After a slight misunderstanding with the tickets (I did not order enough, whoops), we made it to Westfield Vue for the 5.40pm showing of Breaking Dawn last night and managed to buy an extra seat. Sadly, it was way over on the other side of the auditorium but after some careful stalking of a set of four seats together and a bit of gentle negotiating with the usher, we were all seated together in time for the opening credits. Phew.
As a fan of the books and the previous films, I definitely give this one a thumbs up, but it was by no means perfect.
What I liked about the movie:
- It started well. The wedding scene was beautiful. It made me want to get married all other again, only this time in the middle of a forest beneath a willow tree. In particular, I thought the scene where Bella and Charlie are walking up the aisle towards Edward was very well done and I loved the wedding speeches, especially Charlie’s.
- Jacob. I have never really been convinced that he was a genuine contender for Bella’s heart in the previous films, but he has a new maturity in this film that I definitely warmed to and I liked his character much more. As the actor who plays him has obviously gotten a little bit older and developed a little chin stubble too, I also found him to be much easier on the eye.
- Bella. She is much more personable in this film. I thought her wedding night nerves were so cute (although I found it hard to believe she had not already shaved her legs on her wedding day!) and I loved the fun side to her that they showed on the honeymoon. The montage of her pulling out all the moves to try to seduce her new husband was very funny.
- The final scene where she opens her eyes as a vampire had me on the edge of my seat. Granted I was desperate for the loo as well at this point, but it was still very powerful. I wanted Part 2 to start right away. Sadly we have another 12 months to wait.
What I didn’t like about the movie:
- There should have been more explanation of who Irina is and her relationship with Laurent. I think they kind of glossed over this a bit. Maybe the story will feature more in Part 2.
- That Jacob imprinted on the baby. OK, I get that for now all it means is that he will be her protector and her friend… but when she grows up to be a young woman, it is implied that they will become much more. It made me feel really uncomfortable and I wish they hadn’t gone there. I didn’t like this storyline in the book either though so I’ll be interested to see how this develops in the next instalment.
- Rosalie was much more of a bodyguard to Bella’s bump in the books than she is in the film. The full extent of Rosalie’s part in Bella even going through with the pregnancy at all does not come across.
- The make-up on the vampires – you can see the line where the white face make-up ends. My sister would have done a much better job 🙂
- Edward’s back story of hunting human serial killers – did not see it’s relevance at all.
And, what I thought was just plain ridiculous:
- Edward’s 100-year-old sperm impregnating Bella. I think they should have gone to more effort to explain how this might have even been possible.
- The scene where the wolves are communicating to each other as wolves was laugh out loud ridiculous. Purlease. What were they thinking?! Made an absolute mockery of the whole film.
When we dissected the film over 3 bottles a glass of wine later, we agreed that it was a really enjoyable film for the most part but we’ll all be laughing about that wolf scene for a very long time to come!
‘NO, I’M THE CHIEF’ growling wolf #1
‘NO, I AM’ growling wolf #2
‘I’M OFF TO FIND MYSELF THEN AND START A PACK OF MY OWN’ growling wolf #1 again
Like I said, what were they thinking?!
