The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

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!

After the slow build-up of "Part 1", "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" finally brings some much-needed energy to the franchise. While it still suffers from the series' signature flaws-awkward dialogue, uneven pacing, and underdeveloped characters-it delivers enough spectacle and closure to make it a barely sufficient conclusion, especially after enduring the previous movies.

Kristen Stewart's Bella, now transformed, finally gains some presence, making her character slightly more engaging than before. Robert Pattinson's Edward remains brooding but at least gets some decent moments. Taylor Lautner's Jacob continues to be one of the more charismatic characters, though the handling of his storyline remains questionable. The supporting cast, including the expanded vampire coven, adds some intrigue, but most of them don't get enough screen time to leave a lasting impact.

Visually, "Part 2" is stronger than its predecessors, with improved cinematography and some well-executed action sequences. The much-discussed final battle is surprisingly intense and cleverly handled, adding a sense of excitement that was often missing in previous films. However, the CGI remains inconsistent, with some moments looking noticeably unpolished.

While "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" isn't a great film, it at least gives the franchise a proper send-off. It's still flawed, but compared to what came before, it deserves at least a 6/10.

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.

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

Let's be honest; we all know how bad the movie adaptations of the book series up to BDpt2 were, and if you think they were good then no disrespect but don't reed reviews because almost anything will entertain you.To start things off this movie is an improvement but unfortunately it makes very similar mistakes to its predecessors.

Acting: Even though Pattinson has shown his acknowledgeable acting skills in some of his previous movies and the fact that this movie has some skilled acting veterans in its cast. Unfortunitly the acting is still par to the average soap opera. It voids emotion in the key aspects of the movie, and exaggerates in the miner scenes.

Plot: I know people always say "It was very different from the book." But let me tell you... This was nothing like the second half of the book... Although that doesn't make it a pure disappointment(if your a fan of the series.) It had its action and emotion when it needed it but in all, saying it was way better then New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn Pt1 all together, does not make it enjoyable to the average observer.

In closing, If you were a fan: then you will enjoy it like you have for all the Twilight films...

If you are not a fan: you will wonder why these movies can make profit in the high hundreds of millions!