The Twilight Saga:
Breaking Dawn Part 2
Year: 2012
Director: Bill Condon
Starring: Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart
Runtime: 115 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 19/05/21
Director: Bill Condon
Starring: Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart
Runtime: 115 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 19/05/21
In my review for Breaking Dawn Part 1 I stated that it was arguably the best way to handle an adaptation of the seven-hundred-page book, as it has its own three act structure and separate conflict from the second half of the story. But the challenge of splitting one book into two films is never an easy one to overcome and almost all have failed in maintaining the level of quality the first part brings to the table. So, is Breaking Dawn Part 2 a let-down in similar fashion to its peers, or does it excel in the same areas as the first film?
Bella (Kristen Stewart) has successfully transitioned into a vampire, and having survived the birth of her daughter, Renesme, must face the trials that all new vampires must overcome, learning to control one’s body, and control their insatiable lust for blood.
The story starts out by confronting the immediate issues at hand. How do they break the news to Bella’s father, Charlie (Billy Burke) that his daughter is dead? How do they effectively care for Renesme as a half human-half vampire child that ages rapidly? And what happens to the Cullen family now?
The Volturi are informed of Renesme’s existence and believe the Cullen’s to have turned a child into a vampire. As such they prepare for war against the Cullen’s to kill the child before it threatens exposing vampire-kind. Meanwhile the Cullen’s have built their own army but hope to talk down the Volturi and avoid conflict at all costs.
Breaking Dawn Part 2’s story is simply not as strong as Part 1’s. What made Part 1 as enjoyable as it was, was that the foundations that its story rested upon were solid as a rock. It had clear focus, and tight pacing. Part 2 shifts its focus too often to tie up the remaining threads of the story, and still finds time to bring in new conflicts and information, that it feels bloated and unfocused.
However, this is not an indication that Breaking Dawn should have been one film, because as I started in my previous review, Part 1 works perfectly as its own film. Instead, it’s clear that either Part 2 lacked the same care that went into the first film, or the second half of the story simply is not as strong as the first.
Bella (Kristen Stewart) has successfully transitioned into a vampire, and having survived the birth of her daughter, Renesme, must face the trials that all new vampires must overcome, learning to control one’s body, and control their insatiable lust for blood.
The story starts out by confronting the immediate issues at hand. How do they break the news to Bella’s father, Charlie (Billy Burke) that his daughter is dead? How do they effectively care for Renesme as a half human-half vampire child that ages rapidly? And what happens to the Cullen family now?
The Volturi are informed of Renesme’s existence and believe the Cullen’s to have turned a child into a vampire. As such they prepare for war against the Cullen’s to kill the child before it threatens exposing vampire-kind. Meanwhile the Cullen’s have built their own army but hope to talk down the Volturi and avoid conflict at all costs.
Breaking Dawn Part 2’s story is simply not as strong as Part 1’s. What made Part 1 as enjoyable as it was, was that the foundations that its story rested upon were solid as a rock. It had clear focus, and tight pacing. Part 2 shifts its focus too often to tie up the remaining threads of the story, and still finds time to bring in new conflicts and information, that it feels bloated and unfocused.
However, this is not an indication that Breaking Dawn should have been one film, because as I started in my previous review, Part 1 works perfectly as its own film. Instead, it’s clear that either Part 2 lacked the same care that went into the first film, or the second half of the story simply is not as strong as the first.
Breaking Dawn Part 2 introduces a lot of new characters that we’re clearly supposed to care for but does very little to actually give them any character depth. The result is that I often forgot their names, and simply never cared whether they would live, die, or participate in the forthcoming battle.
Speaking of which, is something that was absent from the book and created specifically for the film. I remember speaking to a lot of Twilight fans around the release of Breaking Dawn Part 2 and opinions were certainly mixed. It was either anger that the book had been altered for no reason, or it was joy that the story finally had an actual climax to it. Personally, I’m on the fence. I like that the battle exists as it does give some much-needed energy to the film, and the story has been building to this point for the last few hours. However, the revelation that it’s all a vision and not actually real then feels like a waste of time. There’s clear pros and cons.
Something that’s entirely con though is Renesme, or at least her physical appearance. Why, for the love of all things good in this world, why did anybody think it would be a good idea to have Renesme be almost entirely CG for most of the film. Even once she is mostly a real human played by Mackenzie Foy, there’s weird CG facial features that stop her from ever looking real. To put the cherry on top, they’re some of the worst CG effects not only in the Twilight series, but of any film from that era.
Combine this with the usual bad acting and bad script and you’re in for a rough ride, thankfully for the last time.
Speaking of which, is something that was absent from the book and created specifically for the film. I remember speaking to a lot of Twilight fans around the release of Breaking Dawn Part 2 and opinions were certainly mixed. It was either anger that the book had been altered for no reason, or it was joy that the story finally had an actual climax to it. Personally, I’m on the fence. I like that the battle exists as it does give some much-needed energy to the film, and the story has been building to this point for the last few hours. However, the revelation that it’s all a vision and not actually real then feels like a waste of time. There’s clear pros and cons.
Something that’s entirely con though is Renesme, or at least her physical appearance. Why, for the love of all things good in this world, why did anybody think it would be a good idea to have Renesme be almost entirely CG for most of the film. Even once she is mostly a real human played by Mackenzie Foy, there’s weird CG facial features that stop her from ever looking real. To put the cherry on top, they’re some of the worst CG effects not only in the Twilight series, but of any film from that era.
Combine this with the usual bad acting and bad script and you’re in for a rough ride, thankfully for the last time.
There’s nothing I can really give Breaking Dawn Part 2 praise for. Its quality, even in comparison to other films in the Twilight series is lacking. Whilst a lot of blame can be put on the series staple terrible screenwriting and wooden acting performances, I think a lot of the negativity this time can rightfully be directed at the source material…or at least the fact that it isn’t something naturally suited to being adapted to the screen.
Breaking Dawn as a whole story doesn’t neatly fit into the Hollywood machine. It’s too broad in scope, and its pace is something that a visual medium wouldn’t be able to replicate well. As I’ve said many times, I’ve never read the book, but I know plenty of people that will defend it, in fact more than most other books in the same series. So, I feel like maybe Hollywood bit off more than it could chew with Twilight. What seemed like an easy cash grab actually became something considerably more complicated, even if they did get all the cash they were after.
I’m glad to see the back of these films. There’s no sugar coating it. But what I’ve come to realise revisiting the Twilight series is that it’s not actually the story I hate (well, not primarily). It’s the often-appalling quality of the craft. That clearly so few on the project cared about producing something of substance. It feels soulless. But whilst I have issues with how the story is presented, the story being told is not wholly awful. I guess I’m going to have to tackle Fifty Shades now, right?
Breaking Dawn as a whole story doesn’t neatly fit into the Hollywood machine. It’s too broad in scope, and its pace is something that a visual medium wouldn’t be able to replicate well. As I’ve said many times, I’ve never read the book, but I know plenty of people that will defend it, in fact more than most other books in the same series. So, I feel like maybe Hollywood bit off more than it could chew with Twilight. What seemed like an easy cash grab actually became something considerably more complicated, even if they did get all the cash they were after.
I’m glad to see the back of these films. There’s no sugar coating it. But what I’ve come to realise revisiting the Twilight series is that it’s not actually the story I hate (well, not primarily). It’s the often-appalling quality of the craft. That clearly so few on the project cared about producing something of substance. It feels soulless. But whilst I have issues with how the story is presented, the story being told is not wholly awful. I guess I’m going to have to tackle Fifty Shades now, right?