I can't even put into words how much I was looking forward to Breaking Dawn. As a huge fan of the Twilight books and films, I had been excited to see this in the flesh (so to speak) from the moment I started reading the book.
Writing the review however, is something I was not looking forward to. I feel much like I did when I was faced with writing the review for Source Code, my first review of a Jake Gyllenhaal film. Being a huge fan of his, and knowing that most of my readers were aware of that fact, left me feeling like I was going to be subject to more scrutiny for that review than for most others. And in many ways I was, but I also think I managed to surprise most with how impartial and objective I was to that film and I hope to do the same here. Yes, I am a Twilight fan, but this will not automatically make me biased and a bad reviewer!
My job is also harder here than say, when I was writing the review for the last Harry Potter film, as I have not reviewed any of the previous Twilight films. Therefore I ask you to bear with me while I sum up. For those who have been living under a rock for the last six years, Twilight is the first in a series of four books and so far, four movies. Twilight tells the story of Bella Swan, a normal teenage girl who lives with her mother in Phoenix but decides to move back to her father's home town of Forks when her mother remarries. On her first day at her new school she meets Edward, who just happens to be a vampire. Edward is immediately drawn to Bella's scent and thirsts for her blood over all others, which makes it particularly trying for him when she starts to fall in love with him, and him with her. The situation is exacerbated when a group of nomad vampires come to town who are hell bent on ending Bella's life.
In the second book/film, New Moon, Edward decides to leave Bella in the hope that she will have a much more normal and safe life without him in it. What he doesn't know is that her best friend Jacob is about to have a life altering experience of his own which will again put Bella's life in danger, when he realises he is a werewolf. Meanwhile, Edward's sister Alice who sees visions of the future, informs Edward that she has seen Bella's death, only for the 'vision' to be revealed as one of Bella cliff diving, rather than committing suicide. But it's too late, Edward has already approached vampire royalty and all round law enforcers, The Volturi, to end his life as he cannot live without Bella.
Book and film number three, Eclipse, sees The Volturi take more of an interest in Bella as one of the 'laws' of their world is for no human to be aware of their existence. As she does, they give Edward an ultimatum, that Bella be killed or be turned. The latter being a prospect Bella would be quite happy with, but which Edward does not want to happen. He believes that humans have a soul and that transforming Bella would take hers away. But with the wolfpack growing in numbers, the return of one of the nomads, and a visit from The Volturi fast approaching, Edward may have no choice but to turn Bella or risk losing her forever.
Which brings us to book number four, Breaking Dawn which is being split (a la the final Harry Potter book) into two films, Breaking Dawn Part 1 and Part 2. Now the cynical person in me says this is a money spinner for Summit, the production company behind the Twilight films, as Eclipse was easily as big a book as Breaking Dawn and they only felt the need to make one of those! But the fan in me is quite happy that they have split the final book as there is a LOT in it and it would have meant a lot of cutting or downsizing of important scenes.
*The only spoilers in this review are already contained in the trailer so if you've seen that, fear not!*
In Breaking Dawn Part 1 we open on preperations for Bella and Edward's wedding. Which as weddings go, goes pretty much without a hitch. The honeymoon however is a slightly trickier situation as Edward is much stronger than Bella. This matched with his blood lust is a combination that screams trouble. But as any normal girl would, Bella wants her honeymoon to be normal, and that means sex. What neither of them was expecting was for Bella to be expecting soon after. And so begins a race against time to save Bella before the thing inside her kills her from the inside out.
It's funny how when I reviewed Harry Potter, I had only read the first few books, and so for the later films I couldn't compare the two. Yet for Twilight, having read them all (several times over), I feel like I have to compare them to the books. And I have to say that this one remained pretty darn faithful.
*Spoiler Alert* The one scene I was worried about was the birth scene as I wasn't sure if the film was going to end before/during that scene and even if it was intact I wasn't sure how it could be done as in the book it's very gory. It was probably the only scene in the film that I didn't feel they'd done right. That's not to say I didn't like it, it just wasn't how I'd imagined it would be. Everyone goes on about the sex in Breaking Dawn, but there really isn't any in the book, it's all just implied, whereas the birth scene is described very clearly, and it wasn't how I thought it would be. Having said that, I re-read the birth scene when I got home and was surprised at how close they kept the movie to the book. Other than one change it was pretty much word for word as it is in the book. *End Spoiler Alert*
The wedding was beautiful and actually better than I'd imagined. The honeymoon was almost exactly as I'd pictured in my head. The one aspect that shocked me was how good the special effects/make up was in the latter stages of Bella's pregnancy. The look they went for was much more horrific than I'd imagined, and so well done.
Some of the green screen surrounding the house looks a bit naff and the wolf telepathy scene is a bit of a bore but I don't think they could have done it another way. Overall I think Bill Condon did a great job. He's come in on the last two films, the ones which the fans are probably most protective of and most anticipated of all the Twilight films, with a cast who are already so close they're like a family, and he's had to make sure he's lived up to their expectations as well as ours. I think he's done well and I have high hopes for part 2.
