dragging me along…must be the hype. Gotta love that HYPE!
I read the first two books and I HATE Bella, she is soooo whiny and doesn't care about her friends or parents, just because she fell in LURVVVVVV with someone she barely knows because hes ssssssssssooooooooooooooo dreamy. I've read X-Files fan fiction that was infinitely better written. It makes me sad that people consider these books good literature.
Re: tom951 – True Blood is good because it actually has character development and suspense. Sookie is kinda a bitch but not as bad as Bella.
WHAT THE FUCK!?????????????????????????????????
NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: justme
– i'm sorry, a GOOD book? what book were you reading?
Re: danascully – if you can get past the horrid acting/accents
By the reviews and the clips to me it didnt like the actors were putting enough emotion into it. The book is full of so much emotion, tahts what keeps you hooked, thats what takes you in. So as i watched just the previews i had a feeling id be lil disappointed. Also in the previews things were a whole lot different, why cant they just keep it like the book? They ruin it like that. But im still gonna go see it cause its Twilight and IM OBSESSED! and i hope it isnt as bad as the reviews.
everything I've seen so far looks great…so I'm seeing it regardless. plus I tend to like movies that most critics don't.
Re: harrybalsac hates perez – hahhahaa!
It's not really for the critics to like is it! They can all stick it!! Rob and Kristen are both brilliant actors and extremely humble about their talents. I am sure Twilight will make a huge amount of money and the movies to come will be filled with expensive special effects. The millions of fans will stay loyal to Stephanie Meyer who gave her full approval of the cast and the finished film. In the fans mind this movie is the Super Bowl of all movies. Even though Twilight did not have the budget of a blockbuster, the next ones will and we all look forward to the films to come!
Allow me to explain something to you Perez. You're gay so you might not have noticed this, but straight women care about one thing: how hot a guy is. All of their statements about caring about a guys' personality, the story of a film, or anything else meaningful is wrong. Girls are going to go see this movie because he is hot.
While it does suck that the critics don't like the movie, I think the fans opinions speak louder than a critic and their review. Chances are also, the critics haven't read the books and don't know the story.
oh my…
Here's the thing… History has shown us that when we are in an economic recession, such as the one we are currently wading through, we like to be entertained by movies. I don't think that many classic musicals, which came out during the great depression and shortly thereafter, would be considered Oscar-worthy. Nonetheless, the people of the time needed healthy distraction from their everyday realities, which were awfully harsh, at best. What I'm saying is that the films that arise during such economic and humanisitic downturns are highly regarded for much more important reasons outside of winning the acclaim of critics. If critics merely posted favorable reviews of all films produced, what would they be getting paid for? Critics denounce the Baudrillardian notion of "hyper-reality," yet they earn their living simply because it exists - nay, THRIVES, during times such as our own. Welcome to Marshall McLuhans' "Spectacle" my friends! So, what I'm saying is, EAT SHIT, YOU UPPITY BASTARDS! Give me my healthy diversion, if for no other reason, because my psyche deserves to be spoon fed some deliciousness for a change.
well i actually don't care what about film critique's because i'm so in love with the books and so i think i'm going to love the movie
well, old middle aged men have no business writing reviews on this movie. just like young preteen girls would have had no business writing reviews for brokeback mountain. if it's not material you're interested in you're not going to like it no matter how good it was. also, in my experience, whenever movie reviews are bad, it's a movie me and my hubby really like, and the ones that get A or A+ reviews, we hate….it's been pretty consistent
i can't wait to see Twilight tomorrow 
and I'm still going to see it Tomorrow! Can't wait!
I'm sorry you fucks 37 mil is not low budget! There are hundreds of low budget movies (under 10 mil and that's even pushing it) that are amazing! Lots of Indie films are done for pennies compared to this thing and will probably blow this teen vamp pos out of the water!
Aw well, they'll still make money out of glazy eyed tweenage girls.
This won't be brilliant in the UK doesn't matter if a Brit is in the movie. Hardly anyone knows the books exist.
DUH! Of course the movie sucks. But it's gonna be a fucking phenomenon because robert pattinson is hot as hell.
Ok Perez, U do know that the author of Twilight is Mormon right? Why don't u boycott Twilight??????
I actually saw the movie yesterday and I really liked just because its really faithful to the book! Kristen Stewart is pretty boring but then again Bella isn't really that interesting in the book. Besides by the way those teen girls were screaming and crying its going to be a hit anyway!
The books sucked too. I've read better fan fictions online. For free. So how can they expect the movie to be any better? SRSLY.
But fan girls will be flocking to the theatre in mass droves. Those people are about to make some serious bankkkk.
And the fact that Robert Pattinson is super fine TOTALLY helps.
