Cast: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, (dir.) Bill Condon

Certificate: 12A (PG-13)

Rating: 5/10

Overall: I did really enjoy it, but I'd be lying if I said it was a good film. Seriously, that baby was very creepy. For fans, it's a great end to the saga. Not sure about everyone else...



Ok... it's been over a month since I last posted/blogged. Naughty Hannah.

Anywho.

Thought I'd regale you with my review of Breaking Dawn Part 2.

Back in the day, I was a part of the Twilight fandom, with all that that entails. Fanfic, objectifying admiring Robert Pattinson and being lumped in with all the 'Twimoms' regardless of my current state of non-motherhood. So, basically what I'm trying to say is, I went in to seeing this film as a fan.

Breaking Dawn Part 1 was, to be quite blunt, pretty shit. I mean, I enjoyed it. But for all the wrong reasons.

So my expectations for Part 2 were rather low. But I was cautiously hopeful anyway.

And I like to think my cautious hopefulness was rewarded. At least, a little bit.

Both Robert Pattinson's Edward and Kristen Stewart's Bella finally look comfortable around each other. Edward smiles more in this film than in all the others combined. Bella holds herself more confidently and doesn't seem to rely on Edward quite so much. This could partly be relief on Pattinson and Stewart's part, that this franchise is over from their perspective. Because no one hates Twilight like Robert Pattinson (and also Kristen Stewart).

I shall give many props to Taylor Lautner (Jacob) for managing to pull off the imprinting thing without it seeming too creepy and paedophilic. In the books, it was easy to take the time to explain imprinting and what it means for both the imprinter and the imprintee, but there is no time on film for that sort of exposition. And it did come across as a sort of brotherly/protector type relationship between Jacob and Renesmee. Also, one of the funniest scenes was when Bella lays into Jacob for imprinting on Renesmee.

Unfortunately, props cannot be given to the creepy baby CGI. I get what they were trying to do - putting the face of Mackenzie Foy (Renesmee) onto a baby's body so that we, the audience, would believe the fast growth thing - but it looked weird.

Now that Bella is a vampire, the Cullen coven believe that the Volturi are going to leave them alone. But of course, through a series of misunderstandings the Volturi once again has a bone to pick with the Cullens. They think that Renesmee is an vampire child, i.e. a child turned into a vampire. Renesmee is, of course, not a vampire child, but actually half human, half vampire. The thrust of the last two thirds of the film is the Cullens and their vampire allies trying to work out how to convince the Volturi that Renesmee is 'harmless'.

Now, if you've read the books, you know that the finale is really anti-climactic. They spend a lot of time talking about fighting the Volturi, meet the Volturi and then talk it out like civilised people. Lame.

How do you put this on the big screen without making it look boring? Insert a fight scene, where there was no fight scene before.

I went into this film completely unspoiled. I had heard there was a plot twist but other than that, spoiler-free. So when *spoiler alert* the Volturi ripped Carlisle's head off, I was rather surprised to put it lightly. I was amazed they had gone that far away from the source material. The fight scene goes on for a good chunk of the film. Characters, both good and bad, die left, right and centre. It is actually one of the best scenes in the whole series, CGI-wise. It's also rather graphic. Despite the underwhelming numbers of the Cullens' side, they appear to win. And this is the biggest twist of all. It was all a vision seen by Alice.

So yeah, we get the epic battle scene, with the lame let's talk about it conclusion. For what they had to work with, I'd say this a pretty good compromise.

For fans, Breaking Dawn Part 2 wraps the series up with a little bow. Bella and Edward have their forever, Jacob has a future with Renesmee and Charlie is still around. It's not a film for non-fans, but then, Twilight never was. As a fan, I did enjoy it. And, if you ask me, that's all that matters.