User reviews

'The Twilight Saga' comes to an end in possibly the most subversively underwhelming way. However, you can't really hold it against this franchise for at least being very consistent with its quality.

This movie is treating its moments of culmination as if it's been highly anticipated when, in actuality, the series has not been building up to the conclusion it reaches, which only happens due to a misunderstanding that's slowly resolved. The CGI baby is freaky, distracting, and just so perplexing that it's best left ignored. Bella apparently has a brain now, and with it a problem with Jacob imprinting on, and therefore protecting, her baby, as she's constantly leaving it in anyone else's protection other than her own. Edward has lost all of his appeal at this point, being left as one of the least compelling characters in this instalment. Carlisle, Alice and Charlie are my personal stand-outs, and are each noticeably absent or sidelined in favour of newer, more uninteresting characters. Michael Sheen's presence is felt more here than in maybe any other instalment, but still so brief that he's hardly all that interesting even though he's supposedly the primary overarching antagonist. The effects, score and camera work are on par with the previous films, which isn't saying much but there's not much else to say.

A suitable end to an overly broody, dramatic franchise, with improved acting compared to the other films, and a resolution that just let's you know it's all over now.

To be quite honest, this final installment of Twilight was not as bad as most people have made it to be. The only kicker is that you need to know some background story. If you're a guy following your girl to the cinema because of obligations, chances are you're going to not get this movie and will likely give it a very bad review. But if you would just play along with the plot, listen to your girlfriend for info and accept the supernatural aspect of the story, you might just enjoy it. Just sayin' guys. Don't be hatin' just for the sake of hatin'.

All in all, I thought Breaking Dawn Part 2 did the Twilight series justice. It was a great finale, and dare I say, surprising good too? It was.

I was a bit worried after watching the trailers that they may have somehow made this into boom-boom-bam movie filled with action scenes to please the I-need-insta-gratification crowd. But no. It was very true to the book, despite the proclaimed twist. It was, really, a very clever representation of the story from a different perspective. Bill Condon did an excellent job. And I am also glad that the Twilight Saga is finally over. Phew.

It's amazing the effect of being dead, lifts your spirits, makes you happy, makes eyes red; it's as if you've been reborn, all those problems have been shorn, you're in control, you have a role, no longer torn.

Alas the climax, is a little disappointing, an open chasm, where all threads cascade and fall in, while being shallow as it's narrow, it will leave you feeling harrowed, as nothing's ventured, nothing's gained, bone without marrow.

As said in my review of Breaking Dawn: Part 1, I am neither a fan or detractor of the Twilight Saga, though in terms of the books I only lasted the first chapter of the first book. Of the movies, for me the best was Eclipse, and the worst New Moon. In terms of Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 I'd say that it is a marginal improvement over Breaking Dawn: Part 1 and ranking the whole saga I'd put it bang in the middle, but for a finale to a film series I found it very underwhelming.

Does it have good points? Yes actually. I did think the scenery was really lovely, very evergreen-looking, and the photography did have some nice shots(some of the zooming though does get too much). I also thought that Breaking Dawn: Part 2 did have the best music score, courtesy of Carter Burwell, of the saga, and that Renesmee was just adorable. There are a few performances that were quite good. Michael Sheen does ham things up but he is gleefully fun to watch, Billy Burke is once again amusing and Ashley Greene is good as Alice. Dakota Fanning is also not too bad, I think an improvement over the previous instalments, but I have seen her give better performances in better movies.

That said, I am still not convinced by the acting of the three leads. I will say though that Kristen Stewart does give her best performance of the series, she does finally crack a smile after looking bored previously, she doesn't mope around as much and she does show some genuine concern regarding Bella's situation. However, and it doesn't help that Bella(in my eyes) is such a dull and unlikeable character, I still didn't find her entirely convincing, her eyes show no signs of life, her face lacks expression and she has a lot of flat line delivery. Robert Pattinson does have some sweet chemistry with her, but he does look constipated a lot and his facial expressions have a tendency to be on the hammy side. They are not that bad though compared to Taylor Lautner, who is unbearably wooden here as Jacob and the constant taking off of his shirt got old quickly.