:D
ebert's review was horribly written, I'm not going to trust the opinion of a guy who writes at the level of a ten year old. reviews for movies based on books are almost always written by people who never read the books for some reason, I'd say the harry potter movies are awful but they're still enjoyable because I've read the books, it will be the same for twilight.
i was at the same screening as roger ebert, and I was pleasantly surprised from the film. I was expecting to be a lot more tweenish than it was. The lack of sarcasm was a bit dissapointing but all and all it was true to the books (more so than any harry potter film to date) and the already massive fan base should overwhelm any bad reviews that can be thrown at them.
im still going to watch it no matter what!
No big… No one ever pays attention to critics because they look at it in a different way than viewers. There are a lot of movies that have been huge in the box office that got horrible reviews, and a lot of movies that got amazing reviews and no one watched. I only care about what I think of the movie and I'll find out what I think about it tonight at midnight.
Roger Ebert can F*CK OFF!!
He is too old to understand modern day movies…roll over and die F*CKER!!!
LOL!!!
I'm going to see the movie tonight with my best friend (30), my sister (39)and myself being (29)…we all are going to love the movie!!!
:)
I'm going to see it to support Stephenie Meyer so we can get a hold of Midnight Sun someday soon!!!
By the way…TRUE BLOOD owes Stephenie Meyer royalties!!!
!!!
My sister and I couldn't even finish the first episoded. It was just so tacky how similar and reversed the roles are!!! VERY ORIGINAL F*CKERS!!!
If they made the movie rated R instead of PG-13 it would have been better.
First off, I'm a HUGE Twilight fan. I was able to attend an early screening of Twilight Tuesday night. I wanted this film to be so good so badly. But, unfortunately, my expectations were too high. They got the basic plot and characters and some of the events down, but that was about it. Things are out of sequence, the dialog changes, and scenes were added. I didn't feel the connection between Bella and Edward. It moved way to quick. If you didn't read the book and really have no idea what's going on, you'll be lost within 20 minutes of the movie. One good thing about this movie is that it's going to make tons of money. Hopefully enought that New Moon will be fantastic. I'm still a Twilight fan, just a disappointed one.
I am a diehard Twilight fan and saw a screening of this and it was aweeeeesome- Twilight fans won't be disappointed. Reviewers probably just don't get it.
the book sucked, so i don't have any expectations for the movie. BORING.
twilight are some of the best books i've ever read so who cares what the presses think??? not everyone hates it. i still wanna see it so idc if its bad or not.
well fuck them, wait till you see how much money that movie will be making. shitty film my ass, THE TWILIGHT FANS ARE GONNA FREAK OUT AND SEE IT TEN TIMES! WE WILL WATCH ANYTHING TWILIGHT RELATED, AND ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF IT.
reviews wont matter….. its not like they're going for oscars. as long as it markets and makes money- who cares what random critiques say!
I cant wait to see it|!!!!
I'm not a teenybopper and I am still going to see the movie. It was made for the fans not the critics. I never expected them to like it. I don't care what critics say anyhow. I have read good reviews too. By the way, most of those bad reviews still have good things to say about the actors in it. They mostly don't like the directing. It will still be #1 at the box office.
this isn't an oscar-worthy film, nor was it ever meant to be in the slightest. it's a movie created to make some major money off of a huge franchise. that's it. the end.
i'm going to see it at midnight, and i'm sure i'll absolutely love it. as long as you go into it knowing that it's 100% a fan movie, i'm sure it's really not a bad film.
at least i hope not!
Psht … beautiful Robert Pattinson is in it .. I'll still see it 5 times.
Amidst all of this vampire hype, it seems that something truly great is being ignored because of this movies release. Save the ten bucks you were going to spend on this movie and stay home and download the episodes of TRUE BLOOD you've missed. I don't doubt that Twilight was great in print, but I do doubt that the whole story transpires in an hour and a half film with beautiful, BUT LAME, actors. There is not enough being written about True Blood, and if we don't watch it then HBO could very well cancel a great piece of work in a sea of vampire crap. Don't dumb yourself down people. Skip the movie, read the books, and watch TRUE BLOOD!
I think that in order to appreciate the movie you have to appreciate the book and i'm willing to bet that the people who reviewed the movies weren't really big twilight fans to begin with. I love twilight and am still seeing the movie regardless of what an old man has to say about a movie aimed toward young teenage girl audiences.
Re: Sweetpiece – FOR REAL! They can't be interviewed for shit. It's painful to watch!!! They can't seem to answer the simplest questions and neither has a particularly interesting personality. Rob seems sweet but uber shy. Kristen just looks stuck up!
i want to see it, but i feel like the movie is going to be WAY too dramatic and eerie. also i don't like the character choices.
