THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Although this new "Twilight" chapter falls short behind "Eclipse" (the best entry in the series by far), "Breaking Dawn: Part 1" is stunning and simply heartbreakingly intense but it is also beset by a problem that plagues any film divided into two chapters - the second chapter might have all the goodies that this chapter only hints at.
The lovestruck couple, Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), are finally getting hitched. They also have their honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro in a private island that would be home to Robinson Crusoe. Apparently, this island has a cleaning staff that caters to what seems to be the only house in the island! Edward and Bella have their one rapturous night of ecstasy that involves a broken bed frame and a tossing of sheets and bed pillows all over the room. The cleaning staff will have a field day with this couple - one night and already the beautifully decorated home with windows facing the sea is already in shambles. This honeymoon looks like it was ripped from the Harlequin romance novels. I was almost ready to give up with this series, thinking that "Twilight" should not have romance and sex swathed with sepia-tones and slightly unintentional hilarity. After all, it could become campy when you consider this is a romance between a 103-year-old vampire and a 17-year-old girl.
Things improve quickly when Bella discovers she is pregnant! This baby is kicking her bony ass rather quickly since vampire babies are not regular babies. Bella becomes a ghostly figure of her past self, experiencing pain, slightly weak bones, and the possibility of death if she gives birth to the vampire child. Abortion is hinted at and super wolfie kid, Jacob (Taylor Lautner), is mad and jealous as hell. Still, Jacob wants to be at Bella's side and ultimatums between the Cullen family and Jacob's super wolf pack are raised. Will Bella give birth and die? Will Jacob and Edward fight to the death for Bella's love? Should a union occur between a human and a vampire when the human is still only human? Will the Cullens ever consider buying curtains for their glass encased house where every room is visible to wandering eyes?
"Breaking Dawn: Part 1" spends far too much time in Rio and too little time with the interactions between the Cullens and the Jacob wolf pack. That is not to say that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson do not have chemistry - they do - but this whole Brazilian episode swallows up too much running time and is superfluous at best. I mean, we know they love each other (it took three films to prove that) so why not get on with the central notion of the birth of a baby who may not be human.
There are surprises in store for the die hard fans, which I will not reveal here for the uninitiated. Suffice to say, the movie is still quite a trip and we feel the insular pain that Bella is going through. A bloody birth scene is *tastefully* directed. There is also a neat flashback to Edward Cullen's past. Oh, and there are those blood bags. And Kristen Stewart simply gets better and better with each installment - she is the heart and soul of the "Twilight" saga."Breaking Dawn: Part 1" is uneven yet it still delivers in its own hypnotic and absorbing manner, thanks to solid direction by Bill Condon ("Gods and Monsters"). But it is more of a pretext and/or setup to part 2 than a unifying whole.
