As a hardcore Harry Potter fan, I have been conditioned to instantaneously roll my eyes anytime the Twilight franchise is mentioned, but I cannot help but respect the success that the film series has had over the past few years. Because of that same success, Summit Entertainment had little challenge in marketing the film or selling tickets, as all that was needed was the generation of audience awareness that the newest entry would be hitting theaters soon. Though I nearly had every reason to discriminate, I knew that I would have to see Breaking Dawn – Part 1 in order to maintain the integrity and variety of my reviews, and as such; I have seen every movie in the series and am well aware of the characters and back-story. Given my standing as a fan of the mythos surrounding vampires and werewolves, I have found some entertaining elements in the past Twilight films, but needless to say, I was in no hurry to see notoriously one-dimensional actors return to the screen. Strategically choosing my showing time so as to avoid legions of teenage girls and wildly inappropriate middle-aged women, I was prepared to see Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and maybe identify a few credible film-making elements.
Granted, I was fully aware that the focus of Breaking Dawn – Part 1 would be Edward and Bella’s wedding and honeymoon, but I still wasn’t expecting the overly sappy and corny “romance” that saturates nearly every fiber of the film. Just like every single entry of the Twilight series to-date, easily the weakest part of the film is Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella almost completely void of emotion or personality, which only accentuates the character’s already-maddening irrationality and indecisive nature. The male leads aren’t off the hook either…Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner do show a little more spirit and range this time around, but they are still guilty of some pretty blatant overacting. The conflict surrounding Bella’s pregnancy, which shifts focus to the conflict between vampires and werewolves for a while, does have its interesting and tense moments, but it is not enough to save the project as a whole. If you are a devout Twi-hard, I’m sure that you’re going to love Breaking Dawn – Part 1, but for the rest of us, there is little to justify sitting through this nearly two-hour romance that sets feminism back a few years.
Overall Recommendation: Low
