Twilight (2008)

Based on a the first installment of a gazillion-selling book series about teens, love and blood-sucking vampires, the entertaining "Twilight" follows Bella (Kristen Stewart) as she moves to a tiny town in Washington to live with her police chief dad. At her new high school, Bella is met with the greeting that all newcomer students get -- either hyped-up overly sincere glad-handing or cruel scorn. yet, not.

One person grabs her attention -- the pale, brooding Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), who sticks close to his adopted brothers and sisters, all pale, all strangely silent, all cultish-like. Later that first day, Bella walks into biology class and as she stands in front of a fan, her scent is blown toward Edward. He acts as if stricken by mustard gas. They are, of course, destined to fall in love.

Catherine Hardwicke, who made the stunning, intense "Thirteen," nails the insecurities and stuttering flirtation that make up much of teen life and love ... in the context of a film that has a teen girl falling in love with a century-old teen vampire with "Seventeen"-cover ready hair. (You either roll with it, or you don't.) Among the subplots is a war between Edward's fangy family, who won't kill humans, and another pack of vampires, who enjoy murder. One of the evil types sets his sights on Bella's blood, and Edward must safe her. Naturally. This drama ends in a unholy weak climax inside a ballet school full of mirrors. This lazy "Enter the Dragon" business hampers the film, but doesn't derail it.

Before long we're back on the romance, which could end blissfully, but surely won't. I can't speak of the adaption from the Stephanie Meyer novel, but the film is a nice mixture of Shakespearean theatrics and displays of love, and Anne Rice stripped clean of blood and sex, all for young teens who still believe in soap-opera-scribbling-on-a-notebook-cover teen love, and not adult love. I mean, the guy sparkles. No, I mean, he really sparkles. in daylight. Y'know, this ain't realism.

The two leads are game, and sell charisma by the bucket load. Hardwicke's roving, sweeping, swooning camera not only follows Bella and Edward's romance, it seems to be it. Floating and sweeping around forests. The surreal vampire baseball scene is a hoot, a stripped down version of Quidditch from that other best-selling cultural movement. All fawning aside though, this ain't "True Blood." Now that's true bloody entertainment. A brilliant slice of undead life. B