On top of that, Bill Condon's direction seems rather uninspired. I am familiar with Condon and do find him a promising director/writer who observes things well, Gods and Monsters is one of my favourites, Kinsey is very interesting and Dreamgirls is decent. But there is little of what these things as good as they were on display here, so as like the previous instalment there is the sense that Condon was not in his comfort zone. A lot of things don't help though, as the dialogue continues to be clunky and almost like watching an overly-melodramatic soap opera- especially in the first half where everything is lacking in any kind of intent- and the story is plodding- though the beginning also manages to feel very rushed- in its exposition with scenes dragging on too long and very little that is exciting or surprising. The ending has no real gusto or emotional punch(though actually it still manages to be the highlight of the entire film), the fight scenes are clumsily choreographed, the opening credits go on for far too long and you just don't care for any of the characters.

In regard to the special effects and make-up, they are pretty terrible here. The computer generated wolves manage to be both cheesy and stupid in design and manner and the red glaring contact lenses look dodgy and are more at home in a cartoon. While Renesmee as a baby looks so creepily fake that it is laughable, the be-headings are the equivalent of ripping the head of your favourite toy in a rage and the white greasepaint passing for make-up all looks blotchy and artificial. The closing moments are clichéd and reek of cheese as well, and the vampires are as far away from authentic as you could come. Overall, not the best or worst of the series, but for a saga finale it was underwhelming, where it had potential to go out on a bang it was more of a whimper.

4/10 Bethany Cox

This movie cost a reported $120,000,000. In only 2 weeks, it's already doubled that take at the box office, but what I'd like to know is where all that money went. Not on sets or locations, since it's mainly set in the woods. Elegant costumes, to be sure, but you're not gonna blow 9 digits' worth of bucks on epaulets. The effects are sparse and nothing special. Fersher not on the writing (execrable screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg).

So it has to have been on the actors. And boy, did they ever NOT get their money's worth. The entire film consists of people standing around like statues, reading dialog to each other, with an occasional flicker of attempted facial expression. Really, this is not an exaggeration. 80% of the film is literally people just standing there like an array of department-store manikins, spouting inane, vapid dialog.

The entire premise of the film is based on the idea that the Volturi, self-appointed overlords of the vampire world, will not tolerate a human child being turned into a vampire (with some justification, based on terrible experiences in the past, when the tykes had tantrums and couldn't control their appetites). And now the Volturi mistakenly believe that Bella and Edward's new child, the regrettably named Renesmee, is one such, and they're coming to wreak vengeance on her and the entire Cullen clan — having politely given several weeks advance notice. All of this could have been cleared up with a little home video, or perhaps a Skype call. Ditto for the Cullens' attempts to round up witnesses to little Nessie's amazing growth spurt (newborn to an apparent age 6 in a couple of weeks). Could they just ring up their friends on their cell phones or e-mail them? Nooooooo, gotta travel twice around the world to ask them in person. And then they all show up in the Pacific northwoods, where they get to stand around like statues like everyone else. When there finally IS a flurry of action, the cameras move so rapidly and jerkily that you can't get any sense at all of who's doing what to whom.

This is a terrible movie, all posing and posturing and protestations of undying love less sincere than a Twinkies commercial.

People are weirdly bitter about this saga. It's a great adaptation of the book. The whole series of movies does a good job. Some of these reviews are from people who've not even seen the other films let alone read the books. These movies are for the book fans. They are cast perfectly; the acting is exactly what it should be, overdramatized and slightly disjointed but perfectly in tune with the awkward Bella, hot tempered Jacob and out of his element Edward. Even the poorly animated baby still goes with the book. It's not meant to look like a real baby. People are just taking these movies way to seriously for what they are; young adult fantasy movies made for fans of a book series.

