The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2



November 18, 2012



*Spoiler Alert*



I have mixed feelings about this film. While I think they did a good job of sticking to the book and wrapping up the saga, I still hate the acting involved. And the ending was slightly different from the book, which I think is the part I am mixed about.



This second installment of book four of the Twilight Saga picks up where part one left off, with Bella (Kristen Stewart) dying and being turned into a vampire. She died while giving birth to a half-vampire, half-human child, Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy). As she awakens, Edward (Robert Pattinson) is by her side to welcome her ‘back to life’ as a vampire. They frolic in the woods, as any good Cullen does, and they hunt, where Bella, craving human blood, gains control of her thirst and instead attacks a mountain lion to feed.



Back at the Cullen estate, while Bella was changing over, Jacob (Taylor Lautner) imprinted on Renesmee, which the whole family knows, except Bella. The family cares for the child, which Jacob by her side. Finally, Bella gets introduced to her daughter, who communicates through touch and her mind. Once Bella finds out about Jacob, she gets upset and miraculously accepts it within a few minutes.



One day, as Jacob, Bella and Renesmee are frolicking in the snow, a cousin of theirs from the Denali coven, Irina (Maggie Grace), sees them and assumes that the child is a turned child. She immediately reports it to the Volturi, as turning a child is forbidden. Centuries ago, when children were turned they destroyed villages, as they have no control over their powers and need to feed. The Volturi stepped in and killed the children and their makers.



Alice (Ashley Greene) sees the vision of the Volturi coming to Seattle to see for themselves and she sees bad things. In the next few weeks, the Cullens gather friends and relatives as witnesses to show the Volturi that Renesmee is not an immortal, but rather half-human with blood in her veins. In the meanwhile, Alice and Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) leave with a warning to gather as many witnesses as possible. However, pretty soon, the Cullens realize that they may have to go to battle with the Volturi. But each witness pledges to battle, including the wolf pack, with Jacob as their leader.



To prepare, each vampire perfects their power, including Bella who has a shield from other vampires’ powers.



Battle day comes and Aro (Michael Sheen), the leader of the Volturi, listens to the witnesses and realizes that Irina was mistaken. He immediately kills her, but instead of just leaving the Cullens alone, he fears the unknown of this new breed of half-vamp, half-human. And just at that moment, Alice and Jasper return, where she shows Aro what will happen if Renesmee is kept alive. But soon, a massive battle erupts, and Bella sends Renesmee away with Jacob to keep her safe. During the battle, Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) and Jasper are killed, along with several wolves, Leah and Seth, I believe). With this shocker, I didn’t know what was going on, until Aro is killed and we go back to the original scene with Alice. Turns out, she was showing Aro what would happen if he tried to kill Renesmee. And then, two more people come from the woods. Alice and Jasper searched high and low to find another half-vampire, half-human to show the Volturi that nothing bad can happen. The Volturi retreat and everything is back to normal soon enough. And they all live happily every after, forever.



A couple things to note, in the book, there is actually a battle scene at the end. However, key players aren’t killed. The end result is the same, where everyone lives happily ever after. I’m not really sure why they chose to do it this way, where the battle was just a future prediction. It might have been for the shock value of killing Carlisle and Jasper, or to make it more interesting. Or maybe it was easier than explaining each new vampires talents and how Bella learns to extend her shield to the whole clan, as opposed to just a few around her. And I guess it was easier than explaining Renesmee’s gift too. Probably just time constraints I guess.



Other than that minor detail, I didn’t hate the movie. It did stay pretty true to the book, which was good. However, as with other films, the acting is pretty bad. I was never a fan of Stewart, and I don’t really know why the picked her as Bella. The character is supposed to be infatuated with Edward, and I just don’t get that with Bella. She comes off as whiny and annoying throughout the whole series. In the last book, Bella is supposed to be fascinated with Renesmee, but that is not portrayed at all. Also, the whole baby Renesmee is creepy, as I learned that it was a CG baby.



I did enjoy the little bits of humor, particularly when the Cullens try to teach Bella to act human and when Emmett (Kellan Lutz) challenges her to a ‘who is the stronger vampire’ contest.

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If you take this film for what it is, a film based on a teen novel, then it’s not horrible. In fact, it might be one of the better films in the series. If you want more substance, but are curious what all the fuss is about, wait until it hits cable.



(Oh, and if you’ve heard there is a Catching Fire (the next book in the Hunger Games series) preview, you’re not missing much, it’s just a graphic of the symbol on the book cover.)