The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1: Review By Newtron

In the first installment to the final chapter of the Twilight Saga, Bella and Edward finally tie the knot. The first weeks of their marriage prove to be the most difficult they've ever faced. The differences between the two are apparent, but it's these "incompatibilities" that cause circ*mstances to escalate, soon involving more than just the happily married couple, but a life growing inside Bella's womb as well. The pregnancy soon takes a toll on Bella's body, ultimately threatening the peace between the Cullens and the wolves and leaving Bella's life to hang in the balance. .

This movie, to put it bluntly, is just bad. Breaking Dawn?...more like Breaking Bad (no relation to the television show). I rarely laugh at a film, even when they are horrible, but I literally died laughing at this movie, sad to say. Not a snicker or anything subtle. No. Coming from me, it was pure, uninhibited cackling. If there were any true fans there, they probably hated me. But I wasn't the only one. There were several moments throughout this movie where the audience as a whole lost it, and that's not ever good where the film being screened is meant to be taken seriously.

I always thought that the first film of the Twilight Saga was the worst, but this new installment, in EVERY aspect, rivals the first in abysmal quality. Honestly, as the installments came out, I thought that the saga was gradually getting a little better. I never thought that these movies were very good pieces of filmmaking, but after checking out the trailers and reading up on the storyline for this last installment, I went into the theater with slightly higher hopes. But I was completely and utterly wrong. The trailers were fantastic when compared to the whole product. What's funny to me about the Twilight Saga in general, but this installment in particular, is that they have such serious material to work with, but the delivery is lacking so that it serves the film as more comedic than anything. It's good to note and remember that some things that translate well on the page don't do so well onscreen, unless a situation calls for it, but I'll leave that for you to decide. I felt that, with this film in particular, they made a film geared mostly for the fans, not really having the rest of us in mind at all, or to the most minimal degree anyway. Otherwise, I think they would have made a better film. This film, I'm guessing, will probably make most fans and teenagers pretty happy, but for the rest of us, it could possibly prove to be a painful experience, as was the case for me. If the filmmakers were simply trying to stay faithful to the books (which I haven't read), then my above point still stands. Don't get me wrong, there were good moments in this film, which explains my rating for this film, but they were few and mostly near the end of the movie.

And on that note, I couldn't talk about the bad without mentioning the good. There were moments where the movie totally pulled me in, the sensation only destined to be crushed mere seconds later, unfortunately. I thought that the effects of the pregnancy on Bella were very well done. It was a very good combination of make up and CG. And believe it or not, the best part of the movie, I thought, was Mr. Taylor Lautner himself. I'm not a huge fan of his acting, but I thought he gave a pretty solid performance in this installment. Unfortunately, these two elements were not good enough to save this film.

There is simply no way for these films to achieve the epicness and timelessness of Harry Potter, which is what I feel the filmmakers are trying to do, but not in the way they've gone about them, and this film epitomizes this point. Will I be going to see Part 2? Absolutely! I can't start something and not finish it, but I hope they end this saga better than it began. And after watching Part 1, that doesn't look like it will be the case.