An even better love story than Twilight.

Rating: 8/10 (26 April 2020)

I feel slightly foolish reviewing this since I sort of figure that if you sat through the first three movies then you're going to check this out sooner or later and if you haven't seen them, well ... "saga" is right there in the title.
But I was pleasantly surprised by this. I'm not a twi-hard but I think it's fair to say a lot of the more vocal hate hurled against this movie has an ulterior motive.
Throughout the series, there has always been that biblical undertone; that question of whether it's better to pursue transhuman power or maintain our humanity and it all finally comes to the boil in a pretty intense narrative of tribal conflict, belonging and challenging predicaments.
For the first time I think I can really feel what the fans feel about this story. The Saga can be a bit alienating to people who don't fetishize the central romance but with the groundwork thoroughly applied, Meyer's hard work pays off at least on screen. For me, the aesthetic value of a romance is limited by the development of the participants and as much as I like Bella Swan (I'd date her before Hermione, *shrug*) she and her Beau (see what I did there?!) have never really struck me as having much definition as characters except in terms of their relationship with each other (which was always a bit insta-lovey). But here the substance of the story shines through and it truly feels the part of that series you always wished you could have read as a kid.
The nuances of this "miracle" child, the character that always calls it a "fetus" in contrast to the one that insists it's a "baby" should be apparent to everyone. It leads us to an edgy situation of the conflict of supporting your loved one and avoiding the actions that may take them away from you. I was compelled.
Meanwhile, simmering tensions between bestiality and necrophilia, uh I mean...the werewolves and the vampires are pretty epic. In addition to a poignant rendition of someone's familial loyalty tested by doing what one feels is right we get to see that Jacob is way more than eye candy.
I think it reflects positively on the series that we open with a wedding on what is to all practical purposes the "Final Chapter". Harry Potter also did this curiously albeit to fairly peripheral characters. Popular culture has trained me to see a wedding of this kind as the natural conclusion to any epic series but here, the real challenges (as they often do in real life) begin after the vows have been exchanged.
So much of the first act is the marriage and honeymoon. It's strange how sitcomy the whole thing feels at times (or maybe whatever Hollyoaks is would be a better analogy), seriously, the "let's do anything but bang" montage was something I was totally not prepared for, complete with the chess-board of platonicalness.
But my girl Kristen looks fabuloso. She is radiant when she needs to be and vulnerable when she needs to. If your memory of Stewart is the first movie, well she has honed her craft and she is pretty breathtaking in this. And girl gets LAID!!! Too bad the playa hating censors had to neuter this picture but the director really makes the best of it. Seriously, the trivia says it was her thrusting that the issue. Never say a girl doesn't commit...
The rest is the eye popping blockbuster you'd expect. The production design, the convincing giant wolves, the stunning fights, all wrapped together in the Pacific Northwest Gothic aesthetic that Twilight has really made its own. The use of color and setting is actually quite majestic. The music is always on point, Carter Burtwell's Orestral (Danny who?) as well as the popular songs applied make every moment count, not just the wedding.
If there's one negative thing that remains in the mind, it's the CGI infant. But it's not as bad as everyone says it is.
People think of this series as trite young adult fiction because that's pretty much what it is. But that's not a bad thing, and this entry to the series really shows a saga that began as chocolate box romance blossom into something that's actually pretty impressive. The series has grown-up with its fan-base (well the movies have, I've only read the first one and its gender-flip) and managed that for more effectively than I felt Harry Potter did (no offense intended to the Potter heads reading, I can admit that I'm a low-key fan myself of specific parts). Cards on the table: I can barely remember what the third movie was even about. Is it about anything? There's a love triangle and the vampire council is mad at them for some reason and there's Dakota Fanning well past her prime..., really I DID see it...
But if for whatever reason you have not seen the other sequels and are reading reviews of this movie (we would get along), then I am inclined to say that you could do a lot worse than this. I never felt bored for a second of its 2 hour run time.
My Fascination with this series not withstanding, I am Tempted to say that you shouldn't Hesitate to enjoy the Revelations of this movie.