Weird/absurd plot, but an entertaining film nonetheless (Spoilers included)

Rating: 6/10 (24 November 2011)

"Breaking Dawn, Part 1" reaches new levels of weirdness even by "Twilight" standards. Whereas previous installments of the series preached abstinence before marriage, the message in BD1 seems to be that sex, even after your wedding vows, can basically kill you ! Not to mention the ludicrous idea that women should put up with a husband or partner who physically hurts them because they love him, or that a woman's future mate should be picked when she is born (i.e. the "imprinting" nonsense). The author and the screenwriter do not make any effort either to conceal their position on abortion ("it's a baby, not a fetus"), which is not justified in the movie/novel even to save the mother's life ! Bella is actually willing to die rather than terminate her pregnancy, which is plainly insane.
Having said that, leaving aside the absurd plot (which is Stephenie Meyer's fault), the movie itself is not as bad as most professional reviewers are saying. As expected, it doesn't have as many cool fighting scenes as "Eclipse", but I wouldn't call it boring or excessively slow-paced as most other reviewers claim. I am also assuming most of the action will be left to Part 2, where, unlike in the book, we will probably see a much bigger/epic showdown with the Volturi guard.
As far as the cast is concerned, as we all know, Taylor Lautner ("Jacob") over-acts and Robert Pattinson ("Edward") can't act (period!), but Kirsten Stewart ("Bella") actually does a better job in BD1 than in previous Twilight movies. Bella's physical deterioration during her pregnancy, the traumatic baby delivery, and her transformation into a vampire are well handled and acted, although the little "Avatar moment" in the final scene when her eyelids open revealing a red iris is somewhat anti-climatic and predictable. The scene where Bella drinks blood from a straw in a soda cup is likely to be long remembered as a classic though ! Billy Burke ("Charlie"), Anna Kendrick ("Jessica") and Ashley Greene ("Alice") are great as always in the few scenes they have and I had a pleasant surprise with minor cast members who were finally given more lines like Julia Jones ("Leah") and Boo Boo Stewart ("Seth").
Finally, Bill Condon's directing is OK, though not outstanding, but, given the bigger budget he had for the movie, we could have seen better CGI and, especially, make-up, which looks awful compared to previous movies. I also agree that the background music was often too loud, overwhelming the scenes. On the much-criticized "wolf talk" scene, to be fair, it is pretty much how Stephenie wrote it in the book. Bill Condon uses multiple voices talking over each other precisely to illustrate how the wolves' "hive mind" works. Viewers can appreciate then why Jacob and Leah are so relieved (and glad) that "it's finally quiet" when they are severed from the pack's telepathic link.