Jordan Bickham
Staff Writer

Twilight fans remember when the first installment came to theaters Nov. 19, 2008.  And of course everyone can recall the packs of screaming, love-crazy teenage girls with their obsession for the handsome vampire Edward Cullen played by Robert Pattinson.

While Twilight is not the greatest, with mediocre acting, lame special effects and fake passion, every fan was satisfied, addicted and ready for more.  However, the unveiling of the first part of the final installment of the series on Nov. 18 left many with wonders as to what happened.  Where were all the screaming girls?  Where were the Twilight T-shirts and posters?  Is the fandom ending before the last movie even comes to theaters this summer?

Sophomore Twilight fan Francesca Graham does not think so.  Following the saga from the very beginning, she argues Breaking Dawn Part One, the beginning of the end of the Twilight saga, is just as much a hit as Twilight was in 2008.

“It’s the best one so far; the special effects were really believable, and they weren’t too cheesy,” Graham said. “It was just a really good movie, definitely my favorite so far.”

On the other hand, freshman Chloe Moino is very disappointed with the movie, especially after all the positive attention the movie was getting.

“The beginning of the movie was decent and actually very sweet, but that’s where it stopped.  The ending was horrible and was way too much,” Moino said.  “Overall, the movie was incredibly gory, disturbing, and very strange.  I would not go see it again.”

While the movie was gory and strange, sophomore Claire Brown thinks it was unique, intriguing and was an improvement on the previous movies in the series.

“Although the movie was not great, it definitely improved from the very first movie in the series,” Brown said. “Kristen Stewart’s acting improved and the plot was more complex than a teenage love story.”

After seeing Breaking Dawn recently, I somewhat agree.  Not being a Twilight fan, the movie is shockingly better than the previous three.  With a unique plot and improved acting, the film is definitely the best so far, but that still does not mean it is good.

In the beginning, I was a Twilight fan, and after reading the first book, I was hooked.  I read the entire series diligently and even went to the midnight premiere of the first movie.  The theater was packed with teenage girls, just waiting to get a glimpse of the real life Edward Cullen on the big screen for the first time.  But that is where the excitement stopped for me.

After watching the movie, I was devastated.  The film does not live up to the greatness of the book, but those who had never read it were in love.  While it seems like the excitement for these movies has dwindled, many still anticipate the films in theaters.

“I guess all the hype about it got me interested,” Graham said. “Everyone had read the books and were talking about them. My mom really wanted to see the movie [Twilight], and we rented it, and I really liked it.  So I watched the other movies.”

While the number of people who are excited about the Twilight films has dwindled, fans still showed up hours early to get in line for the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn for the Thursday night premiere, including Graham.

“I’ve seen all the movies, but this was my first midnight premiere for the series; and it was all sold out, there was a big turn out,” Graham said.

The premiere made a huge impact, and the fans that went spread the message of the improvement of the Twilight saga, causing crowds to go to the movie, even if they were not interested.

“Many of my friends went to the midnight premiere and came to school the next day tired, but happy they went, saying that the movie was much better than the previous movies,” Brown said.  “Because of this, I decided to go, and even though it was not my favorite movie, I was still impressed.”

Although Brown did not attend the midnight premiere, going to the movie a few days later was still a challenge and had the same feeling as if going to the midnight showing of the film.

“Even though it was a few days after the premiere, the theater was still crowded, and tickets were scarce,” Brown said. “I had to get to the theater 30 minutes earlier to try and get a decent seat.”

Outwardly, not many showed their excitement with Twilight T-shirts or by dressing up like at previous midnight premieres for the saga.  At the first movie premiere, almost everyone showed their support of the series through fan wear, but this year, there was almost none.

“We didn’t dress up, but there was almost no one there that was dressed up anyways,” Graham said.  “I saw a couple of Twilight T-shirts like ‘I love Edward Cullen,’ but I only saw two people wearing that and that was it.”

Although it seems as if the hype for the Twilight saga has disappeared since the first movie and the books, this is not the case. While the enthusiasm has died down a bit, it has not been diminished, and the movies are still a hit among many audiences, teenage girls especially.

The series may be almost over, with the second part of the Breaking Dawn storyline coming out this summer, but the interest in the series is not over yet; we still have a few more months of Twilight fans swooning over Edward Cullen, so get ready for Breaking Dawn Part Two coming up.