Breaking Dawn Review: Just What ‘Twilight’ Fans Have Been Waiting For

Breaking Dawn is only going to be a film that Twilight fans enjoy. If you haven’t read and fallen in love with the books, there is nothing here for you. You won’t get it, and you won’t be able to take it seriously. If you love the books however, this movie is exactly what you’ve been waiting for.

Breaking Dawn has been split into two movies much like the last Harry Potter films. Perhaps because there’s a lot going on, and mostly because Summit Entertainment wants this franchise to last as long as possible. Understandable. However, for the fans, waiting until next summer is going to be beyond painful.

In Breaking Dawn: Part 1, we start a day before the wedding and go until right after Renesmee is born and Bella is turned. The wedding is just as perfect and romantic as fans have hoped. Bella (Kristen Stewart) has a stunning dress that I’m sure fans will want to see replicated, and she also still has that awkward nervousness to her even as she walks down the isle. The world melts away during the ceremony for the two lovebirds, and all that she and Edward (Robert Pattinson) see are one another.

The reception serves as a large source of the film’s humor. Charlie (Billy Burke) and Jessica (Anna Kendrick) give toasts that can’t help but make you smile. I absolutely love their characters, and the subtle but hysterical humor they bring to their roles.

As the reception ends – the honeymoon begins. We remain swept up in the perfect world that every girl wishes she was apart of – only when Bella realizes that there’s something not quite right, the film’s tone changes entirely. The honeymoon is over (pun intended). Bella is pregnant, and her baby isn’t completely human. She and Edward rush back to Forks, Washington to address the issue with the other Cullens. It doesn’t take long to see that this child is sucking the life out of her (And the digital effects they use in these scenes to make Bella look sickly skinny are truly disturbing). She looks as if she is on the verge of becoming a zombie.

Jacob (Taylor Lautner) hasn’t given up on Bella yet, and he isn’t about to now. As angry as he is with Edward for putting Bella in her current situation, he still feels the need to protect her. His werewolf pack has decided that they need to “deal” with the baby before it has a chance to destroy them. And I’ll cut myself off here as to not further reveal anything that the trailers haven’t – though those of you that have read the books don’t have much you can be spoiled on.

I do want to further examine some of the scenes that the fans have been really looking forward to though.

1. The sex scene. There was a lot of pressure on director Bill Condon to make this as hot as PG-13 rating would allow. The scene is hot, and there are multiple scenes. I think for the most part the fans will be happy with this. Granted, it’s not the porno that older fans really want to see, but they definitely have pushed the limits on what they could get away with.

2. The birthing scene. As Condon had said before in previous interviews, this scene is going to be all from Bella’s perspective. It is, and it’s pretty intense. It’s not exactly as it was in the books, but overall I feel like Condon did a pretty good job at illustrating that part of the story. There’s definitely a lot of blood, and a lot of fans were squealing and covering their eyes.

3. The imprinting scene. Perhaps this wasn’t one of the ones that the fans were talking about prior to the film, but I think after they see Jacob imprinting on Renesmee (which is a beautiful montage) – they will be talking about. People who see this who haven’t read the books are probably going to be completely creeped out by this scene (imprinting basically means an individual realizes they have found their soulmate), and I have to admit – I was a little creeped out by it even when I read the books. Stephenie Meyers did her best to address this in the book – that until Renesmee is of age – it’s a brotherly love that Jacob feels for her. But yeah… it’s still a little creepy right?

Overall, Breaking Dawn is going to be a film that critics probably hate, non-Twilight fans hate even more, and actual Twilight fans want to see multiple times, because it makes them so giddy. It may not excite you – but it excites a large portion of the female population. As I’ve said many times over, guys could learn a thing or two from Edward Cullen – and they too could be the chick magnetic that Robert Pattinson has become. Think about it that way if you’re a guy and your girlfriend forces you into taking her to see this. For the girls, do yourself a favor and see this with your girlfriends – they’ll love it as much as you.

Rating: B
Review By: Emma Loggins