The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

The only reason the movie is better than the book is for one reason. Even though it was a fake-out, at least they gave us an action scene instead of them showing up, they say two lines, and just leave!

This is the first time I sat in a theatre to watch a Twilight movie. I think the theatre experience maybe helped me enjoy the film more than I should have. Nevertheless, Breaking Dawn Part II is not only the best entry in the franchise, it's also the worst. How can that be? For a good 20 minutes, the film tries to be daring and does something different. Yet it is all undone by playing it safe and ruining what came before it.

I have to stress that yes, this film did NOT have to be broken up into two. The first film was an hour and a half of filler, followed by 20 minutes of awesomeness. This entry is an hour and a half of build-up, followed by 20 minutes of awesomeness X10, followed by the worst decision the series has ever made to date.

I have seen every Twilight movie, I'm not a fan, nor am I a hater. I'm always objective when it comes to these movies. The highest rating I've given one of them is a 5, that went to Eclipse. Breaking Dawn Part II could have easily gotten a 7 from me, had they had the balls to go through with what we were witnessing. A twist so inane, that it actually made me boo at the screen. I don't think I've ever booed at any movie in the theatre before, so congratulations Breaking Dawn Part II, you achieved something.

Now, that awesomeness that I was speaking of, it is indeed awesome. I was cheering, I was laughing, I was having a blast. The people around me, I'm assuming fans, were gasping at the carnage they were witnessing. I had a giant smile on my face. Did the creators finally take the series in a bold direction? Did they finally have the balls to do something different? Yes, they did, but then they ruin it. I can't stress how awful that made me feel.

K-Stew, finally has something to do other than swoon over Edward, resist the urges from Jacob and act like a whiny teenager. She is a vampire, so she has to learn to be one, although it seems she has no problem with the thirst and heightened senses. There is no struggle for her, which makes this whole aspect a bit shallow. Jacob, unfortunately has nothing to do in this entry other than glare at everyone who comes near Renesmee. So the character shifts his focus from one girl to the next, nothing more for him to do, yawn.

Speaking of Renesmee (stupid name), we have what is probably one of the creepiest babies to ever grace the silver screen. Why they chose to use CGI for the face of the baby, other than using a normal one is beyond me. It looks unnatural and comical. The movement doesn't flow and for some reason they decide to keep this CGI face with the kid as she grows older until they finally have the older actress in the role.

As with every Twilight film, there are moments of unintentional laughter, bad acting, dialogue and CGI. Michael Sheen seems to be having fun acting like a complete weirdo and the others seem to be happy they are finished with this series. Now, to be completely honest, this entire saga could have been told in three movies. Twilight for the set up, Eclipse for conflict, Breaking Dawn for the closure. Eliminate the pointless New Moon and condense these two movies into one.

Twilight is finally over. No more sparkling vampires, no more team Edwards or team Jacobs and no more shirtless scenes of young men. Good bye Twilight, I do not look forward to the inevitable remakes.

I have just come home from watching this last installment of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 2 with my wife. I don't know what is with these Twilight movies that we look forward to watching them, simply to see how bad they are. Haha! The poster showing the three main characters running did not hold much promise of a better film.

This film starts where the last film left off. Bella has just given birth to her daughter Renesmee. This supernatural birth brings Bella close to death, so Edward saves her by making her a vampire. Now, when the Volturri find out about Renesmee, they consider her a threat to their existence and hence seek to kill her. Will the Cullen family be able to protect Renesmee and themselves from ultimate destruction?

The beginning of this movie are filled with the same clunky scenes and corny dialog that we have all seen and cringed to in all the previous movies. The very long scene showing Bella's reaction to Jacob's imprinting is particularly hilarious. There was also the requisite Jacob striptease scene strictly for Team Jacob fanatics.

The climactic battle scenes between the Cullens and the Volturri were another matter though. Sure it was pure computer generated mayhem and violence. But for those who have not read the books and just followed the films, there was some imaginative storytelling at work here for a change. I am actually curious how this part of the story was written in the book. I will give this movie an extra point for this part.

In the closing scenes set in the familiar field of purple flowers we have seen before, the whole Twilight saga ends with an incredibly thick serving of cheese. I am not surprised. It ends as it started: cheesy. It never really aspired to be more, so let the Twi-hard fans enjoy this last film while it lasts. So now that it all ends, I'm pretty sure the rest of the world will also be missing Bella and her two other-worldly consorts. We won't have a next film to look forward to nitpick anymore.

