What took the books chapters to say, the movie successfully accomplished with a few lines of dialogue. What took chapters of dealings with a written rather whiny Jacob to get across in the book took mere moments with a much more mature Jacob in the movie.
If you dislike the book Jacob, like I do, you find yourself actually liking his character.
Bella's nightmares and her depression were portrayed in a very tragic way and they made it so it was not a glorified, teenage depression but one of true heartache and a feeling of nothing more or less than absolute loss. The volturi scene and left you as awed as it did flinching. The wolves were amazing! I can't say enough about the cgi on them.
Its loyal to the book. The casting is perfect. Absolutely perfect. The Cullens do appear to be just as beautiful and charming as the book describes them. I can't think of a more perfect main character cast than this except for Harry Potter and LOTR. These actors and actresses cared about this movie. The special effects are good. The soundtrack is appropriate, not too loud and does as it should, aids the scenes.
You can feel the chemistry on screen and even if you have not read the books, you leave this story, caring about Bella and Edward. Its funny, its dramatic, its serious and it charming.
Thank you Summit! Give us 2, 3 and 4 now. And thank you for hiring Robert Pattinson. He truly is a creative gift to us all.