I am a huge fan of the book series, but from the moment i saw the trailer to this film and saw the cast, i had a very strong feeling that this movie was not going to be very good.
They're just 3 critics…la timesgave it ****
TOLD YOU THAT SHIT WOULD SUCK!
shocking….
Re: harrybalsac hates perez – ROFL SO TRUE
Oh my God! I can't believe it. what do they know? ryt? its not like they've read the book or something. Well, aniway Im still gonna watch the movie. Its gonna be a kick ass movie!!
still gonna watch it
Meh, fuck 'em all. I'm still seeing it and Pretty Pony MCPattinson and Kristen Stewart are gonna be hot bitches together onscreen!
PS: I'm almost glad it got bad reviews, cause now all the twilight crazy fans are gonna see it 10 times to make up for the bad reviews and I'll get a sequel out of this hot bitch series! Thanks critics, now the crazies are gonna make the opening at 80 million instead of 40!lol
I saw it, and loved it!
the book was only ok..and it's not like Roger Ebert would get it, anyway. It's still going to do very very well. I was to see it if only for Edward. Swoon
i saw it today afew hours ago(in Puerto Rico the movie started alot erlier) and i was amazed of how great it was how they stuck to the book perfectly and added afew extra things that made it more entertaning , KRISTEN DID AN INCREDIBLE JOB PORTRAYING BELLA AND ROB WAS TOTALLY AMAZING . and billy burke is charlie swan totally , the movie is amazing the efects were really cool and DONT LISTEN OR READ THOSE BAD REVIEWS THIS IS FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVENT READ THE BOOKS AND STILL HAVE THE MINDSET OF OLD FASHIONED VAMPIRE MOVIES , THIS IS THE COOLEST VAMPIRE MOVIE SINCE UNDERWORLD , THAT IS MY REVIEW, SUCK MY CRICKA ROGER EBERT
bummer…
Still will be spending $40 to see it with my boyfriend.
This movie just shows that mindless teenage girls would pay to see complete garbage just to see a hot guy. And that teens can't see the real beauty of film.
I saw this trailer and it made me gag, the film lacks a lot of substance. Definitely skipping this.
first of all the first dude got it wrong–edward isnt 114 years old. he's middle-aged and doesnt grasp the whole concept. i bet that old sack hanging bastard hasnt even read the book.
he makes fun of the "Normal Kid" and how the school is really big in a town like that. hello not everyone lives in the town. or watev. maybe parents had lots babies.and many ppl have cars. sooooo they can drive themselves. duh!
Quote "Why do girls always prefer the distant, aloof, handsome, dangerous dudes instead of cheerful chaps like me?" WTF IS HIS PROBLEM! — i dont need to answer the obvious. and at the end he gives us a movie we should watch because its in his taste of "good movies"the second one just totally bashes Stephenie Meyer — bitch!! how can u bash her for being such an awesome writer..jealousy is a bad thing.and the last one is basically a ' just dont think' sort of thing. alright since im a fan and i've read all the books. i think the movie is going to be great.i hate when people i should negative toward things. i mean the more negative you are the more negative things turn out to be.
i am still going to see but i figured people were going to start hating on it because it became so popular before it was even out… it was doomed to disappoint from the start…. but anything with Edward Cullen will dazzle me so i am still going to go see!! counting down the hours!!
omg these people are probaly 60 years old this is for teenagers and mom that love it not old peoplee!!!!!!!!!!!!
Critics don`t like any movies that are box office hits
ITS GOING TO SUCK
knew it would, but people will still see it.
SEE AUSTRALIA! comes out november 26th and its going to be AMAZING! thats what a real movie is, and its done by the same guy who did MOULIN ROUGE!
i saw an early screening on tuesday and agree
it was so dissapointing!
but it was still amazing because robert pattinson is SO incredibly gorgeous in it
I knew it sucks from what I saw on the trailer.
I still can't wait to see it! Robert Pattinson is HOT
The 1st Harry Potter movie got horrible reviews from all of those stuffy people and papers….but it didnt matter to fans-they came in droves. Itll be the same with this book series. In both cases, its was the excitement that they brought the book to life that made the movie alluring. No one is expecting the damn movie to get an Oscar.
um… i saw the flick it wasnt what i was expecting but still i just want to see the werewolves
when new moon comes in 2010 then i would be happy…
But the critics are bunch of old people HELLO!!! lol if the critics are younger dont know maybe 25 or 22 something like that thhhhhhhen i would believe them… the movie wasnt that bad at all i really like it! and mah gurl
loved it 
uh yeah, it won't be good. but ha, I'm going anyway. I love the books so much (like everyone else) they're only going to ruin it like 99% of books turned to film… but it's part of the experience seeing it come "to life" so to speak.. I can't like the books this much and NOT go to the film…hey, they did a nice hair/makeup job on pattinson.. um, there's that.