The cast, well I know this will be the most scrutinised part, "Kristen can't act/Rob's wooden/Taylor just takes his shirt off and calls it acting", I've heard it all a million times. I know how much stick I'll get for this but I do actually think Kristen Stewart is a good actress, maybe she's not showcased it so much in these films, but there's no denying that she can act. And she definitely gets to do more in this film than just lust after the sparkly one. Speaking of which, Robert Pattinson also has more to do in this film than just shine, he (literally) gets his teeth into this part finally and does some fine work in the birth scene. Taylor has a few good scenes in this film and although I still don't like Jacob, I do like his portrayal of him more than I liked the character in the books.
I think fans of the books and previous films will love it. Those who think Twilight is for girls should probably avoid. It's not perfect but it's very faithful to the source material. 8 out of 10.
In Breaking Dawn Part 1 we open on preperations for Bella and Edward's wedding. Which as weddings go, goes pretty much without a hitch. The honeymoon however is a slightly trickier situation as Edward is much stronger than Bella. This matched with his blood lust is a combination that screams trouble. But as any normal girl would, Bella wants her honeymoon to be normal, and that means sex. What neither of them was expecting was for Bella to be expecting soon after. And so begins a race against time to save Bella before the thing inside her kills her from the inside out.
It's funny how when I reviewed Harry Potter, I had only read the first few books, and so for the later films I couldn't compare the two. Yet for Twilight, having read them all (several times over), I feel like I have to compare them to the books. And I have to say that this one remained pretty darn faithful.
*Spoiler Alert* The one scene I was worried about was the birth scene as I wasn't sure if the film was going to end before/during that scene and even if it was intact I wasn't sure how it could be done as in the book it's very gory. It was probably the only scene in the film that I didn't feel they'd done right. That's not to say I didn't like it, it just wasn't how I'd imagined it would be. Everyone goes on about the sex in Breaking Dawn, but there really isn't any in the book, it's all just implied, whereas the birth scene is described very clearly, and it wasn't how I thought it would be. Having said that, I re-read the birth scene when I got home and was surprised at how close they kept the movie to the book. Other than one change it was pretty much word for word as it is in the book. *End Spoiler Alert*
The wedding was beautiful and actually better than I'd imagined. The honeymoon was almost exactly as I'd pictured in my head. The one aspect that shocked me was how good the special effects/make up was in the latter stages of Bella's pregnancy. The look they went for was much more horrific than I'd imagined, and so well done.
Some of the green screen surrounding the house looks a bit naff and the wolf telepathy scene is a bit of a bore but I don't think they could have done it another way. Overall I think Bill Condon did a great job. He's come in on the last two films, the ones which the fans are probably most protective of and most anticipated of all the Twilight films, with a cast who are already so close they're like a family, and he's had to make sure he's lived up to their expectations as well as ours. I think he's done well and I have high hopes for part 2.
The cast, well I know this will be the most scrutinised part, "Kristen can't act/Rob's wooden/Taylor just takes his shirt off and calls it acting", I've heard it all a million times. I know how much stick I'll get for this but I do actually think Kristen Stewart is a good actress, maybe she's not showcased it so much in these films, but there's no denying that she can act. And she definitely gets to do more in this film than just lust after the sparkly one. Speaking of which, Robert Pattinson also has more to do in this film than just shine, he (literally) gets his teeth into this part finally and does some fine work in the birth scene. Taylor has a few good scenes in this film and although I still don't like Jacob, I do like his portrayal of him more than I liked the character in the books.
I think fans of the books and previous films will love it. Those who think Twilight is for girls should probably avoid. It's not perfect but it's very faithful to the source material. 8 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 18th November 2011
UK Release Date - 18th November 2011
Cast Overview:
Kristen Stewart ~ Bella Swan
Robert Pattinson ~ Edward Cullen
Taylor Lautner ~ Jacob Black
Gil Birmingham ~ Billy Black
Billy Burke ~ Charlie Swan
Sarah Clarke ~ Renee
Ashley Greene ~ Alice Cullen
Jackson Rathbone ~ Jasper Hale
Peter Facinelli ~ Dr Carlisle Cullen
Elizabeth Reaser ~ Esme Cullen
Kellan Lutz ~ Emmett Cullen
Nikki Reed ~ Rosalie Hale
Anna Kendrick ~ Jessica
Christian Serratos ~ Angela
Justin Chon ~ Eric
Michael Welch ~ Mike
Michael Sheen ~ Aro
Christopher Heyerdahl ~ Marcus
Jamie Campbell Bower ~ Caius
Charlie Bewley ~ Demetri
Daniel Cudmore ~ Felix
Mia Maestro ~ Carmen
Maggie Grace ~ Irina
MyAnna Buring ~ Tanya
Booboo Stewart ~ Seth Clearwater
Julia Jones ~ Leah Clearwater
Alex Rice ~ Sue Clearwater
Kiowa Gordon ~ Embry
Tyson Houseman ~ Quil
Chaske Spencer ~ Sam Uley
Bronson Pelletier ~ Jared
Alex Meraz ~ Paul
Tinsel Korey ~ Emily
Director ~ Bill Condon
Writer(s) ~ Melissa Rosenberg (Screenplay) and Stephenie Meyer (Novel)
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