i loved the books, so i was skeptical about the translation to the screen. i'd seen the stills of the characters and was trying to reserve judgement on the choices until i saw the film. the beginning of the movie was a little difficult to get into because of the high schoolishness of it, but it quickly won me over. robert pattinson was an inspired choice for edward, and cam gigandet was perfectly evil as james. the cinematography was dizzying and dazzling. some of the dialogue and characterizations could have been better, but overall it was a good translation of book to film. i am not sure if people who had not read the books would enjoy it as much.