The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 Review

Rated PG-13 (Disturbing Images, Violence, Sexuality/Partial Nudity and Some Thematic Elements)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 57 Minutes

Cast:

Kristen Stewart-Isabella 'Bella' Swan

Robert Pattinson-Edward Cullen

Taylor Lautner-Jacob Black

Billy Burke-Charlie Swan

Ashley Greene-Alice Cullen

Jackson Rathbone-Jasper Hale

Kellan Lutz-Emmett Cullen

Nikki Reed-Rosalie Hale

Peter Facinelli-Carlisle Cullen

Elizabeth Reaser-Esme Cullen

Christian Camargo-Eleazar Denali

Mía Maestro-Carmen Denali

Maggie Grace-Irina Denali

MyAnna Buring-Tanya Denali

Casey LaBow-Kate Denali

Gil Birmingham-Billy Black

Chaske Spencer-Sam Uley

Tyson Houseman-Quil Ateara

Alex Meraz-Paul

Julia Jones-Leah Clearwater

Boo Boo Stewart-Seth Clearwater

Anna Kendrick-Jessica Stanley

Justin Chon-Eric Yorkie

Christian Serratos-Angela Weber

Michael Welch-Mike Newton

Sarah Clarke-Renee Dwyer

Michael Sheen-Aro

Jamie Campbell Bower-Caius

Christopher Heyerdahl-Marcus

Directed by Bill Condon

Not much of a honeymoon if you spend your time playing chess.

What is there left to say about the “Twilight” films? With each successive installment, it becomes increasingly clear that reviewing them is a pointless endeavor as its hardcore teen fan-base will simply lap up Stephenie Meyer’s work like blind, obedient dogs while the films continuously break records at the worldwide box office. In a blatant move at money grabbing, Summit Entertainment has opted to split the adaptation of the fourth and final novel, “Breaking Dawn” into two films, mimicking the situation with this past summer’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” However, the latter film at least had a creative in addition to a financial reason for doing so but it makes little sense for “Breaking Dawn” to be split into two films as it forces new director Bill Condon to cram the first part with so many filler moments that have no bearing on the main story and I doubt the pay-off in the second half will be as emotionally satisfying compared to “Deathly Hallows.” “Breaking Dawn Part 1” still manages to muster up some small improvements over the previous two installments but it’s all a matter of too little too late as the glacial pacing continues to bore, the dialogue remains cringe-inducing, and too often the cast stand around looking forlorn to the background tune of the film’s mopey, alternative rock soundtrack instead of actually acting. Ultimately, the main problem goes back to Meyer’s hackneyed prose. 

Isabella ‘Bella’ Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) are about to be wed, much to the distress of Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), who angrily transforms into his wolf form and runs away into the woods upon receiving his invitation. The rest of the Cullen family, Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), Esme (Elizabeth Reaser), Alice (Ashley Greene), Emmett (Kellan Lutz), Rosalie (Nikki Reed) and Jasper Hale (Jackson Rathbone) are keeping themselves busy preparing for the wedding. Edward makes one last attempt to dissuade Bella by explaining to her the consequences of becoming a vampire but she stands firm in her decision. Once the two are finally wed, Bella is taken to the woods where she meets Jacob and they dance. When she reveals that she plans to consummate their marriage on their honeymoon, Jacob becomes infuriated and attempts to attack Edward but is held back by the members of his wolf clan. Edward takes Bella to a private villa on an island called Isle Esme off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They make love for the first time but the next morning, Bella discovers bruises on her body, which horrifies Edward. Against her wishes, he remarks that he will abstain from having sex with her while she remains human. Two weeks later, Bella discovers that she is pregnant and that the fetus is maturing at an accelerated rate. They return to Forks, Washington where Carlisle reveals that the vampire-human hybrid is crushing her from the inside and that she will die before she is able to give birth. Upon seeing a sickly Bella and learning of her pregnancy, Jacob blames Edward for ‘destroying’ her, leading to a deadly confrontation between the Cullens and his wolf clan, who believe the hybrid to be a monster and plan to kill it along with Bella. 

