‘Breaking Dawn’ nearly total yawn

I am no stranger to the ‘Twilight’ saga film series. I saw the first on a whim, enjoyed it for what it was but thought nothing more. I saw the second to see where the story would go, and wound up being angry at Bella for not choosing Jacob because he is clearly the better option because sure immortality is great right up until you know you have to leave your friends and family behind because they die and you don’t. I digress. I saw the third because I figure I’d already seen the first two that I might as well see the next one. You know what? The third was actually quite good. More action, back story, and the acting improved across the board. Now here we are with the penultimate film in the series, ‘Breaking Dawn: Part 1’.

**Beware Spoilers ahead**


No way I’m giving up now having already invested three separate movie-going sessions on the first films. Thus, I ventured out after the film had been out a few weeks (so to avoid the tweens and Twi-hards) and decided to formulate my own opinion on the film.

Meh.



I realise that the splitting up of the film is to make sure that as many details from the book can be in the film but I felt cheated. There were numerous montages of playing chess, vampire-human relations, and playful teasing in the form of lingerie (which I approve). And there was only ONE Taylor Lautner shirtless scene! C’mon! I thought this was a ‘Twilight’ movie! The film felt longer than it was and any drama was negated by its seeming never-ending length.

For me, the best portions of the film are when Esme and Carlisle are on screen. Elizabeth Reaser and Peter Facinelli are both capable actors who do well to make their characters more than just the leaders of the Cullen coven. The are there to guide them along their journey as they try to blend in with their community.
Billy Burke as Charlie Swan, has the dad nailed down and delivers some of the best intentionally funny lines of the film. Nikki Reed as Rosalie is another character I wish we’d see more of because she is there to negate Bella’s choice of becoming a vampire because she sees it as a lack of respect for mortality. An interesting parallel that is not fully explored, but then again this film series is about the romance.

The romance is not for me and I think she made the wrong choice with Edward so I move on.

So Bella gets herself knocked up and starts dying because the fetus is killing her. I had no idea there’d be a Roe v. Wade debate in the middle of this film and I was surprised so I sat up in my seat wondering how it would all play out. Sadly, that scene lasts a few minutes and then we move on. I guess we can’t get too heavy here can we?

The film is drawn out too long and when everything came to a head it ended soon after. There was this whole beef with the vampires and wolves fighting and Jacob leaving the pack (oh and we could hear the wolves talking – in wolf form) and then they were coming after the Cullens if Bella died and then it ended because Jacob decided he wanted some wolf-on-wolf action for himself by imprinting on Sam’s ex-girlfriend. Crazy.

The most intense part of the film comes at the end when Bella has delivered and Edward has given up trying to revive her. We see Edward’s venom surge through her body and attach itself to her heart, blood vessels, and reattach her broken spine. This is a very cool piece of digital camerawork as we see Bella being reborn as a vampire. Then they tease us with Bella waking up as a vampire. Gah! They’ve got me hooked. Looks like I’ll be seeing Part 2 next year when it’s released.