THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 2 – With Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and others. Directed by Bill Condon.
The Twilight saga has always been divisive, in both book and movie form. The franchise has attracted a large and devoted following, while everyone else views the series with relative indifference or strong feelings of dislike. As such, the film series has always been strictly aimed at established fans.
In this installment, the Cullens are joined by an assortment of vampires from all over the world to help them stand up to the sinister clan of vampires known as the Volturi. These allies provide some welcome new faces and are generally an entertaining bunch of characters, although none of them are developed to any great extent.
Instead, the focus remains firmly on the love triangle involving Bella Swan (Kristin Stewart), the vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and the werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). The continuing rivalry between Edward and Jacob, and Jacob’s desire to be involved in the life of Bella and Edward’s daughter, Reneesme (Mackenzie Foy), largely occupies the movie’s opening scenes and make for a somewhat sluggish first half. The pace picks up considerably when the Volturi enter the scene, and the vampire Aro, leader of the Volturi, is an entertaining villian brought to life by Michael Sheen’s eccentric performance.
Whatever criticism one may level at the movie are ultimately pointless. Fans will want to see how the saga ends and Breaking Dawn Part 2 should deliver everything they could want. The film is skilfully made and the competent but dull performances, under-developed characters and sometimes embarrassing dialogue are ultimately only minor irritations. This is definitely the strongest entry in the franchise. Movie-goers who have long ago decided that Twilight isn’t for them won’t miss out on anything by skipping the final chapter.
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