The final movie is a love letter to fans. If you're a fan, you will be quite happy, and a little sad too. Of course, the movie only touches the surface on the storyline, but the entertainment value is still there. It's the perfect end to the franchise. It's truly Bella's movie. Her emergence into being a vampire fun to watch, but only if you know the details from the book. The baby is a little off putting; the CGI is clunky for her like it was in the beginning for the wolves, who now are seamless and better done than ever. No it won't win any awards, but it was the best attempt at trying to bring a book to life that inexplicably touched people in ways they couldn't fathom. Nicely done.

This is the first time I sat in a theatre to watch a Twilight movie. I think the theatre experience maybe helped me enjoy the film more than I should have. Nevertheless, Breaking Dawn Part II is not only the best entry in the franchise, it's also the worst. How can that be? For a good 20 minutes, the film tries to be daring and does something different. Yet it is all undone by playing it safe and ruining what came before it.

I have to stress that yes, this film did NOT have to be broken up into two. The first film was an hour and a half of filler, followed by 20 minutes of awesomeness. This entry is an hour and a half of build-up, followed by 20 minutes of awesomeness X10, followed by the worst decision the series has ever made to date.

I have seen every Twilight movie, I'm not a fan, nor am I a hater. I'm always objective when it comes to these movies. The highest rating I've given one of them is a 5, that went to Eclipse. Breaking Dawn Part II could have easily gotten a 7 from me, had they had the balls to go through with what we were witnessing. A twist so inane, that it actually made me boo at the screen. I don't think I've ever booed at any movie in the theatre before, so congratulations Breaking Dawn Part II, you achieved something.

Now, that awesomeness that I was speaking of, it is indeed awesome. I was cheering, I was laughing, I was having a blast. The people around me, I'm assuming fans, were gasping at the carnage they were witnessing. I had a giant smile on my face. Did the creators finally take the series in a bold direction? Did they finally have the balls to do something different? Yes, they did, but then they ruin it. I can't stress how awful that made me feel.

K-Stew, finally has something to do other than swoon over Edward, resist the urges from Jacob and act like a whiny teenager. She is a vampire, so she has to learn to be one, although it seems she has no problem with the thirst and heightened senses. There is no struggle for her, which makes this whole aspect a bit shallow. Jacob, unfortunately has nothing to do in this entry other than glare at everyone who comes near Renesmee. So the character shifts his focus from one girl to the next, nothing more for him to do, yawn.

Speaking of Renesmee (stupid name), we have what is probably one of the creepiest babies to ever grace the silver screen. Why they chose to use CGI for the face of the baby, other than using a normal one is beyond me. It looks unnatural and comical. The movement doesn't flow and for some reason they decide to keep this CGI face with the kid as she grows older until they finally have the older actress in the role.

As with every Twilight film, there are moments of unintentional laughter, bad acting, dialogue and CGI. Michael Sheen seems to be having fun acting like a complete weirdo and the others seem to be happy they are finished with this series. Now, to be completely honest, this entire saga could have been told in three movies. Twilight for the set up, Eclipse for conflict, Breaking Dawn for the closure. Eliminate the pointless New Moon and condense these two movies into one.

Twilight is finally over. No more sparkling vampires, no more team Edwards or team Jacobs and no more shirtless scenes of young men. Good bye Twilight, I do not look forward to the inevitable remakes.

I'm not a twilight fan, but I loved the ending to this movie. Out of all the series, this one was the best.

Bella is new and improved as a vampire after childbirth killed her mortality. And although her union with Edward was fully accepted amongst the vampire community, their new baby Renesmee (a composite name of Renee, Bella's mother, and Esme, Edward's "mother") wasn't so lucky. After a false accusation, the new family is in grave trouble with the powerful Volturi who only happen to be the largest vampire regime. Even still, the Cullen's are prepared to use their special gifts against anyone who threatens their family.

