The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 Movie Review
Dare I say it? I actually enjoyed THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN – PART 2. I know! I’m just as surprised as you are. I’m sure Twi-Hard fans everywhere (including my mom) will be rejoicing that at least one critic liked a Twilight film. Don’t get me wrong, the final film is still absolutely ridiculous, but it does one thing the others don’t – it is entertaining from start to finish.
Bella (Kristen Stewart) is now a vampire and must adjust to her new form. As she discovers her newly heightened senses through speed, strength and thirst for blood, Bella learns she has an incredible ability of self control for a beginner vampire. This bodes well since she still has an all-human father and a half-human child who she would prefer not to devour. Meanwhile, Renesmee is growing at an alarming rate shown through extremely poor CGI baby heads. Seriously, why not use an actual baby? Every time the awkward baby face comes on the screen, it’s all one can do not to laugh at such out of place absurdity.
But it is not all fun and games, as the Volturi (led by the scene stealing Michael Sheen as Aro) catch wind of Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella’s child. Since having a vampire child biologically is unprecedented, the Volturi believe the child was turned, which is forbidden among vampires and penalized by death. The Cullens must seek out help from other clans across the globe to protect their innocent child from the Volturi.
I have a lot of problems with THE TWILIGHT SAGA (click the link to read my review of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN – PART 1), but I understand the critical eye isn’t for these films. It’s riddled with atrocious dialogue, terrible plot structure, poor character motivations and bad acting. The big problem for me is that despite these unbearable flaws, the movies are just plain dull. However, BREAKING DAWN – PART 2 corrects that ship by filling the screen with steady action, humorous scenes and a final head-rolling, wolf-biting, blow out battle of epic proportions.
One aspect that sets BREAKING DAWN – PART 2 apart from the other TWILIGHT films is the fact, Bella no longer is so helpless and whiney needing constant protection. Plus, with Jacob (Taylor Lautner) firmly imprinted upon Renesmee (which is one of the more intriguing concepts), the tiresome love triangle is completely done, leaving time to focus on character traits other than our main three being identified by who they love. With these storylines out of the way, the rest of the more interesting characters, such as the other Cullens and their new friends have time to shine.
Director Bill Condon does a nice job introducing different characters and establishing them well enough so they aren’t forgotten. I found myself genuinely invested in the new vampires, wishing they had a little more screen time. From what I understand, the director took some liberties toward the end by creating the massive battle that is absent from the book. While I might think a certain tactic (that will remain secret) is sort of a cheat, I do forgive Condon since I know the fault lies in the poor writing to which the film is somewhat bound.
Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and yes, even Kristen Stewart seem much more comfortable in their respective roles, but perhaps that’s because their inadequacies are now part of their characters that we have endured for so long. Nevertheless, I am happy to say that while some of my joy and laughter was probably not the type BREAKING DAWN – PART 2 had intended, I embraced the bad and had a good time.
Check out our reviews of the other Twilight films: TWILIGHT, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1
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