“Twilight” is an age-old tale.

Girl meets vampire. Both girl and vampire find each other irresistible, but vampire pushes her away only later to protect her from other bloodthirsty vampires.

After months of hype, “Twilight” has finally arrived on the silver screen.

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart, “Panic Room, Jumper”) moves to Forks, Wash. to live with her father.

Bella is automatically entrancing to those in her new school, but Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson,”Harry Potter”) is the only guy who catches her eye.

Everyone knows that Edward and his family are unusual, but only Bella is able to put all of the pieces together to figure out they are vampires.

Since both Edward and Bella are so enchanting to the normal world, it is no wonder that they become captivated with each other and fall in love.

The Cullen family are “vegetarian” vampires that feast only on the blood of animals, so Bella’s life is not in danger with them.

It isn’t long before a small group of vampires roam closer to Forks, leaving a trail of blood-drained humans along the way.

The Cullens and the other vampires finally meet, and Bella is caught in the middle.

Unlucky for Bella, one of the vampires the family meets, James (Cam Gigandet, “The O.C.”), is a tracker and becomes determined to kill Bella. Once he gains the scent of a Bella, he won’t stop until he has her.

Edward has no other choice but to do whatever he can to protect Bella.

“Twilight” is definitely a different take on the old vampire story, which may not be satisfying to vampire purists.

The cloudy, rainy climate of Washington is enough for the Cullen family not to be discovered for who they really are.

Unlike other vampires stories where sunlight can prove deadly, when a vampire is exposed to light, his or her skin becomes glittery.

The Cullen family moves regularly so the younger vampires are able to continuously go to high school to give the appearance of a normal life.

Since high school isn’t necessarily an enjoyable experience for most people, it may be hard to believe Edward and his “siblings” would want to relive high school for centuries.

Just like every popular book that was translated into a movie, “Twilight” does not exactly follow the book. The movie is not able to capture the same detail and plot complexities that captivated fans of the book.

Those who have not read the books and want to see what the hype is about will, at the very least, be mildly entertained and know what all the excitement is about.

Some parts of the movie may be hokey or confusing to those who are not familiar with the series, but it isn’t a substantial problem.

Fans of “Twilight” will most likely be satisfied with the outcome of the movie, and those who don’t understand why the books are so popular may be pleasantly surprised.

Three out of five stars.

lifeline@cm-life.com

E-mail the author: Holly Stamps