There is something alluring about a vampire that falls in love with what should be the victim, or as Edward Cullen says, "The lion has fallen in love with the lamb".

First we have a best selling series that started with Twilight.  Then the adapted Screenplay that pretty much stays the course of the book in both thought and deed, making judicious editing for times sake and content.
Next we have a couple of actors, that play outsiders.  A Vampire in High School ? and a 17 year quirky misfit that is basically a loner and likes it.  A perfect setting in the northwest in Forks Washington to add to the backdrop.  Overcast, wet, mostly sunless area, perfect for a Vampire. 

Bella decides to move to Forks,Wa. when her mother marries a semi-pro ballplayer and they are going to be on the go.  Her father another loner is the chief of police, and makes her welcome in the small community.  He especially gives her space. On Bella's first day in school, Edward Cullen is sitting at a table with his siblings, all "adopted" when Bella makes her entrance.  Unknown to Bella, just her "aroma" or smell is enough to drive Edward almost mad.  But something is different.  He is not wanting to turn her into a monster or drain her blood, quite the opposite he is instantly smitten with her and doesn't know how to react.  In time through a series of discoveries, and one fateful event in a parking lot where somehow in blink of an eye Edward jumps to her side and stops an on coming van from crushing her, they fall in love. 

To add complications to this a wondering band of vampires are hunting and killing people in this area and it might bring attention to the Cullens who are "vegetarian" vampires drinking only animal blood and pretty much working their art and blending in each community a few years at a time before having to move on because they don't age.  One of these vampires is a tracker and gets the urge to hunt and kill Bella, more so because the Cullens are protecting here, almost like a pet.  The rest of the movie follows this thread.

IT was predictable in the sense that the movie has to succeed due to the fan base.  On it's on merit there is something to be said positive about a love story between teens that doesn't immediately fall into or degrade into a physical act of sex.  If your looking for a hot love scene with the vampire and the maiden then take a pass.  This is real romance of the 40's movies.  In fact there is a strong chemistry with  Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

Stephie Meyer wrote a story of Abstinence. She wrote of an almost uncontrollable desire of a man in the heat of the moment losing all control and of a woman that wants to be taken. In the book and a few times in the movie we see Edward come to that point of no return where he might just take a bite or in a playful mood if he is not careful he could kill her.  Almost like a cat playing with a mouse that has become a toy and then , oops It bites too hard and the mouse is dead,  OR oops I sucked a little blood and drank it all.

Interestingly men will tell you that some women have a biological pheromone that they can sense.  A scent that is compelling, alluring, erotic and captivating all in one. I have experienced that personally and will attest to it, no matter what someone says.  Then again do men have it?  That I can't say.  So I was not the least bit shocked when Edwards olfactory lobes went into high gear.

This is a fairly low budget film, made for a targeted audience that is coming out in droves to see it.  I enjoyed more that I had read the book before seeing it and took special delight in certain scenes as the teens swooned and cheered. 

It is OK to take your teenager and tweeners to this one but leave the toddlers at home.

Finally for all skeptics that do not believe in romantic love or have never experienced that all consuming desire, I recommend it.  Unlike a dime store romantic novel, this one is not so soon forgotten.