I feel the need to preface this review with my complicated relationship with “Twilight.”

There’s one part of me that loves the books. I read them all over the summer and finished “New Moon” in a single night only to wake up for work at 7 a.m. wondering what I was thinking. But in spite of how easily the “Twilight” series lures me in, I often find myself very frustrated by the entire plot. Yes, I love that Bella and Edward are so in love with one another, but sometimes it gets so over the top that I just want to yell at Bella and tell her to get a life beyond her hunky vampire. So it was with these conflicting emotions that I headed to the Green Hills movie theatre for the 12:01 a.m. screening of “Twilight.”

To say that the scene I beheld at midnight was overwhelming is a huge understatement. There were teenage girls everywhere. Some were in slippers and pajamas. Some were wearing hand-decorated T-shirts displaying messages along the lines of “Mrs. Edward Cullen” or “Team Jacob.” Seeing these eager fans made me more than a little embarrassed by my enthusiasm to see this movie the minute it opened, and as I waited in line for overpriced popcorn I hoped that I would not be put in the same fanatical category as them. But as my friends and I found our seats in the crowded theatre, I dropped the too cool for “Twilight” act and allowed myself to get excited.

For those of you who don’t know, “Twilight” is the story of a girl named Bella (Kristen Stewart) who falls in love with a mysterious boy at her new high school, a vampire named Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Their dangerous romance leads them into an epic battle while also including copious amounts of smoldering looks and teenage angst along the way.
I’ll start off with the good, which mostly involves Pattinson.

You may remember him as Cedric Diggory from “Harry Potter,” and let me tell you, he makes an even more attractive vampire than he did a quidditch martyr. From his first appearance on screen with his gravity-defying hair style and brooding expressions, I knew I would enjoy the movie at least from a purely superficial standpoint. The film also tries very hard to stay true to the book, and by and large it succeeds. Of course, if you’re a fan of the books you’re going to point out every scene that they cut, but that is the case with any book adaptation on the silver screen.

My first criticism of the movie has got to be the special effects. I understand that “Twilight” had a much smaller budget than most movies, but seriously those effects took away from the entire film. At one point, Edward explains why he can’t go out in the sun by showing Bella what happens to his skin in the light and he is supposed to be so bright and radiant that it would be impossible for him to go out in public without being noticed. However, in the film his skin just gets kind of multicolored and the only way to understand that its supposed to be sparkly is by the little windchime sounds that play. It just looked lame, and it made Pattinson look like a slightly sweaty prism.

The same goes for the scenes of Edward running — it just looked unrealistic and contrived. I questioned some of the characterization as well, especially when Edward shows up wearing Ray Bans at school and is all happy and smiley. He’s a brooding Victorian vampire, not Mr. High School. It was over the top and too different from the rest of his character.

Overall, I’m still conflicted over my “Twilight” feelings, but despite all of my criticisms of its shortcomings I really did enjoy it. It’s definitely a movie that I would see again in theaters, and I’ll most likely buy the DVD if only for Pattinson.