hohoho

Last weak I conned a friend (who hasn't read the book) to go see the Twilight movie with me. I loved the book a lot (I'll get into that later) so I had fairly low expectations for the film, because I had heard it was bad. Still, there was part of me that was ridiculously excited to see it. I think I had expected it to be closer to the book. It took me hours afterwards to fully explain to my friend what she just watched, she had so many questions. I wouldn't recommend going if you haven't read the book, because it just won't make sense.
I thought I wouldn't like Robert Pattinson as Edward, because the picture of Edward I had in my head was so different. However, I was pleasantly surprised by his hotness, I think mostly because of the fact that he was Edward... if that makes any sense. Casting-wise, I had no major beefs, my beefs were mainly with the plot.
It felt like the build of the relationship between Edward and Bella was done in fast forward, so it didn't really make sense that all of a sudden they were in love and couldn't live without each other (especially if you haven't read the book). Also, Edward's explaination of everything about vampires seemed like it was given in bullet points - Bella is supposed to slowly unravel it, not have it all given to her at once. What what happened to the relationship between Alice and Bella? It was just non-existant. Not to mention Bella's friendships at school with Jess and Angela were also barely developed.
My other beef was with the filming itself. Who decided that the entire movie needed to be shot in close ups and bumpy forest shots from bizarre angles? I could see the covered up pimple on Bella's face, and my friend noted that she was wearing contacts. Not necessary I'd say.
Overall, I would strongly recommend reading the book first if you're going to see the movie, but if you're expecting something exactly like the book, you're probably not going to love the movie. But, if all you want are gratuitous amounts of the goodlooking and and swoonworthy Edward, then it'll be worthwhile to go see the movie.