This past Thursday at midnight, moviegoers of all ages swarmed theaters everywhere, eagerly awaiting the release of the first part of Twilight: Breaking Dawn. The widely popular and best-selling books of the Twilight saga, penned by Stephenie Meyer, have been turned into highly grossing movies with this latest installment bringing in over $130 million in its opening weekend.
Now, if only these movies could manage to produce better acting…and more money. This fourth installment picks up right where the third movie left off with Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart) getting married, a valiant effort in avoiding Bella’s mortality. The wedding is over-the-top, its décor and detail bordering on unbelievable, even for a clan of vampires.
The rest of the movie manages to spiral downhill, complete with shoddy and uninspired acting, and plotlines ridiculous for surely even the most imaginative viewers. Stewart’s interactions with on- and off-screen love Pattinson can at best be described as passionless and painfully awkward. While this is unsurprising, as it has been a trend through the previous three installments, it makes watching love scenes between the couple downright uncomfortable. Furthermore, Kristen Stewart’s single facial expression, supposed to represent a wide range of emotions, takes away from what could have been an impressive performance, given the dramatic plot of the movie.
The only saving grace for this movie is a few comic one-liners that managed to grab some laughter from most of the theater. Bella’s father Charlie (Billy Burke) and Emmett (Kellan Lutz) provide humor through the painful wedding in the first half hour, with best friend/werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) delivering some sporadic yet witty puns through the rest of the movie.
Looking past the disappointing acting, Breaking Dawn’s cinematography falls a bit short as well. Most camera pans of scenic nature in the movie simply scream greenscreen, which is disappointing given the great locations. The movie’s werewolf clan, with abnormally large wolves and poorly shot action scenes, just don’t deliver a good level of either excitement or believability. While cinematography was unfortunate, the music throughout the movie was enjoyable, as with the other Twilight movies. The movie may not be worth it, but the soundtrack certainly will be.
Needless to say, Breaking Dawn certainly leaves viewers wanting more. Hopefully the second part of this installment will be able to turn this movie around. Overall, this reviewer gives it a D.
