Why we LOVE OR HATE Twilight

It's wrong to refer to Twilight as "polarising". We read time and again that there are two opposing camps, one of "Twi-hards" and one of "haters". Those of us in the latter don't hate the Twilight series. We're just completely indifferent. That said, when the wave of hype is this potent and often inescapable, we're driven to point out that it's not all that the fans have cracked it up to be. We do have to live with the fact that Twilight 3 will likely be the biggest movie of 2010. If we so much as whisper our disapproval at the endless media coverage lavished on the cast or the crowds driven wild by vamp-hysteria, the franchise's enormous DVD sales and box-office figures are thrown back at us by the devotees as if they somehow prove Twilight's critical worth.

Opposing view: Why we LOVE Twilight

Let's dispel the idea that popularity is directly related to quality. If this was the case, the Mr Blobby song would have been one of the finest musical creations of 1993. If the figures said it all, Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel was one of the ten greatest movies of 2009. The numbers are on your side, teens, but they don't prop up your assertion that Twilight is "da gr8est eva". So what's all the excitement for? Perhaps what frustrates us most is that the vampire myth is so painfully well trodden. It seems like only a week ago that every boy lusted after Buffy and every girl longed to jump into the coffin with Angel. Go back to the 80s and teenagers were going vamp-crazy for The Lost Boys. At least that one was funny. The Twilight kids are not seeing the brighter side. Fans complain that the phenomenon is stereotyped as "teen" but the raw angst and melancholy emitted by the cast is straight out of the "dog ate my homework" book of hating your parents and painting your fingernails black. Unsure of herself and her place in the world, Bella Swan is a character teens can relate to and there's nothing wrong with that. But the sheer misery of watching Kristen Stewart scowl her way through the performance is, frankly, painful. Why couldn't they feed her to the bad vampires and carry on playing vampire baseball? It was almost getting fun for a second there. But she's not the real motor behind the phenomenon is she? There's practically a drum roll when Robert Pattinson first walks into school as Edward Cullen, prompting swoons around the planet. He's a looker for sure. But is the screaming really necessary? Certainly his clunky lines aren't making us want to spend eternity with him: "I feel protective of you," he says between odd dramatic pauses. "You're my own personal brand of heroine," comes next. Then it's "I'm a sick, masochistic lion." He's hardly making the earth shift for us. That said, he's the best thing in the franchise. So it's a shame he barely appears in the second movie, being replaced for the most part by shirtless Taylor Lautner and his high-protein diet. The first movie is low on screen chemistry. The second is devoid of it. Was the midnight queuing outside the local DVD shop really worth a few lines of dire-logue (Bella: "I'm coming." Edward: "I don't want you to come,") and half an hour of Pattinson? Teenage fascination with deathly heroes isn't a new thing, especially if the undead in question are bedroom wall material. But this smacks of overnight phenomenon to the point that you worry for the careers of the young stars involved. Their talents don't deserve to be forever associated with a franchise that will go down as one of the tackier reincarnations of the tired vampire myth.

The Twilight Saga is one of the most loved movie series of recent years. It's also one of the most hated. As teenage girls spend hours watching their favourite teen angst love story/image searching Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner/dreaming of being bitten by a brooding vampire, movie buffs are cursing and criticising it until they're blue in the face. Being as objective as I can, Twilight is good. No, honestly. It's so good I watched the first movie three times in as many weeks. Initially I thought the hype surrounding it (and the new, sexy British actor Robert Pattinson) was a load of old hooey. However, when told by a very adamant friend of mine to watch the DVD, I did, and I was converted in the short space of a few hours. Forget the hundreds of thousands of fan girls. Forget the biased views spewing from the mostly-male movie critic world (film experts hate it because, well, it's not aimed at them).

Opposing view: Why we HATE Twilight

Twilight is a brilliant example of simple yet effective storytelling and interesting cinematography. Not only that, but its impressive soundtrack (Muse, Paramore and Linkin Park) adds to the overall feel of moody, teenage life and those excruciating feelings of love we all remember from our adolescence. Another enjoyable thing about the movie is the way our heroine Bella Swan is obsessed with a vampire who loves her but also really wants to suck at her arteries. She might have the kind of face you want to slap but you're still rooting for her all the way through. New Moon, while not as good as its predecessor (mostly because the focus shifts from sexy vampire Edward Cullen to the overly-muscular werewolf Jacob Black - I'm cheering for Team Cullen) is still one of the best films of 2009. The plot thickens and becomes more implausible with every passing minute, but that only adds to its appeal. Who wants reality anyway? On the plus side, there are more laughs in New Moon than in Twilight, and the music is just as impressive thanks to Muse reprising their role as Best Teen Soundtrack Contributors Ever. Oh, and the aforementioned fan girls get to see Taylor Lautner strut his stuff topless. As the release of the third instalment of The Twilight Saga approaches, I can already hear the tuts and sighs from critics around the world, cracking their knuckles before gleefully slating it. Their views are tainted by the media storm surrounding it, but surely anything that generates this much coverage and takes in that much money has to be pretty decent, right? Going back to basics, this is a straightforward love story set in a world where vampires and werewolves exist among humans. The people in it are good looking, and every scene is filled with so much teenage torment, you're desperate for someone to crack a smile. However, that's a good thing - people love to watch stories they can relate to, and blood-sucking creatures and hairy wolf-boys aside, this is a valid take on reality. I'm not saying Twilight needs to be loved by everyone. It just needs to be understood and respected for what it is - a coming of age romantic tale with some blood on the side.(my view)-As much as i want to crack open the truth here-i must not,but a can tell you that a agree,men/woman vampires in movies should not be sexed up by half undressed ect,but yet again,the movie industry thrives on people watching and buying them so........SEX/SEXINESS sells:( makes me sick