Gary Lim
If you haven’t already heard of Twilight, you’ve probably been living under a rock. Fans of heartthrob Robert Pattinson have been counting down almost a year for this movie. It’s also been just as long a wait for his character, vampire Edward Cullen and Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who finally get married in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1.
Directed by Dreamgirl‘s Bill Condon, the two lovebirds, along with werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), return in this fourth installment (preceded by Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse) of The Twilight Saga, based on best-selling novels by author Stephanie Meyer.
Right after their wedding, Bella and Edward head to Rio de Janeiro for their honeymoon. There, they consummate for the first time and all is well, until Bella discovers she is pregnant with a dangerous vampire-human hybrid. Against all advice, Bella is resolute in keeping the child, resulting in a chain of events that threaten her safety and relationship with Edward.
If you can bear the cloying sentimentality of the first 15 minutes, you will enjoy the droll comedic antics of Bella’s police chief dad Charlie Swan (Billy Burke) and Bella’s human friend, Jessica Stanley (Anna Kendrick). However, this is pretty much it as far as humour goes.
Robert Pattinson was sufficiently stoic as the worried spouse of Bella, and Kristen Stewart managed to pull off Bella’s anguish convincingly. Ashley Greene, also performed excellently as Edward’s light and bubbly sister Alice Cullen, even if her screen time was limited. Taylor Lautner, as Edward’s romantic rival, is amusingly sarcastic in between the mandatory shirtless scenes.
The visual effects in the film were commendable, notably in Bella’s unusual pregnancy and in the CGI renditions of Jacob’s wolf pack. A horribly emaciated pregnant Kristen Stewart, weakened due to her hybrid foetus’s unique physiology, looked uncomfortably convincing.
Carter Burwell, who scored the first film, returns to compose the music for both parts of the last installment. The featured song is Bruno Mars’ It Will Rain, and other notable music include A Thousand Years by Christina Perri, as well Angus & Julia Stone’s Love Will Take You, building on the movie’s theme of teenage romance.
There is admittedly a lack of action, even compared to the previous films. Besides the battle between the Cullen family and the wolf pack and the small scuffle among the wolves when Jacob’s divided loyalties are questioned, much of the movie is dedicated to the leads’ romance scenes and Bella’s pregnancy.
If you were already a ‘Twi-hard’, or you love watching movies with plenty of romance to go around, you’ll probably buy into the saccharine plot. However, non-Twilight fans are still unlikely to start fantasising about golden-eyed vampires anytime soon.
Movie: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1Rating: 2.5/5
Opens: Nov 24
Duration: 117 minutes
Language: English
Age Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance
Director: Bill Condon
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner