Well, the day finally dawned that I got around to watching the Twilight movies. They were never really a part of my childhood in the way that they were for many people my age - in fact, for the longest time, the only Twilight flick I had seen was the final one, which I saw in the cinema in 2012 (I recognize that this is not the preferred viewing order). Anyways, I've been meaning to watch them all for a while, as they are such a culturally significant phenomenon and a big part of my generation's collective upbringing. Last week, we marathoned all five movies in one day, and after putting quite a bit of thought into it, this is my ranking of the Twilight films.
5. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011)
Starting out with a hot take, at least based on my fiancée's reaction (she had this one at #2). Based on roughly the first half of the fourth and final Twilight book, the penultimate Twilight film is a part of the source-material-splitting trend started by the final Harry Potter films - for better or for worse. I can't exactly judge this as an adaptation, as I have not read the novels by Stephanie Meyer, but even without reading the books, I can say that the decision to split Breaking Dawn into two movies had somewhat of a toll.
You see, the pacing in this film feels off. We spend half an hour following the wedding of Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson), then another half an hour following their honeymoon, and it's over an hour into the movie that the plot really gets started. Once the final act rolls around, it feels rushed and a bit small-scale for the second-last instalment of the saga. In addition to the uneven pace, I also give minus points to both Breaking Dawn films for the f**ked-up nature of the Jacob-(Taylor Lautner)-imprinting-on-the-baby storyline - seriously, what the hell is up with that?
Granted, the Breaking Dawn movies are in many ways the 'cinematically best' out of the bunch, as the directing and production values are solid, and the young actors had improved a great deal in their acting performances. But, I won't give too much extra points for that, because of a very specific viewpoint: it's not like the better-made Twilight movies are exactly Oscar-winning quality, as the difference to the earlier films isn't that big, so the improvement almost hurts the films because they lose the lovable cruddiness of the first films.
I'd argue that a big part of why Twilight was such a culturally big phenomenon, and why people are so nostalgic for them, is the specific vibe created by the inconsistent acting, cringey dialogue and spectacularly unhinged editing choices in the first films - so while they're not cinematic masterpieces ripe for critical acclaim, they are very entertaining and largely what one expects from the Twilight saga. So that style is almost preferable to the slightly-more-cinematic-but-also-less-entertaining style of the last films, or at least on par with them due to different strengths and weaknesses.
4. The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
Ah, speaking of the lovable cruddiness of the franchise's early films. The sophomore instalment was dead last both in Martta's ranking and the IMDB ratings of the films, and I can see why - from many viewpoints, it is a cinematic lowpoint for the saga (as cringey as the first film, before the franchise's production stepped up its game, but less impactful and iconic than its predecessor). The acting isn't very good yet, and the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired. But I'm still not putting New Moon last, because it does some things very right, and dammit if I didn't enjoy watching it more than Breaking Dawn: Part 1!
First of all, I like how this instalment puts a clear focus on the werewolf aspect of the lore. The first film is all about the vampires, with the wolves only being teased, whereas films 3-5 try to balance the two factions but with the wolves inevitably being in the shadow of the more highlighted vampires. But this flick is the werewolves' chance to shine, and it makes for some cool scenes and storylines. It's also a film where the saga's protagonist and best character Bella goes through a lot and has important character development, so points for that. Also some points for the sheer entertainment value of the "so bad it's good" factor in the two first films. Also, minus points for the random final act in Italy, which feels very "Oh shit, this story needs a final act, let's come up with, uh, something".
3. Twilight (2008)
The first film is a tough one to watch. It definitely gets the most generation-defining cult classic mileage out of the bunch - so much of what people in my generation know as the characteristics of the Twilight movies (the deep-blue filter, the wildly varying acting performances, the unintentionally hilarious dialogue) comes from this very first film. The style is very iconic in its own way - yes, a lot of it comes from the "so bad it's good" element, but it's not only that. Director Catherine Hardwicke did something very right for the movie to stand out of the crowd and become such a cultural phenomenon with its unique style, and she deserves recognition for that. Cult classics are still classics.
Also, story-wise, it is a decent introduction to this magical world - not mind-blowing or especially powerful to a viewer like me, but then again, 25-year-old men with balanced lives aren't the target audience. I can see how a film like this would absolutely mean the world to an angsty pre-teen girl, and they need their emotional support movies just like anyone else, so I really do respect the film for how well it clearly spoke to its target audience. It's no cinematic masterpiece, but it's objectively important and a cultural milestone.
2. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)
Yeah, the last film slaps. Breaking Dawn - Part 2 is so hard to compare with the others in an unbiased manner, because of my strange viewing order of seeing this one first all those years ago. I had forgotten a lot during the years, but I remembered the big ending twist, and knowing that when watching these films through as a full saga for the first time couldn't help but dampen my experience a bit. But, that is obviously my fault for watching the last film all those years ago, so I won't fault the movies for it, and will try my best to imagine how it would've hit harder if I would've watched the movies the right way.
Anyhow, the ending twist itself is something that I've warmed up to. My original opinion, which in itself is an unfair assessment because I didn't have the context of the full saga, was that the 'the battle didn't really happen' reveal was anticlimactic and a lazy way out. I still kind of see that point, and understand why many fans do consider the twist a bit cheap - but that being said, I actually kind of like it. It's not quite up there with the greatest ending twists of all time, but I can't honestly think of a better way to end the saga, either. The meaning behind the twist does speak to my pacifist soul: ask yourself, how many real-life battles and wars would've been prevented if someone had shown the people making decisions how much death and loss they would cause (in general, or because of humanity's inherently selfish nature, particularly to their own side)? Quite many, I'd argue.
Furthermore, regardless of what you think of that twist, Breaking Dawn - Part 2 is an all-around decent final instalment. It doesn't cause the major emotional rush that some franchise finales do, but again, I didn't grow up with these films so I can't really expect that. The directing is at the franchise's best, as is the acting (following the growth of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson's acting skills in real time via this marathon was a great joy), and the decent production doesn't make the film boring like it did Breaking Dawn - Part 1, simply because the story is so much more engaging and well-paced here. In Martta's ranking as well as the IMDB ratings, this one is at #1, and while my own opinion is slightly different, I can thoroughly see why.
1. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
The scale of quality in this franchise is quite consistent, as even the worst films had many commendable qualities to them, while even the best ones are far from perfect with their share of flaws. For Eclipse, the franchise's third film and my personal favorite, my major criticisms are these: 1) it works better as an instalment in a franchise than as an individual film, meaning that it doesn't have as much of a personable style and movie identity to it than some of the films, and 2) the character Jacob is such an ass in this film that the major love triangle feels less like the triangle it's supposed to be, and more like a two-person love story and an annoying third person getting in the way due to the lack of understanding the word 'no' that seems to characterize the lives of so many men.
With the negatives out of the way, here's why the delightfully underrated Eclipse made it to the top of my list. First of all, it hits a sweet spot in the franchise's evolution - it still has a bit of the endearing cringe element that defined the first two films and was semi-gone from the last two, but it already has its share of the improved cinematic quality that defined the last two films, and was nowhere to be seen with the first two. Best of both worlds, one could say.
In addition, the film is paced well - in many of the other instalments, especially New Moon and Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (but also Twilight itself to some degree), the final act sticks out like a sore thumb, feeling like the movie is just vibes and character development for the first three quarters and then the writer has gone "Oh shit, we need a final act, uh, let's come up with something out of nowhere". In Eclipse, the film's endgame is built towards throughout the film, and when it arrives, it feels natural and properly climactic. Yes, the same can be said for Breaking Dawn - Part 2, but somehow, the slightly smaller-scale endgame seen here hit even harder for me.
Also, Eclipse was the most interesting out of the bunch for me as a fantasy nerd. I understand that the lore behind the creatures was never the main focus in these films as they would be in Godzilla films or Lovecraft novels, but hey, this is my ranking, and I care about that stuff when watching a fantasy movie even when the filmmaker's intended focus is on questions like 'Team Edward or Team Jacob?'*. So, the way this film takes a deep look at the backstories of its werewolf and vampire characters, as well as the loaded relationship between their cultures, following them being forced to work together despite their adversarial past and hostile attitudes - that's the shit right there.
*For the record, I see both love interests as deeply problematic due to Stephanie Meyer's lack of context on concepts like grooming, pedophilia and rape culture, and Bella Swan is an icon who deserves better than either of these hunks. That being said, team Edward. His love story with Bella is quite sweet if you manage to disregard the age difference implications, they have better chemistry, and Bella clearly has stronger feelings for him than for Jacob. Jacob has his moments, mostly when he's a wolf (honestly, he's so much more likable in wolf mode), but jeez, the guy can't take 'no' for an answer and his storyline has aged terribly from the lens of the post-#metoo era.
Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for a continuation of this fall's genre project: the top 15 fantasy movies of all time.
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