There are certain details of this film that one has to accept in order to appreciate it. First, aside from the vampires' requisite to drink blood, the Twilight saga movies focuses on the majestic viewpoint of vampires rather than their dark side. And, when assessing the situation in that way, it might make it easier to digest that teenage Bella was literally dying to be a vampire in order to be with Edward, unbeknownst to her parents and only has to loose her soul to do it. Furthermore, even with Bella and Edward being married, there's no way around the fact that Twilight glorifies teenage pregnancy.

If these details can be accepted or moved past for the sake of fiction, this film is awesome! I've seen the previous films in the Twilight saga and I thought they were captivating at times but I've never been impressed this much. For starters, it continues to evolve the intense Romeo and Juliet type romance, with a twist. However, the writing in Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 seems to be the best yet. I found myself laughing out loud. The storyline is more witty, interesting, cleverly done and the action scenes are completely unexpected.

Even the actors gave better performances. The highlight performances for me were from the beautiful Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella Swan. Not only did she give a believable performance as an incredibly strong vampire in such a tiny frame, but she made it funny and fascinating to watch. Also giving an always reputable performance was Michael Sheen, who plays Aro, one of the three leaders of the Volturi. There's something about his malicious depiction that is so grimy, yet you'll love to loath him! Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward, was funnier than I ever remember him being. Taylor Lautner, whose character is Jacob, gives another vigorous performance and the other wicked actor that amplifies inhumanity is Dakota Fanning.

I saw this movie surrounded by a packed theater of energetic Twilight fans. It was almost as equally entertaining to watch the film as it was to be amongst the energy of the crowd for Team Edward vs. Team Jacob. And especially all the boisterous fans who were anti- Volturi. Of course the second Jacob took off his shirt, girls in the audience went bananas. Aro and his crew got an equal amount of rowdy boos.

Regarding the topic of appropriateness for young impressionable teens, this film warrants at the least a conversation to your youngsters on issues like intense sexual content, violent murder and teen defiance.

Overall, if you've never seen any of the Twilight saga films, this is the one to see. If you're a fan already you will be blown away with how this final movie goes out with a blast. Go see Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2; it's worthy! Surprisingly, one of my favorite films this year!

It's with a hint of sadness that the Twilight franchise has come to an end. Sure, they're terrible, terrible films (and books I assume), the popularity of which paints a sorry picture of the tastes of today's youth, but now that all is said and done, on reflection it was worth enduring the first three insufferable disasters (Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse) to get to the unbridled mayhem of Breaking Dawn (my thoughts on part one can be found here).

After seeing part one, it was difficult to see where the story had left to go. We had seen the unending wedding of Edward and Bella, the banal South American honeymoon, the shocking and genuinely upsetting pregnancy/birth, and the werewolf falling in love with the baby. It seemed like an appropriate place to end it, but Summit and Stephenie Meyer obviously had other ideas, hence we have Breaking Dawn, part 2.

While perhaps not as off-the-leash nutty, Breaking Dawn, part 2 maintains a lot of the weirdness of the preceding chapter. Picking up exactly at the point where part one ended, Bella (Kristen Stewart) finds herself having to adjust to her 'newborn' vampire status, learning to control her superhuman strength and fighting the urge to hunt humans. Edward (Robert Pattinson) begins to assume a mentor role, but for whatever reason Bella learns so quickly that the learning plot is pretty much dropped.

Here's the first and biggest of the many problems of Breaking Dawn, part 2. For at least the first two thirds of the film, plot threads and characters are introduced with enough fanfare to make one think they're going to be important cogs in the larger machinery of the story, only to be forgotten or abandoned with zero explanation. Perhaps it's fan service, and people familiar with the novels will be able to link things up, but for newcomers it becomes increasingly hard to keep track of who everyone is, why they're involved, and what on earth is happening from one scene to the next.

