The Twilight Saga (2008-2012; dirs. Hardwicke, Weitz, Slade, & Condon)

Though I tried watching the first installment of this series in 2009 or 2010, I fell asleep during it and never went back. I decided to watch the whole series for one reason, the Instagram memes made these movies seem too funny to miss. In the end, I’m glad I watched them with a more open mind. I didn’t gain much from them, but they were humorous in an unintentional way. If you’re considering watching them, I suggest first watching as many memes about these movies as you can find. I assure they will add something interesting to this otherwise vacuous series.

I don’t have a lot of positive things to say but will try. The movies are funny when not taken seriously. Several of the supporting characters were fairly likable or interesting for a variety of reasons (Jasper, Carlisle, Charlie, Aro, Jane, and the characters played by Kendrick, Graham Greene, and Gil Birmingham). I liked Edward’s wardrobe in the first film and first part of the second film but then it got lazy and stayed that way throughout the series.

It’s impressive that they released 5 of these in a 5 year span, but there wasn’t a lot too them so it’s not an incredible feat. Lastly, they fully committed to their big twist scene in the final installment. It was certainly a large risk and I suppose paid off for the type of series it was. It didn’t exactly add any ethos or pathos to the series but it stayed true to what it was in the largest way it could.

As for negatives, the logic of the film is not very coherent. The underlying messages of chastity, purity (maybe just old fashioned ideals?) and anti-abortion were the worst kind of heavy handed, not explained in any significant detail, and ultimately weren’t convincing. Also, the dialog, plot, and themes were all pretty cringy. Amazingly the series only got cringier as it went. I assumed it would dial back and get more serious but it doubled down instead.

I’m pleased that Robert Pattinson’s career took off after these films. He’s clearly the most capable throughout (ignoring the panoply of guest stars in the 5th installment, like Lee Pace) but he was also the least utilized of the stars. The commitment from Pattinson between these films and something like The Lighthouse are night and day.