I would have to say read before you see the movie, otherwise you might be pretty lost. If you can get over the fact that the beginning is much too choppy, I'm sure that you'll enjoy it. It was much funnier than I expected, especially with some of the characters I saw as being more serious in the books. Charlie particularly was awesome, as were the Cullens and Mike and Eric were just insane. Overall, I think they did a good job with the cast. The music in this movie is awesome, both in terms of soundtrack and instrumental. I think they did an overall good job considering the time restraints and such. Hopefully the rest of them will be longer... 2 hours just wasn't enough.