It’s an understatement to say that the “Twilight” saga has been seriously slandered over the years. In reality, the multi-part film series based on Stephenie Meyer’s novels is more of a punchline than anything else. Either way, according to FlixPatrol, it’s currently crushing the Hulu charts, so let’s approach this honestly: Should you queue up one of the “Twilight” movies to celebrate Halloween?
Honestly? Yes! You should! It remains first ridiculous (free) for me that the “Twilight” saga managed to give birth to two of our most daring, strange and exciting actors (the king of strange voices Robert Pattinson and César Award winner Kristen Stewart), but also, the detractors might need to relax a little. Are these films impeccable and perfect from a cinematographic point of view? No! Are the performances, even those of Pattinson and Stewart, always perfect? No! The fact is, though, that the “Twilight” movies are silly, fun, super digestible and – whether that part is intentional or not – totally campy.
For this reason, I think you should join the masses watching “Twilight” movies on Hulu this spooky season. Alongside a large cast including Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Taylor Lautner, Anna Kendrick and even Dakota Fanning and Michael Sheen, Pattinson and Stewart paint a fairly charming picture of young love, although that young love is between a real-life teenager (Stewart’s Bella Swan) and a vampire who is over a century old but will look like he’s 17 forever (Pattinson’s Edward Cullen). Again, this is all right amusing; let me sell you the “Twilight” movies, if you’ll allow me.
The first two films in the Twilight saga set the scene and present a classic young adult love triangle.
After Bella Swan moves to the sleepy, rainy town of Forks, Washington, to live with her estranged father, Charlie Swan (Billy Burke), at the beginning of “Twilight,” she is immediately fascinated by Edward Cullen, a pale, taciturn white teenager who avoids Bella like the proverbial plague at first. Bella, undeterred by the stinking face Edward makes when they first meet, continues to press the issue until he finally drags her into the woods and admits he’s a vampire. Comparing Edward to a more traditional movie vampire, however, is a foolish task; he sparkles in the sun instead of dying, and he and his adoptive family—patriarch Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), mother figure Esme (Elizabeth Reaser), and “siblings” Emmett Cullen (Kellan Lutz), Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene), Rosalie Hale (Nikki Reed), and Jasper Hale (Jackson Rathbone)—hunt animals and drink their blood instead of killing humans.
Edward and Bella embark on a rocky romance (despite Edward’s insistence that he is no good for Bella, he is obsessed with her, going so far as to climb through her window and watch her sleep every night), but in the second film, “New Moon”, things fall apart a bit after Bella gets hurt at the Cullen house and Edward ends it. It’s short-lived, and Taylor Lautner’s werewolf Jacob Black enters the conversation to create this love triangle, but in the third film, “Eclipse,” Bella and Edward are together again and things start to heat up, especially as Bella finds herself attracted to Jacob. And Edward in seemingly equal measure. So how does the “Twilight” saga end? Well, it’s… interesting.
As Twilight comes to an end, it presents audiences with a wild ending…sort of
Probably the funniest thing about the two-part conclusion to the “Twilight Saga,” titled “Breaking Dawn,” is that it’s two movies in the first place considering how little happens in reality. Well, maybe that’s not quite right; there’s a wild vampire C-section and a big climatic battle, of sorts. You see, when Edward proposes marriage to Bella in “Eclipse” and promises that he will turn her into a vampire once they are legally married, Jacob’s question is mostly done and dusted, and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” opens with Bella and Edward’s wedding (which, awkwardly, takes place right after Bella’s high school graduation).
During Edward and Bella’s honeymoon on a remote island, Bella realizes she is pregnant, which poses a problem…because she is still human. After significant duress and what can, once again, only be described as a “vampire C-section” where Edward rips his newborn daughter out of Bella’s womb with his teeth, Bella nearly dies before Edward turns her into a vampire at the last second. Everything ultimately seems fine, until the ancient and evil Volturi – a council of vampires residing in Italy – learn that Bella gave birth to a half-human, half-vampire, which is against their rules or something.
You’d think this would culminate with the Cullens and their allies fighting the Volturi, right? This is the case not! Even if we see what this battle is could (including Carlisle’s gruesome death) Through one of Alice’s visions, she dissuades the leader of the Volturi, Aro (Michael Sheen), from fighting, and everyone goes home. Additionally, Jacob falls in love with Bella’s newborn, Renesmee. This is all really stupid! Go ahead anyway and watch the “Twilight” movies on Hulu now. Trust me; they are amusing.
