By Sasha Ferguson | Follow on Twitter
Twilight Breaking Dawn was released on Friday the 18th of November, and after beating my way through the crowds of teenage girls, I went to see it on the Friday night. Based on the content of the books, I was expecting something really special, and I have to say, that’s exactly what it was!
Breaking Dawn was absolutely spectacular! I was completely mesmorized for the duration of the film, I even shed a tear and had to cover my eyes due to the extreme gore!
Although, I will admit that the first ten minutes had me thinking we were in for another snoozefest (such as that the first three movies delivered) once the story really got rolling, it was absolutely breath-taking! Not just in a girly, romantic sense, but in regards to action, tension and gore! The dream that Bella has about the wedding, the night before, is depicted beautifully – the pile of dead family & friends that Bella, after being turned into a vampire, sucked the blood from herself, looks incredible against the insanely white surroundings of the wedding, as does her blood-soaked wedding dress.This is such a severe scene that is so far from anything in any of the other movie’s that it really sets the viewer up for what’s still to come.
The real wedding was stunning- I actually squeezed out a solitary tear! Bellas’ wedding dress was beautiful, as were the shoes. Her walk up the isle was really touching, and the way the romance and girly portions of the movie were depicted were a lot more mature than in the previous movies, so much so that I was actually completely swept away in the moment. The music complimented the story beautifully, and the Wedding Version of Iron & Wine’s ‘Flightless Bird, American Mouth’ (the song that plays at the end of Twilight when Bella & Edward are dancing at the prom) that accompanies their vows is just, perfect.
The most enjoyable part of the movie for me, was the sex scene. Yes, a sex scene. It was so tense and intimate, I’m pretty sure every girl in the cinema was holding her breath watching. The end of the honeymoon marks the begnning of the fast-paced tension & action. Just as the first three movies, Breaking Dawn has a period at the beginning of the movie which is quite slow-moving, but with Breaking Dawn, I really didn’t mind. In fact, the beginning of the movie was beautiful. It was perfect – Bella & Edwards wedding, their first night together & their honeymoon made the beginning of the movie every bit as enjoyable as the second half.
Now I’ve gotten all the romance and girly business out of the way, we can get down to the real action. After their first night being naughty under the sheets, we see some really grave consequences – Bella is pregnant, with what, noone knows. The thing inside of Bella blocks Alice’s ability to see into the future, and Alice can no longer see Bella in anyones’ futures. It begins draining the life out of Bella, making her frail & ill, and actually ends up cracking her ribs. The makeup and special effects used to portray this in the movie is actually incredibly good. Bella looks drained, grey in complexion & incredibly unwell.
They return from their honeymoon on Isle Esme, to the Cullens’ home. Edward is set on destroying what has taken over Bellas body, but having fallen in love with her ‘baby’, Bella enlists the help of Rosalie – who resents her own existence as a vampire solely because she missed out on the chance to have a child of her own. Bella & Rosalie refuse to let anyone touch the unborn, preserving the creature, which is becoming stronger & stronger inside Bella, as she becomes weaker and weaker.
Once the wolves catch wind of this, they too are up in arms. The treaty between the wolves & the vampires had been keeping peace in Forks, but since no one knows what is growing inside Bella, the threat to the humans is great. The wolves sworn duty is to protect the humans, which means they must destroy whatever this creature is, even if that means Bella goes with it.
There are many bits I really think the male cinema goers enjoyed- and the action involving the wolves trying to get to Bella is one of them. Jacob quickly switches his allegience to the Cullen Clan, rather than the wolfpack, to try and preserve Bellas life. Followed by Seth Clearwater, he leave Sam’s pack after a heated debate. This debate, for the first time in any of the movies, takes place while the pack are still in the wolf form. I thoroughly enjoyed this scene – finally it is revealed how the wolves can communicate with eachother while in their wild form, and the pack of wolves really is a spectacular visual treat. Breaking Dawn also gives the viewer an insight into how the wolfs see the world, for the first time. We are allowed to see the world from Jake’s wolf eyes as he tears through the forest in a rage.
