You could say I am a fan of Twilight. It would be sort-of true: I love the books. Yes, I do. I’m 33 and not ashamed to say it. Also, I have now seen all four of the Twilight movies that exist so far. And here is my honest opinion: they’re okay, but they don’t do the books justice. (I have much more to say on this, but that’s for another rant post.)
I went to see this at the theatre with my sister and a friend, as a last-minute girl night. We went with some sheepishness but lots of relish. ‘Twas good company. And we mostly agreed on the movie: it wasn’t as bad as we’d expected.
Here are your inevitable bullet lists! Hurray!
I didn’t like:
- The scene with the growly CGI-werewolf conference: it was supposed to be all fierce-like, but we found it impossible not to laugh. (Maybe this belongs on the “liked” list; it was a good chuckle.)
- Like in the other three movies (LITO3), the acting did not blow me away. Kristen Stewart did smile more, and blink less, which was better, but she was still kinda one-dimensional, lacking Bella’s humour and quick-wittedness.
- LITO3, Robert Pattinson is just not the rugged Edward I envisioned when I read the books. Too bony.
- In fact, none of the vampires, with the possible exception of Ashley Greene (Alice, below), is beautiful enough to be “inhumanly perfect”, like they’re sposta be.
- Poor Jasper always looks like he’s trying not to throw up. I guess the actor is trying to convey his constant struggle with his vampirical needs, but he’s off the mark.
- It’s too bad they couldn’t capture the essential awesomeness of the “pack mentality” among the werewolves. That was a fascinating element of the book for me, but it’s kinda lost here. Same with Jacob’s whole POV.
- LITO3, I kept thinking, just SPIT IT OUT already! Have a normal conversation! The dialogue is so stunted and slow in so many scenes, it drives me a little bit bonkers. What was the director trying to achieve here? Audience participation?
- LITO3, I’m pretty sure the camera operator is in love with Kristen. There are like a billion shots of her face, from different angles, usually with her looking somewhere between thoughtful and chagrined. Okay, we get it. She’s pretty. Move on.
- You can tell they were stretching it to get a 1.75-hour movie out of HALF of a normal-sized young adult novel. Shoulda gone for one big film, and done the whole thing double-speed.
I liked:
- Hunger Games preview! Okay, nothing to do with Breaking Dawn, but it gave me serious goosebumps. OMG, I can’t wait. That was another excellently readable book series, as I’ve mentioned – if you haven’t yet, go read it!!
- LITO3, the scenery was breathtaking. I’m pretty sure every person who sees it wants to live in the Cullens’ forest-hidden, all-windows house.
- The music used for the wedding scene was really beautiful. I wanted it to keep going.
- The wedding speech bit was cute. I don’t remember getting speeches in the book, but that’s the part I look forward to at weddings.
- The one actor who truly nails the part is Billy Burke, as Bella’s dad, Charlie. He’s great.
- Honeymoon in Brazil = not too shabby. Actually very awesome.
And a wee set of BONUS BULLETS:
- There’s no way it was a coincidence that the very first scene of the movie basically consists of Jacob ripping off his shirt and phasing into werewolf form. Well played, torso.
- There is looooots of kissing in this movie. Longest wedding kiss EVER. It was well done, sweet and romantic, but I started to get antsy.
- Did Kristen Stewart actually emaciate herself for the scenes where her unborn baby is destroying her from the inside? The Birdhouse says no, it was all done digitally. Whew, because gross.
To sum up: the three of us were entertained. It was a fun night. And of course we’ll see the last installment.
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Yum . . . Jacob’s abs . . .