The character of Alistair (Joe Anderson) is a good example. Following the development that the Volturi, the ruling council of vampires last seen in New Moon, are coming after Edward and Bella's daughter Renesmee, the Cullen clan assemble a team of vampires from across the globe to defend the child, the last of which is the enigmatic Alistair. Yet after an introduction to suggest he will be a character of some importance he merely ends up lurking in the background, and popping into one random and pointless scene with Bella. He's always there, but doesn't actually do anything significant.

It's this scattered and overloaded approach that really damages an already abysmal film. On top of the lack of charisma in the stars, the questionable storytelling is a real hindrance for anyone set on enjoying Breaking Dawn, part 2 at all, not to mention how simply ugly the thing is. There's an over-reliance on terrible green-screen work, shoddy visual effects, and whatever lunatic decided that an almost completely CG Renesmee was a good idea needs to be removed from the business of movie making.

However, much like the last film, a part of me loved Breaking Dawn, part 2. As I said, it may not seem as insane as part one, but in some ways that's a good thing. I loved part one because I was caught completely off guard by the madness, but was appalled by it because much of the content really shouldn't be part of a film made for pre-teen girls. Part two dials back the more troubling aspects of the previous film and just revels in the stupidity of Meyer's writing. It's weird as hell, but really pretty harmless, aside from all the decapitation. Oh boy, there's a lot of decapitation.

Director Bill Condon and his cast seem to be having a lot more fun here. The most ridiculous thing about the first three films in the series is how unwaveringly serious they are, but with both parts of Breaking Dawn, it feels like Condon and Pattinson in particular are winking at that portion of the audience who, like myself, are simply there to see how off the reservation this daft franchise can go. It manages to achieve a delicate and kind of wonderful balance of satisfying the true fans (the Twi-hards) with its creepy romantic melodrama, while clearly acknowledging the bizarre and quite frankly awful story Meyer has crafted. The awareness of this final chapter is perhaps its greatest asset, and if you're willing to abandon all logic and actual critical appreciation, then Breaking Dawn, part 2 delivers a great time at the cinema.

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I can't believe I sat through this entire movie. I can't believe Stephanie Meyer approves of it. I can't believe the acting is so dreadful. I can't believe some people actually think this is an all-right, let alone great, ending to the movie franchise. Admittedly, I am inclined to be negatively critical of movies that are not faithful to the original story or characters on which they are based - especially if I liked the original. I was mildly tolerant of the 4 movies leading up to this one because I felt the important parts of the story lines were there even though the actors didn't measure up to the characters that had formed in my mind from reading the books. This final movie, on the other hand, rushes through the story barely touching on some parts I feel are important, in order to include a culminating scene which is not part of the original story, and which itself has to be absurdly unbelievable to any fan of the book series. Two actors, Lautner and Sheen, do the best they can with the terrible dialoge they were given, but not one other character utters a believable syllable the entire time. I should have stayed home and re-read the book, and would heartily advise others to do the same.

The only reason the movie is better than the book is for one reason. Even though it was a fake-out, at least they gave us an action scene instead of them showing up, they say two lines, and just leave!

Im not a massive fan of twilight and not much of a fan of vampire and werewolf films although i do always watch true blood. I went to watch twilight breaking dawn part 2 on Friday as my mates wanted to watch it but i wanted to watch the new James bond, however i did end up watching twilight and i thought the first hour of it wasn't anything spectacular and i can't believe the fanbase that twilight has got.

Apart from the shawshank redemption the twist you see in the film when Alice Cullen takes the leader of the volturi's hand is one of the most surprising moments of a film i have watched as i did not for one second like many people for that to happen, now I'm not a twilight fan but you have to say that it was a unexpected twist in the film no matter how much you dislike the films, that was one of the good parts of the film.

