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The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 delivers strongly for the rabid fan base who have catapulted the young adult novel series and subsequent movie adaptations to the worldwide phenomenon that it's become, but it alienates a broader audience with a lack of any real action. Similar to the tone of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the first film of the two-partTwilight conclusion is heavy on romance, love, and turmoil but light on fight scenes and gruesome battles. The movie doesn't waste any time getting to the goods and opens with Bella and Edward's much-hyped wedding scene. It works--the vows are efficient and first-time franchise director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) moves the party along quickly and amusingly with a well-edited toast scene and some surprisingly moving moments between Bella and her father, cast standout Billy Burke. The honeymoon plays as a slightly awkward soft-focus made-for-TV movie, with a lot of long moments spent staring in the mirror and some love scenes that feel at once overly intimate and completely passionless. It's a relief when Bella retches on a bite of chicken she's cooked herself and quickly concludes she's pregnant with a potentially demonic baby. From bliss to horror, the Cullens return to Forks, where Bella spends the second half of the movie wasting away and Edward and Jacob are aligned in their anger and frustration over her decision. Throw in some over-the-top scenes with Jacob and his pack--including a strange showdown where the wolves communicate in their canine form by having a passionate nonverbal fight in their minds (a plot point that works much better in print, it's portrayed in the film via aggressive voice-over)--and the film overshoots intensity and goes straight to silly. The birth scene is horrific, but not as gruesome as in the book, and by the end, Bella has of course survived, though is much altered. The final scene features a delightfully campy Michael Sheen as Volturi leader Aro and makes it clear that the action and fun in Breaking Dawn, Part 1 is ready to start. Fans will just have to wait until Part 2
2 comments:
Whoever believes in romance will enjoy these movies. As a marketing executive for Summit I was pleased to see the turnout. I have to say I really hate going to the theater to see any movie and this one made me smile, because I was involved heavily in marketing. When you enjoy seeing people smile and talk about it afterwards postively it was a great thing to see.
Well, what else can one say? Nobody here seems to be having much fun, what with all the grim gloomy weather and creatures and conflicts and angst. It is, however, more entertaining than the last two were.
Bella's dad is as gloomy as ever, Jasper has maybe one line, Rosalie has suddenly become nicer, Bella's pals get short shrift, Jacob learns how to deal, and Bella and Edward welcome their new monstrosity--oops, I mean baby--by the end. There is also a major change for Mama Bella.
The music and locations are great, though the wolves always looked cheesy to me.
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