'The Twilight Saga' comes to an end in possibly the most subversively underwhelming way. However, you can't really hold it against this franchise for at least being very consistent with its quality.

This movie is treating its moments of culmination as if it's been highly anticipated when, in actuality, the series has not been building up to the conclusion it reaches, which only happens due to a misunderstanding that's slowly resolved. The CGI baby is freaky, distracting, and just so perplexing that it's best left ignored. Bella apparently has a brain now, and with it a problem with Jacob imprinting on, and therefore protecting, her baby, as she's constantly leaving it in anyone else's protection other than her own. Edward has lost all of his appeal at this point, being left as one of the least compelling characters in this instalment. Carlisle, Alice and Charlie are my personal stand-outs, and are each noticeably absent or sidelined in favour of newer, more uninteresting characters. Michael Sheen's presence is felt more here than in maybe any other instalment, but still so brief that he's hardly all that interesting even though he's supposedly the primary overarching antagonist. The effects, score and camera work are on par with the previous films, which isn't saying much but there's not much else to say.

A suitable end to an overly broody, dramatic franchise, with improved acting compared to the other films, and a resolution that just let's you know it's all over now.

As said in my review of Breaking Dawn: Part 1, I am neither a fan or detractor of the Twilight Saga, though in terms of the books I only lasted the first chapter of the first book. Of the movies, for me the best was Eclipse, and the worst New Moon. In terms of Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 I'd say that it is a marginal improvement over Breaking Dawn: Part 1 and ranking the whole saga I'd put it bang in the middle, but for a finale to a film series I found it very underwhelming.

Does it have good points? Yes actually. I did think the scenery was really lovely, very evergreen-looking, and the photography did have some nice shots(some of the zooming though does get too much). I also thought that Breaking Dawn: Part 2 did have the best music score, courtesy of Carter Burwell, of the saga, and that Renesmee was just adorable. There are a few performances that were quite good. Michael Sheen does ham things up but he is gleefully fun to watch, Billy Burke is once again amusing and Ashley Greene is good as Alice. Dakota Fanning is also not too bad, I think an improvement over the previous instalments, but I have seen her give better performances in better movies.

That said, I am still not convinced by the acting of the three leads. I will say though that Kristen Stewart does give her best performance of the series, she does finally crack a smile after looking bored previously, she doesn't mope around as much and she does show some genuine concern regarding Bella's situation. However, and it doesn't help that Bella(in my eyes) is such a dull and unlikeable character, I still didn't find her entirely convincing, her eyes show no signs of life, her face lacks expression and she has a lot of flat line delivery. Robert Pattinson does have some sweet chemistry with her, but he does look constipated a lot and his facial expressions have a tendency to be on the hammy side. They are not that bad though compared to Taylor Lautner, who is unbearably wooden here as Jacob and the constant taking off of his shirt got old quickly.

On top of that, Bill Condon's direction seems rather uninspired. I am familiar with Condon and do find him a promising director/writer who observes things well, Gods and Monsters is one of my favourites, Kinsey is very interesting and Dreamgirls is decent. But there is little of what these things as good as they were on display here, so as like the previous instalment there is the sense that Condon was not in his comfort zone. A lot of things don't help though, as the dialogue continues to be clunky and almost like watching an overly-melodramatic soap opera- especially in the first half where everything is lacking in any kind of intent- and the story is plodding- though the beginning also manages to feel very rushed- in its exposition with scenes dragging on too long and very little that is exciting or surprising. The ending has no real gusto or emotional punch(though actually it still manages to be the highlight of the entire film), the fight scenes are clumsily choreographed, the opening credits go on for far too long and you just don't care for any of the characters.

In regard to the special effects and make-up, they are pretty terrible here. The computer generated wolves manage to be both cheesy and stupid in design and manner and the red glaring contact lenses look dodgy and are more at home in a cartoon. While Renesmee as a baby looks so creepily fake that it is laughable, the be-headings are the equivalent of ripping the head of your favourite toy in a rage and the white greasepaint passing for make-up all looks blotchy and artificial. The closing moments are clichéd and reek of cheese as well, and the vampires are as far away from authentic as you could come. Overall, not the best or worst of the series, but for a saga finale it was underwhelming, where it had potential to go out on a bang it was more of a whimper.

4/10 Bethany Cox