The Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn Part 2

THE TWILIGHT SAGA : BREAKING DAWN PART 2

Director : Bill Condon

Year : 2012

Genre : Romance/Action

Rating : ***1/2

 

'Breaking Dawn Part 2' is the final installment in the hugely maligned but successful 'Twilight' franchise. Based on the novels by Stephenie Meyer, the movies follow the love triangle between a vampire, a werewolf and a mortal girl. While heavily criticised and mocked in popular culture, the 'Twilight' saga found a wide audience and became some of the highest grossing movies of all time. While I am not a huge fan of the films, I can see why teenage girls love these movies and to me, 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' is the best movie in the series. It is a well made, beautifully shot film that really doesn't deserve the critical bashing it got when released.

Picking up straight after 'Breaking Dawn Part 1', the movie continues the story of Renesmee, Edward and Bella's daughter, who is now growing at a very rapid and unnatural rate. Bella is getting used to a life as a vampire, and the Cullens and the werewolves are learning to live together. However, the Volturi, (the vampire high council) soon finds out about the birth of Renesmee and they believe her to be an immortal child. In the past, immortal children have bought down entire populations of vampires so the Volturi decide that she must be destroyed. Realising this, The Cullens assemble a group of vampires from around the world to fight the Volturi and prove to them that Renesmee is mortal.

The acting is by far the best that it has been in the entire series. Kristen Stewart finally comes out of her shell and proves that she is a good actress. Rather than being the monotonous, expressionless bore that she has become known for, she really does exude star power and with movies such as 'Adventureland', 'The Runaways' and 'On The Road', Stewart really is shaping up to be someone to watch out for. Robert Pattinson has already proved that he is a versatile actor in movies such as 'Water For Elephants' and David Cronenbergs gritty 'Cosmopolis' and I believe that it won't be too soon before we soon a Ben Affleck style renaissance from him. However, while the two main leads work well together, Taylor Lautner is still the most boring aspect of the 'Twilight' movies. Unfortunately, unlike Stewart and Pattinson, Lautner hasn't had a prolific acting career and I can't imagine we will see him in such diverse fare in the future. The supporting cast which includes Michael Sheen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Dakota Fanning and Billy Burke work well together, especially Sheen as the insane, childlike leader of the Volturi, Aro.

With such diverse fare as 'Candyman : Farewell To The Flesh', 'Gods & Monsters' and 'Dreamgirls', Bill Condon has proven to be a very prolific director who can span multiple genres with ease. Bringing an air of both romance and horror to 'Breaking Dawn Part 2', Condon is able to continue to bring the same tone and seriousness that he created from the previous installment in the series. As a previous horror and slasher director, he is able to continue the more bloody element to the story and 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' does contain some of the most violent and graphic scenes in the entire 'Twilight' saga. The movie is surprisingly vicious, full of decapitations and graphic vampire killings and the final battle scenes may disturb younger viewers with the overuse of beheadings. While not containing any blood and easily being able to stick to the BFFC '12 rating', the fiinale of 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' does show characters in pain and full of fear.

As mentioned, the movie is beautifully shot and the cinematography by Guillermo Navarro, best known for his work on Guillermo Del Toro's masterpiece 'Pan's Labyrinth' is the best from the entire franchise. With the uses of vivid colours and well thought out CGI, 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' is actually one of the best looking movies of 2012. Added to this a well chosen soundtrack and swooping camera moves, the film's technicalities are just as good as the biggest blockbusters around.

I have never understood the constant mockery of the 'Twilight' series. Teenage girls have been severly overlooked in Hollywood over the last decade and while such headache inducing fare as the 'Transformers' movies and other generic action movies are made for pubescent teenage boys, very little is made for teenage girls. However, as soon as something comes along that interests girls in a big way, critical derision is imminent. One of the biggest gripes is that Meyers has bastardised the vampire mythologies; sparkling in daylight and not feasting on human blood. Like the best horror or science fiction movies, the use of the vampire ethos is subtext. The true meaning of the 'Twilight' series is a romance between 2 people who really shouldn't fall for each other. The vampire element is added to be more commercial. Whether or not you like the 'Twilight' series is irrelevant. For it's target audience, the series works perfectly and I know that I would rather my teenage daughter watch a franchise about abstinence and love, rather than such poisonous movies about wealth and greed like 'Sex and The City' and 'Bratz'.

If you are a fan of the 'Twilight' series then this should be the final installment that you have been waiting for. It is an epic finale to a hugely popular and influential franchise that whether you like it or not, has had an effect on some people that we can never undermine or mock. As the boxset proudly says, 'The saga that captivated a generation'. It was the 'Star Wars' for teenage girls and I can't see another franchise ever coming close to it's power or emotion. To me, 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' is the end of a much maligned, often ridiculous franchise that made some bad choices early on. Possibly with a different cast, the films may not be so easy to mock. However, 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' completes the saga in a very impressive, beautiful and entertaining way. What amazes me is that at the 2012 Golden Raspberry awards, 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' won every single category including 'Worst Picture'. Seriously, in a year when 'Battleship', 'John Carter', 'Piranha 3DD' and 'Ghost Rider : Spirit Of Vengeance' are released, how can 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' be the worst movie of 2012 ? Bottom line, it isn't and this lazy, Philistinistic teenage bullying really does show the state of modern cinema and the attitudes Hollywood has to teenage girls. As long as people are paying hard earned money to see Michael Bay garbage, that's all that matter, eh?

You will like this if you liked : The Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn Part 1 : The Twilight Saga : Eclipse