I just saw it!! it was really good. Not as good as the book of course, but still good. I def cried once or twice too… not a fan of the bella but whatever. its nice to see it in real life and not just in my head
Die Hard twilight fans are the only ones who get to review this movie. If you want to actually get a decent review and are a Twilight Fan, go to the Twilight fan sites. The men who are reviewing this movie are middle aged men who wouldn't know Bella from Sookie Stackhouse. Totally unworthy of our time.
I still plan to see it three times this weekend. And guess what? I'm not 15, I'm 43 and I love me some Edward Cullen Baby!
Re: Rachelriotmaker – Like she cares what you think as she counts her millions. When you are on the NY Times Bestseller, 4 times, I guess you can comment. Asshole!
Re: chewy – Although True Blood is a great series and I am a devoted fan, it is way different from Twilight. It is an entirely different take on Vampires than True Blood, as is The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series. That is what makes them all excellent and unique. Don;t bash Twilight. True Blood is great (but who didn't know three episodes ago that Renee was the killer!) DUH!But Twilight is an excellent book, and the movie will be a huge hit whether you see it or not.
No its really cute! Especially if you read the books, the movie is good. If not, I could see how it could be a little confusing but its still good.
i just got back from seeing it… it was…. well it had its moments but the acting wasnt superb and they changed and added stuff… annoyingly so.. i felt like they thought the audience was stupid and would need stuff to be explained.. so they added a lot of extra scenes that werent in the book to explain stuff… but most of the scenes, extra or not, were very entertaining… overall… i am glad i saw it.. seeing as Edward is yummy… and i will probably see it again… once it comes out on DVD….
so just got back from seeing the movie and let me just be honest, it was not as great as the book. not nearly. but other than that it was pretty good. pattinson seemed to get better at the role of edward later in the movie and stewart was a better bella than i expected. Um…one problem for me…at one point edward called bella a "spider monkey" that nearly ruined the whole damn thing.
IT WAS SO AMAZING!!!
DEFINATLEY GO SEE IT!!!
It followed the book pretty well, but not exact, but much better than Harry Potter
I just came from seeing the movie!!!! i am beyond obessed with the book and the acting was horrible!!! terrible picks for all characters!!!! alice was ok but robert was terrible as edward…cute 2 look @ buttt bad acting..he was not edward @ all!!! the movie was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy 2 fast they put too many things 2 fast…left out a lot of stuff that was important!!!! and everytime when edward made faces like he does he the book the whole audience laughed even tho it was not supposed 2 be funny..i was soo disappointed and even worse the author said she liked the movie…if i was here i would hate it…they just killed twilight for me!!! hopefully the next movie is better but i could have waited 2 see it after it came out on tv bc i just wasted 11 bucks 2 see that crap!!!! so upset!!!!
Saw the movie at midnight and loved it!
ahhh it was so dreadful.
Just saw a midnight show and i thought it was amazing…ive never read the books but im gonna go pick them up now…
I just got home from the midnight showing…all i can say is i can not believe Meyer allowed them to butcher her great book in that way, she should have insisted on having more of a say on the script as well as the actors…
Robert Pattinson did a decent enough job but not good enough, Stewart was horrible, & the other Cullens were fine except for Jasper he looked like a zombie not a vampire and had like 2 lines in the entire movie, the only actor that did a good job was Charlie l0l and James & Victoria….
I feel that both Robert and Kristen didn't really like their characters and therefore had a hard time understanding how to portray them, at least Pattinson had an excuse because Edward's character has some leeway for interpretation (he just really messed up the facial expressions) BUT Kristen had the whole series as a guide to who Bella is, she made a tortured character look even more pathetic & misunderstood.
Script wasn't impressive but I'm bias from being a Twilight-holic. Regardless, if i had never read the book i would have never understood the real connection between E & B from the crappy film. Best scene in my opinion was the baseball game (but still could have been a little bit better) & the prom scene.
All in all, glad i got it out of my system but those $11 could have been put to better use :0( ….Robert is still lovely ;0)
I LOVED THE MOVIE! IT PUT THE BOOK TO LIFE WHICH WAS AMAZING, I WANT TO BE A CULLEN =)
just o ad to my first comment I felt that Robert did not act out being mean very well in the beginning so it came off as awkward but once the part were they start to fall in love he acts all swift like the Edward I imagine. Also people need to realize that yes they left a lot out but it is a movie and you can only put so much in especially with the budget they had. SO all things aside I loved it and yeah Jasper was awkward to but I think they did that to portray to people how he is uncomfortable when round Bella because he is so new and he is not used to it yet.