I have just come home from watching this last installment of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 2 with my wife. I don't know what is with these Twilight movies that we look forward to watching them, simply to see how bad they are. Haha! The poster showing the three main characters running did not hold much promise of a better film.

This film starts where the last film left off. Bella has just given birth to her daughter Renesmee. This supernatural birth brings Bella close to death, so Edward saves her by making her a vampire. Now, when the Volturri find out about Renesmee, they consider her a threat to their existence and hence seek to kill her. Will the Cullen family be able to protect Renesmee and themselves from ultimate destruction?

The beginning of this movie are filled with the same clunky scenes and corny dialog that we have all seen and cringed to in all the previous movies. The very long scene showing Bella's reaction to Jacob's imprinting is particularly hilarious. There was also the requisite Jacob striptease scene strictly for Team Jacob fanatics.

The climactic battle scenes between the Cullens and the Volturri were another matter though. Sure it was pure computer generated mayhem and violence. But for those who have not read the books and just followed the films, there was some imaginative storytelling at work here for a change. I am actually curious how this part of the story was written in the book. I will give this movie an extra point for this part.

In the closing scenes set in the familiar field of purple flowers we have seen before, the whole Twilight saga ends with an incredibly thick serving of cheese. I am not surprised. It ends as it started: cheesy. It never really aspired to be more, so let the Twi-hard fans enjoy this last film while it lasts. So now that it all ends, I'm pretty sure the rest of the world will also be missing Bella and her two other-worldly consorts. We won't have a next film to look forward to nitpick anymore.

This Story is good and interesting by far the best of all the twilight movies. The acting is not that bad. The script was okay. The fights scenes were pretty fun, but had some terrible CGI. Definitely a good ending to the Saga.

I am going to go ahead and confess that I have not seen any of the other Twilight films. I guess I am the person that buys the book, but only reads the last chapter (smile). I do have to say that in this case it really did not matter. There is so much publicity about these films that I pretty much know what happened in the other ones, so I really don't feel like I missed much. I don't even think that I needed to see part one of this 2-parter. This film could have stood on its own. I enjoyed all the special effects in the film, but I do have to say that when Renesmee was a new born the CGI kind of reminded me of an E-Trade baby. In this film Bella (Kristen Stewart) is getting used to the idea that she is now a vampire and is starting to flex her super natural powers. She also has to adjust her diet and Edward (Robert Pattinson) has the daunting task of helping her to control some of her now instinctual urges. I have to say that I thought that the vampires would be scarier than they actually were. Even the vampires of the Volturi were not that bad. I do want to say that Jacob (Taylor Lautner) was one big werewolf compared to the other ones. The whole story centers around a rumor gone wild and what can happen if you don't present all the facts. I think that I was a little disappointed because I thought that there would be more action than there was. Just to recap…, you do not have to be a Twi-hard fan to see this film. I think that the ending was unexpected. I saw an interview that Kristen Stewart gave and she said that when the film was over, the whole cast did a dance number in the snow. I was hoping that they would put that at the end of the credits, but I am sure that it will pop up sooner or later. Will this film make me want to go back and see the rest of them…., no, but I am glad that I saw this one. Some folks that have seen them all say that this is the best one. I can't agree or disagree, but I am going to take their word for it. I was not blown away so I am giving this film an amber light.

I've read all the books and seen all the movies (now). I was looking forward to this last instalment,and it was worth waiting for,...my heart was racing in the showdown with the vulturi, it was just like they said....'the epic conclusion'. Bella really come into her own as a vampire, not clumsy or awkward....in fact, she outshone Edward.

If youdon't like the twilight saga, then perhaps your mind is already madeup. if you've never seen any of the movies, give them a chance and watchfrom the first one(twilight) and i'm sure you'll love them all...especially this final one, breaking dawn part 2.

If you're alreadya fan and haven't seen this movie yet......OMG!!!!! I LOVED IT and so will you!