Distributor: Summit
Entertainment
Opening Weekend Box Office:
#1 with $141,067,634
Domestic Box Office
Gross to-date: $227,366,118
Gross Revenue: $578,166,118
Production Budget:
$120 million
Director: Bill Condon
I was not surprised in the least that last November’s Breaking Dawn – Part 1 was an incoherent and illogical mess, and certain components of the franchise have been perpetually infuriating, but due to the action-focused trailer for Part 2, there was a small chance that the fifth and final theatrical release wouldn’t invoke the desire to start a book burning of the young adult novels. However, the positive momentum that Breaking Dawn – Part 2 hoped to ride into its highly-anticipated release took a definitive hit when Kristen Stewart’s previously-referenced infidelity hit the tabloids…female fans were pissed and the studio decision makers had to prepare for some backlash from Team Edward during the packed promotional tour. Granted, R-Patts and K-Stew did reconcile a few weeks back, but most skeptics have concluded that the pairing may be solely the result of Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment mandating that the young stars maintain a public façade. Still, this negative buzz was proving to be little more than fuel for enemies of the successful franchise, as pre-release ticket sales were still skyrocketing, and many Twi-Hards were preparing for full marathons that were being offered by theaters as a lead-in to the midnight release. I am anything but a fan of this series, but over the course of this blog, I have suffered through a great deal of cinematic garbage, so really, how could I not go see the final Twilight and ensure that the series was finally over?
Picking up directly after the
events of Breaking Dawn – Part 1, Part 2 opens with Bella Swan/Cullen (Kristen
Stewart) awakening as a newborn vampire, learning to control her bloodlust but
reveling in her new abilities and immortal future with husband Edward Cullen
(Robert Pattinson) and daughter Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy). The blissful existence is soon shattered
though, as a member of the Cullen’s extended family, Irina (Maggie Grace),
witnesses Renesmee and mistakenly assumes that she is an immortal child;
because there are strict laws against the existence of immortal children, the
Cullens are reported to the vampire ruling body, the Volturi, who subsequently sentence
the peaceful coven to death. In the wake
of this impending danger, Bella is warned by the departing Alice Cullen (Ashley
Greene) and Jasper Hale (Jackson Rathbone) to gather witnesses to Renesmee’s
true unthreatening nature in an attempt to reason with the Volturi’s leader,
Aro (Michael Sheen); and so, Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), Esme (Elizabeth
Reaser), Rosalie (Nikki Reed), and Emmett (Kellan Lutz) reach out to vampire
families across the globe, most of whom agree to stand together with the
condemned coven and protect the young child.
Having imprinted on Renesmee at her birth, werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor
Lautner) also takes it upon himself to protect Bella’s daughter, even going as
far to guarantee that the rest of the wolf tribes will work together with their
vampire counterparts in order to face this massive threat. Though fully intent on reaching a tenuous
peace, The Cullen prepare with their new allies for a truly dangerous battle,
one which may have far greater implications than anyone has realized.
Despite the perpetual
disappointment that The Twilight Saga
has offered over the years in relation to normal cinematic metrics like acting
and coherent dialogue, I have always enjoyed the subtleties of the supernatural
elements, and thankfully, Breaking Dawn –
Part 2 finally keyed-in on that selling point. I have always enjoyed the personalities and
back-stories of the individual members of the Cullen family, and that kind of
novelty is expanded exponentially when the narrative introduces over a dozen
new immortals from new covens around the world…you may not be able to keep
track of every vampire, but they are a hell of a lot more interesting to watch
than an angst-filled teenager swooning over her sparkly beau. Back in 2010, I praised the action-filled
focus of Eclipse, but that
achievement doesn’t even come close to matching the violence of this final
chapter; in spite of myself, I immensely enjoyed the climactic battle, and I have
a feeling that audiences outside the fan-base spectrum might respond in a
similar manner. And, in addition to the
exciting and gory action, the final battle also paves the way for a genuinely
clever framing device and a delightfully hammy performance from Michael Sheen
as the Volturi leader. Now, such a
positive reaction may seem to go against my normal critical credibility, but
don’t worry, Breaking Dawn – Part 2
still offers many of the same terrible elements that we all have come to expect
from the Twilight franchise over the
years.
I have long declared Bella Swan to
be one of the biggest setbacks in feminism in decades, and when you combine
that fact with the acting abilities of Kristen Stewart, the romantic fantasy
film series is robbed of any chances of narrative depth or true critical
praise. After Snow White and the Huntsman, I began to think that maybe Miss
Stewart just got a bum-rap from playing a notoriously bad character, but after
this performance, she has just reinforced her status as awful, even with the
help of a potentially-helpful vampire character hook. The first scenes of Bella discovering her “powers”
are laughably bad with altogether cheesy special effects, and when you add that
to the painful banter that she shares with Jacob Lautner and Billy Burke (who
still plays the poor, clueless, sap), it is enough to again question why in the
hell these movies are so successful.
And, if after five movies, you cannot add a deeper ending than the two
main characters living “happily ever after,” then the entire scope of the
series is shamefully hollow and largely not worth any of the emotional
investment that has been granted over the years. Like I mentioned at the conclusion of the “Short
and Sweet” review, Breaking Dawn – Part 2
may be the strongest entry in The
Twilight Saga, but that kind of classification needs to be kept in
perspective in order to assess its marginally low value.
After earning $30.4 million in
midnight and Thursday night showings alone and a total of over $140 million in
its open weekend, Breaking Dawn – Part 2
can certainly be declared a success, but unlike other final installments in
historic franchises like Harry Potter
and Lord of the Rings, this chapter
of the saga did not completely outmatch its predecessors. Still, the first place opening helped signal
an impressive momentum that carried the sequel into a massive second weekend
that helped the Summit Entertainment cash cow defeat several new releases and
move well north of half a billion in revenue.
And now, the real question is whether the juggernaut franchise is
actually over, because even though the literary source material has run its
course, studio execs have expressed interest in expanding and continuing the
cinematic universe. Personally, I am just
curious to see if Robert Pattinson will stay with Kristen Stewart now that the
spotlight is fading and the outside pressure for the pair to stay together is
gone…stay tuned to TMZ for that nail-biting coverage. All-in-all, it is your call; whether or not
you truly care about vampire romance, the truth is that Breaking Dawn – Part 2 would not be the worst thing that you could
see at the theater.
Overall Recommendation: Medium
