The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
Nathan Swank
November 21st, 2011
Regardless of my opinion, THE TWILIGHT SAGA, BREAKING DAWN – PART 1 is going to be hugely successful and widely beloved. This is one of the weirdest movie phenomenons I have ever witnessed and quite frankly I don’t understand. I’m trying my best to get on board though. I went into my screening with an open-mind and maybe even a little eager anticipation. Yes I admit, I’ve seen the first three films and am curious what is going to happen next. Like a bad reality television show, I’ve become invested in these characters and must see it through to the end. Like every film I see, I truly want to like it because it is always far more enjoyable to love than to hate. Unfortunately, BREAKING DAWN PART 1 not only failed but it actually might be the worst in the series.
The trailers for BREAKING DAWN PART 1 were clever, presenting the audience and all the other characters an invitation to the grand marriage of Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart). I lit up as these scenes from the trailer are basically the entire opening of the film and we jump right into the wedding. As a recently married man I got a little sentimental during these moments. Family, friends, even a couple of wolves are gathered around in happy celebration and (spoiler alert?) Kristen Stewart as Bella was actually smiling.
With the wedding out of the way, we can get this film moving and start the plot. Not reading the books, I was curious to see where the next conflict would arise. I knew Edward and Bella would get married and Bella would go into a hyper overdrive pregnancy with a vampire/human baby but that’s all I knew. So color me pasty vampire white surprised when I discovered that NOTHING ELSE HAPPENS.
As the honeymoon began, I painfully realized I was watching a rather bland soap opera that was going to stretch out one little story line for weeks. Watching two lovers on a honeymoon is not what I call entertaining even if one of them is a demon. Once Edward realizes that their night of consummation badly bruised his lovely new human bride, he once again cuts off the nookie. The two love bats fill their time hiking, swimming and playing chess on a beautiful island, that all make for riveting movie making. Bella has some morning sickness and in no time she is back with the entire Cullen clan as they try to figure out how to stop this super rapid pregnancy from killing Bella. Things get slightly more interesting only because Edward’s family is the best part of all the films. If they could focus a little more on them and a little less on the love triangle, it would make for a much better story. Sure you might turn away your legions of fans but at least I would be happy.
We must not forget the third piece of the three-piece puzzle, Jacob (Taylor Lautner), who is still upset with Bella’s choice to eventually become a bloodsucker and to keep her child. But his anger is overcome by his love for her and he finds himself once again in an alliance with his enemy and against his own wolf pack, which have the Cullen clan trapped in their home. Director Bill Condon forces some nice visuals, but with a group of people sitting around inside debating abortion and a pack of wolves speaking LOOK WHO’S TALKING style outside, there’s really not much to look at. Without much action, one must rely on the dialogue, which has never been a strong suit in the Stephenie Meyer series.
Despite the predictability and cheesy music, the very ending actually brings a little life back into the picture but by that time I was so restless I was grabbing at anything for some sort of energy to rejuvenate the film. Be sure to stick around for the credits to see Michael Sheen as Aro show the best performance of the film. I can only hope that PART 2 will have all the missing excitement from PART 1 that us non-Twi-hards can finally jump on board with.
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