“Breaking Dawn Part 1” features a threadbare plot stretched to two hours as director Bill Condon is forced to shove in pointless scenes full of angst-ridden drivel and immature characters. As expected, Taylor Lautner opens the film by tearing off his shirt in the rain but the wedding scenes are actually competent and handled well, although keep in mind the bar has been set incredibly low so this isn’t exactly an accomplishment to celebrate. For the first time, I believed that Bella and Edward were in love and there are several moments of levity from Anna Kendrick’s Jessica Stanley and Billy Burke’s Charlie Swan. Unfortunately, the film goes downhill from there as the pacing slows to a painful crawl in order to meet the necessary running time. The much advertised love scene between Bella and Edward has been sanitized to a fault in order to garner a PG-13 as an R rating would’ve been financially disastrous for Summit Entertainment. Condon’s handling of Renesmee’s birth is by using frenetic editing, close-up reaction shots of Bella and a blurred first-person perspective and despite the financially-imposed censorship, it largely works as there’s a visceral urgency to it and there are cuts to a bloody aftermath. However, thanks to Meyer mucking around with vampire lore, I’m still not entirely sure how Edward is able to impregnate Bella considering that he’s not considered living and that vampires cannot have children. The film even breaks its own logic as Edward seemingly runs around in broad daylight without fear of being discovered. Another concept that’s poorly explained is the process of imprinting. From what I understand (and I actually tried to), it’s when a shape-shifter finds his or her soul-mate by staring intently at the other person. I kid you not as this is what happens when Jacob sees Bella’s baby minutes after she’s born and ‘imprints’ on her. The whole scene is laughable, ridiculous, and simply all kinds of wrong as a grown man becomes attracted to the child of the woman who has continuously rejected him. Maybe he sees Renesmee as his rebound? In fact, scenes like this occur throughout the film, such as when Jacob has a dramatic confrontation with the rest of his clan by telepathically communicating with each other in their werewolf form but we’re unable to take it seriously because the CG looks amateurish and the size inconsistencies of the wolves from shot-to-shot are distracting. In contrast, the work done on making Bella appear sickly thin is frighteningly effective, the one element that I can praise without any reservations. 

Ultimately, what really kills the film (and the franchise) is that none the three main characters ever mature and their angst-filled behavior grows tiresome to watch. Edward is controlling and mentally abusive, Jacob is all jealous rage and unable to move on, and Bella is without any real hopes and dreams as her world revolves entirely around the two men in her life who continuously fight over like a piece of raw meat which seems to get all those squealing girls quivering in their nether regions. It’s like they’re trapped in some vicious cycle and are unable to escape with endless declarations of love but no attempt to pierce deeper at what that actually means. The use of depressing alternative rock music is exasperating because one crops up every ten minutes when the cast just gets lazy and refuses to do their job. The acting remains emotionally inert as Kristen Stewart, while managing something resembling a performance in the first half-hour, devolves into her sleepwalking mode. Stewart can act and has proven this numerous times but the “Twilight” films have always hamstrung her talents. Robert Pattinson continues to look like a constipated James Dean in need of Metamucil and Taylor Lautner butchers every law of acting every time he opens his whiny, little mouth. The supporting cast consists of the same attractive faces devoid of any real personality and looking like bleached wax figures. 

Released on November 18, 2011, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” has received overwhelmingly negative reviews with 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics called it ‘slow, joyless, and loaded with unintentionally humorous moments, [the film] may satisfy the Twilight faithful, but it's strictly for fans of the franchise.’ In other words: same old, same old. As expected, the fans were out in force during opening weekend as it debuted with a gargantuan $138 million, just shy of the $142 million of 2009’s “New Moon.” The film will likely top out at $300 million domestically, although it appears that it will continue to reign supreme over Thanksgiving weekend as none of the new releases were able to make a significant dent in its earnings. “Twilight” has always been about pleasing the fans rather than creating actually good films and “Breaking Dawn Part 1” continues in that tradition for better and for worse. The final film will arrive next November and I doubt much will change. Fans: enjoy it while it lasts as I for one am glad that this whole madness will soon be over…until Meyer comes up with another idiotic concept.

Final Rating: 2 out of 5

“Childhood is not birth to a certain age, where at a certain age the child is grown and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.”