Jake stays by the Cullens side through the duration of the movie, and things begin to look up when Edward is finally able to hear the thoughts of the creature inside of Bella- it’s just a little baby. A baby, Edward claims is like Bella, and not like Edward. That being said,Bella’s health begins to improve too, as they realise that the baby inside of Bella is just thirsty- for blood. Bella begins drinking cups of human blood as her staple diet, & begins to regain her strength, building steadily towards the movies’ climax.
The climax of the movie is the birth- which I really must admit wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting some cop out, girly depiction managing to avoid any of the gore but it was done incredibly well. Bellas body snaps in two as she tries to stand up, and with the Doctor, Carlisle, not present, Jake, Edward & Rosalie are left with the formidable task of delivering. Edward uses his teeth to bite through the impenatrable membrane around Bellas womb, and we actually see the blood & gore and hear the screams. The little baby is born, but as Edward is caught in a moment holding his new-born daughter, Bella’s body goes lifeless & still, and the light drains from her eyes. The camera pans out, and to my real shock, the scene is very gory. Bellas body is shockingly thin & pale, her dead body frozen & caked in blood.
Jacob, believing that Bella is dead, runs out of the house. Overcome with emotion, he stalks around the house and creeps into the living-room, where Rosalie is cradling the new born baby. With every intention of ripping the baby to shreds, Jacob silently creeps up behind Rosalie – only to imprint on little Renesmee! Everything begins to fall into place during Breaking Dawn. We now understand why Bella & Jacob have such an unbreakable bond, Jacob was always destined to imprint on Bella’s baby. When the wolfpack finally attacks the Cullen household, the vampires and wolves engage in another tense & action packed fight-scene, but once Jacob runs out of the house to tell the wolves he has imprinted, they must back down. Their utmost rule is that none that a wolf has imprinted on can be harmed.
Meanwhile, Edward now desperately tries to revive Bella, and injects her with his venom, attempting to change her before it’s too late. He bites her all over her body in an attempt to spread the venom. The way in which Bella’s transition begins is also depicted very, very well. The shot of her face, frozen & dead, cuts between the venom coarsing through her veins, and the pain she’s experiencing, violently twisting, thrashing, writhing & screaming in pain in her mind, but her dead frozen body is unable to move. The venom shooting through her veins and engulfing her heart is really visually spectacular.
The movie ends with the camera settled on Bella, showing us her change. Her body never moves an inch but her skin becomes more & more pale as the days and weeks pass, and her ribcage cracks back into place. The final shot is of when Bella finally opens her eyes, which are scarlett red with violent bloodlust.
I really thought Breaking Dawn was brilliant, and although there are parts of the story which aren’t included, in this case it’s actually quite a good thing. Breaking Dawn is a massive book, and the really important parts of the storyline are what get depicted in this movie. Nothing is explained to death, and there is a beautiful marriage of action & tension with romance & wistfulness.
I really thought that Breaking Dawn is a more mature and serious adaptation of Meyers’ work than any of the previous movies have achieved. I was completely emotionally invested the entire duration of the movie and I thought the referenes to the earlier movies in regards to the soundtrack were a really brilliant touch. There were several points in the movie where the entire cinema was laughing. I still wouldn’t put the movie above the book, but this is by far the best of the Twilight movies, and for once I really enjoyed it rather than being pissed off about how lackluster it was. I had predicted before I went into the cinema that this movie was going to be brilliant, but it exceeded my expectations. Although some of you Twi-hards might disagree and will argue it wasn’t true enough to the book, you have to appreciate the beautiful way in which it was dealt with. The wedding, the birth, the depiction of the wolves, all perfect. You can’t expect a movie to tick all the boxes in regards to what you imagined when reading the books yourself – as far as movies go, I have to say I enjoyed Bill Condon’s interpretation of Meyer’s book.
I would really recommend this movie, even to all of the reluctant boyfriends out there. There is a hidden scene at the end of the movie, showing the Volturi being informed that Bella has finally been changed, and setting the viewer up for the next movie, when the Volturi come after the Cullens. I would also really recommend the soundtrack to any diehard fans out there, which is already available on Spotify.
Various Artists – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
