With a well-known cast, beautiful sets, and passable acting, the last installment in The Twilight Saga, exceeds expectations.
The Twilight Saga closes with the final movie in the series. Poster from Google Images
After reading every book and seeing every movie, my expectations were low when I went to see The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part Two. I figured that since the last four movies had been letdowns, it was time to lower my expectations. Not only was I pleasantly surprised with a good movie with good action, but this movie almost made me forget that I had read the books, which made every scene seem new, exciting, and, at times, nerve-racking.
Though it’s not the best cinematic work, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn- Part Two provides closure for the wildly popular series. The visually pleasing segments and acting that involved more use of expression than talking made the fourth installment in the Twilight cycle the absolute best, revolving around Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart, Snow White and the Huntsman), an eighteen-year-old who must overcome the difficulties of becoming a newborn vampire and protect her family from the tyrannical leader of the vampires, the Volturi, who want to eradicate her whole family, including her baby daughter.
Bella Swan is faced with one of the hardest situations in her life. After giving birth to a half-vampire baby, her husband Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson, Water for Elephants) was forced to turn her into a vampire. Right when she wants nothing but to spend time with her new family, she must be kept away from them until she can control her bloodlust. Bella proves that she’s a fast learner, and is soon spending every spare moment with her exquisite child, but her problems don’t end there. Her daughter, Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy), could easily be mistaken for an immortal child, or a kid who has been turned into a vampire, which is illegal in vampire society. This leads to a major conflict with the Volturi, a vampire law-enforcement group headed by brothers Aro (Michael Sheen, Midnight in Paris), Caius (Jamie Campbell-Bower, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1), and Marcus (Christopher Heyerdahl, The Twilight Saga: New Moon). Throughout the movie, Bella is forced to consider morbid outcomes, as an inevitable fight is approaching and she must learn to extend her “gift” (a type of mental shield that makes her immune to the psychological attacks that other “gifted” vampires can use to incapacitate the enemy) to her family and friends. Amidst all this conflict, her best friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner, Abduction), a werewolf (the enemies of the vampires), has imprinted on Renesmee. “Imprinting” is like love at first sight, except it can happen at any time, even if the person is only a baby. Due to this bond Jacob has formed with Renesmee, he is reluctant to let Bella near her until she has proved that she can control her bloodlust. At times, the situation is so dark it’s easy to forget that Bella, despite all of her trials, is still only 18 years old.
Of all the characters in the movie, it seemed like Bella, Edward, and Aro were the only ones with significant speaking roles. The rest of the characters, like Jacob, were left to set the tone for the movie through their actions rather than words. Other than the occasional teasing comment from Emmett Cullen (Kellan Lutz, Immortals) and encouraging statements from others, much of the heavy lifting in regard to speaking is done by the main three characters. While this made some parts of the movie very slow, as there wasn’t much variety or action in the first half of the movie, it makes sense. The plot revolves around Bella and Edward from the Cullen family, and Aro from the Volturi. It’s a lot to follow, and since only three characters have significant speaking roles the viewers have less content that could distract them from the story.
After the Cullen family gathers their friends from around the world at their house, the real action begins. Bella trains to extend her “shield” with Kate (Casey LaBow, Hide Away), a vampire from Denali who can shock people by touching them. Soon after these lessons, the Volturi arrive, and the family has to do some quick talking to keep them from killing the ramshackle band of family and friends. From the point where the Volturi arrive, to the end of the movie, I was glued to the screen. Even though I read the books, it created a feeling of suspense and nervousness for the characters. For instance, when Edward takes Bella on her first hunting trip as a vampire. She attacks a mountain lion but then realizes that humans, who are much tastier than mountain lions, are near. She runs to them, and the run is so close to the humans that I thought she might kill them, even though it clearly states in the book that she restrains herself. I’ll admit that I almost had a mini panic attack, because if they changed something so big in the very beginning, it would be very likely that they’d stray far from the original story, and I wouldn’t be able to predict what would happen.
For an on-screen adaption of a book, Breaking Dawn stayed remarkably true to the original story. My only qualm is that the fight scene between the Volturi and the Cullens was ruined for me because they strayed very far from what the book said, too far for the illusion they were trying to create to be true. They kill off important main characters, and when half of the Cullen family had died and Aro was about to die, it became obvious that it was just a ruse. It seemed like it was really dramatic, too, with lots of jumping and fancy fighting moves, and characters did things that they didn’t do in the book. For instance, one of the Cullens’ gifted vampire friends, Ben, opens up a giant rift in the earth, which numerous vampires and werewolves fall in to, including Seth (BooBoo Stewart, The Conrad Boys) and Leah (Julia Jones, Jonah Hex), two werewolves who have a fairly large role in the last book.
Overall, Breaking Dawn: Part 2 exceeded expectations. From the dramatic beginning to the tribute for all the actors who have ever appeared in a Twilight film, the visual aspects and convincible acting made this movie the undisputable best in the series, and a success for the franchise.
Rating: ★★★
