The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn- Part 1
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Ashley Greene, Anna Kendrick, Jackson Rathbone, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Michael Sheen, Maggie Grace, Mackenzie Foy, Daniel Cudmore
Directed by: Bill Condon
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama, Romance, Fantasy
2011

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) get married, but an unexpected turn of events causes mortal danger for Bella and inspires the wolf pack to attack.

Review:

Tim: I'm still shocked that I don't hate any of the Twilight movies. After surprisingly enjoying the first two, Eclipse just wasn't as good. It marked the first step down in quality for the franchise, and I feared this film would follow the same pattern. I'm happy to say that The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn- Part 1 is actually a bit better than the previous film (though not as good as Twilight or New Moon. I'll take an uptick in quality, no matter how small.

This film does feel like a "Part 1", where not a whole lot actually happens. This could be considered a spoiler, so skip the rest of this paragraph if you haven't seen the film. So what really happens in this movie? Bella and Edward get married, Bella gets pregnant, and has the baby. That's it. The entire 117 minute film is basically just these three big events. However, the movie still moves at a fairly quick pace. It was only after it ended that I realized not a whole lot actually happened.

You can complain and criticize all you want about the stupidity of these books and the awful message they deliver. I agree that everything about Twilight is inherently stupid. However, the characters are memorable enough that it's hard not to get caught up in the story. After three films of the Bella-Edward-Jacob love triangle, I admit I'm very interested to see how it all turns out. While Eclipse felt like the story was just treading water, this movie moves their relationship forward. Edward and Bella get married, much to the chagrin of Team Jacob (me). However, the story is still pretty interesting, especially with the unplanned pregnancy. This was pretty crazy, and the movie did a fantastic job of showing the toll it took on Bella. The special effects were pretty amazing, and it was hard to watch her get sicker and sicker and smaller and smaller.

Now, I'm not suggesting this is a good movie, because it really isn't. The acting by the whole cast is pretty weak. There's some downright terrible, ridiculous things. Minor spoiler alert here, but I have to mention this- as Bella gets extremely close to the death, Jacob finally comes up with a brilliant idea to save her. The idea is so obvious and silly that I laughed out loud at how long it took people to come up with it. It was just so unbelievable that they had tried everything- except that. The movie contains a number of these just stupid points. There's also a big battle towards the end between the vampires and the wolfpack that just felt so anticlimactic and silly. There was never any real sense of danger or suspense for anyone involved. I was shocked by how low-stakes this scene came across.

Despite its flaws, there are some cool parts, too. I loved the big twist with Jacob (I didn't see that coming at all, and as a pro-Jacob person, it made me feel better about the whole losing to Edward thing). That part was very cool. I also loved the last scene of the film- it was a pretty remarkable way to end the movie and for the first time, I actually felt excited and interested about seeing the next film.

While The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn- Part 1 has some strengths, the movie as a whole still isn't very good. I wish the movie had been better, but the source material is pretty empty, so I shouldn't expect too much. Still, this film is more enjoyable than Eclipse. It's a decent movie, but not much more than that.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse