Music, Style & Culture

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

As a guilty pleasure, it gives the fans and the cynics everything they want.

Released in cinemas 18th November 2011.

Stephenie Meyer's batshit insane conclusion to the Twilight Saga is cynically broken into two parts by Dreamgirls director Bill Condon. Thankfully, all the really juicy (i.e. warped) stuff is in part one, and there's plenty for the diehard fan to laugh, cry and vomit over.

A quick recap, as the film can't be bothered do that for the casual viewer. As a human aware of the existence of vampires, 18-year-old Bella (Kristen Stewart) must be turned by order of the powerful Volturi. Vampire boyfriend Edward (Robert Pattinson) only agrees to this if she marries him. Most the third film, Eclipse, was about Edward's Victorian values and hang-ups about pre-marital sex, and now we're about to discover there's more to worry about than eternal damnation.

A good chunk of Breaking Dawn is devoted to the wedding and honeymoon, with the former actually quite tender and romantic. The speeches provide (intentional) laughs, with Anna Kendrick's scene-stealing Jessica reminding us why Bella has no real friends. However, Meyer's cameo is slightly nauseating and self-indulgent. (Girly side note: Bella's wedding dress is stunning).

Then it's off to Rio (does the centenarian Edward have a passport?) for the long-awaited consumnation of their warped, dependent love. The pair frolic on a private island, but disappointingly, Condon doesn't show what happens to Edward in sunlight, despite them being on a beach in the daytime. Basically, there is no recreation of the hilarious, sparkly "this is the skin of a killer" moment from Twilight.

Then the infamous "fade to black" sex scene from the book. Edward looks remarkably tanned and sweaty for a walking corpse, as the chaste lovin' occurs. Bella doesn't heed warnings about human/vampire relations, and wakes up bruised in a room torn to shreds. Edward's no longer an emotionally abusive partner, he's now a physical one! Meyer's covered guilt and anxiety about sex, and now it's time for punishment, as Bella falls pregnant. For a fantasy, Meyer has no answer to this biological discrepancy, as in how a cold, dead creature without a heartbeat can father a child.

The pregnancy is when Breaking Dawn really kicks into gear, as Condon thankfully doesn't pull any punches with the fast-growing, unknown quantity that's ravaging Bella's body. It's as far as it can go for a 12A certificate, and is genuinely distressing. The sight of Bella's emaciated body is enough, without explicit gore, and it's effectively horrific with some decent CGI.

Meanwhile, Bella's shape-shifting best friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) has loyalty issues with his wolfpack as the non-human community come to terms with a potential demon child being born. Jacob continues to be the story's strongest, most sympathetic character, even if Lautner struggles to bring anything that's not physical to the role. Without a single actor letting rip with raw emotion, considering the events, it's a fairly anaemic climax that's building up. Jacob's Quileute tribe continue to be poorly defined characters, and there's a scene where they meet in their wolf form that is shockingly bad - not so much the shoddy CGI but the melodramatic, over-the-top voice work by the actors.

The final scenes of Part 1 are highly tense and effective, with Condon managing the more ludicrous incidents with remarkable ease. While the pacing could've been tightened, and the book filmed as one movie, it's still more gripping than the dire, repetitive New Moon. Twilight's funniest problems are rightfully present and correct: dreadful wigs and make-up for supposedly beautiful vampires, Pattinson pretty much giving up on his performance, and the dodgy implications of a teen heroine that gives up her life and humanity for a high school crush.

Twilight's composer Carter Burwell returns, but his work here is flat and cheesy; Catherine Hardwicke's indie film had a soundtrack that elevated the teen romance, and that charm is missing. Eclipse director David Slade got the franchise back on track after the disaster that was Chris Weitz's New Moon, and his camp, energetic and enjoyable take would've made for a decent finale. Ultimately, Breaking Dawn Part 1 could never be salvaged from Meyer's dreadful vision of true love. But as a guilty pleasure, it gives the fans and the cynics everything they want.

Rating: 6/10