Not horrible, but not great. Entertaining for the right crowd.

Rating: 10/10 (22 November 2011)

Bottom line is Twilight fans will love it, non-twilight fans won't.
With that being said, Breaking Dawn takes on more adult themes and has a whole new feeling from the previous three movies. No doubt the acting by the 3 leads has been questionable up to this point and there are still moments that will make you cringe, but overall they've gotten much more believable. Perhaps this is due to the more simple and realistic plot. A marriage, honeymoon and difficult pregnancy aren't exactly unknown concepts and they bring it to new levels for this series. Where we've been subject to long pauses and awkward drama for the last 3, there is equal parts of that mixed with some real emotion. It's refreshing to see Edward and Bella laughing and having care free fun for a change. For this latest installment they step outside their comfort zones and embrace a new world.
Bella reluctantly embraces marriage, Edward reluctantly embraces sex with a still human Bella, Jacob embraces his birthright as alpha, Jacob also must come to terms with his new role in Bella's life, Charlie must embrace his now adult daughter, Bella embraces her unknown unborn offspring that will certainly result in her death, and as the movie ends we're left waiting to embrace these two new characters that emerge from by far the most gory and disturbing scene of the series.
If you're an action fan or have no patience for romance, then the first hour will bore you. The first 1/2 hour is the wedding, the second is the honeymoon, the third is the pregnancy and the last 20 minutes is the birth, aftermath and setup for part 2. If you don't care about these characters then you won't care about the wedding, it's done to play to those who have been waiting for years to see these two exchange vows. Not everyone will identify with or understand the emotions here and therefore will only see it as drawn out talking and nothing happening. Others will find it emotional to watch a young woman say goodbye to everything she knows to marry the man of her dreams.
The honeymoon is refreshing in an otherwise drama filled series. Edward and Bella laugh, play and have sex. Be warned there is A LOT of making out. Once again there is an audience for this and not. Some will love it, some will be bored. The sex scene is done very classy and not obscene or raunchy at all. Yet use caution with very young children. Men might actually enjoy watching Bella for this half hour as she's more half naked than dressed. It's their reward for having to endure a shirtless Jacob for 3 movies, which btw he's only shirtless in this one for the first 5 seconds of the film then never again. A blissful honeymoon ends when Bella discovers she's pregnant, but with what is the mystery. Edward vows to get the 'thing' out of her, yet Bella like most woman has already bonded and fallen in love with her offspring.
The pregnancy proves to be harder than Bella thought. The Cullen's and the wolves alike are sure Bella is not carrying an adorable baby, but a demon monster. The wolves plot to kill Bella, the spawn and all who try to stop them. Jacob determined to protect Bella finally takes his role as alpha and stands with the Cullens against the pack. Although this particular scene is true to the book, it just doesn't play well on screen. It came off very laughable and embarrassing. As the fetus quickly starves Bella to death while crushing her bones, it's actually disturbing to watch. Mr. Condon did a great job with that CGI. The stress and strain between Bella and Edward could be real even with a normal couple. This again could be interesting to the person and boring to others. Like the previous movies and most movies made from books, there is a lot left out. I personally think they have done a horrible job explaining the story details and setting up this series. Unless you've read the books you won't get a lot of whats going or why. And if you missed little comments or statements in this and other movies you'll be completely lost. You never really feel how questionable the 'baby' is. And despite the dramatic music, the wolf scene is so bad it overshadows Jacob's moment. Not to mention non-readers have no clue about Jacob's 'alpha drama' as it's never been made clear in the movies. There is certainly a lot more blood in this one and one scene during pregnancy will make you cringe in disgust.
The birth is one of the most anticipated scenes of the series. Both for readers and not. It doesn't disappoint. Readers might miss that it's not as graphic as the book, but for a pg- 13 film it doesn't leave anything out. It's gory, bloody and disturbing. It's great. After that is when things crazy. For actions fans, they'll love the last 20 minutes, lots of blood, fighting and yelling. Readers will wonder why they changed things, but it's really not unplausiable. The ending is predictable for everybody, yet it still leaves you wanting more. Don't leave when it's over cause it's not over.
Overall, if you care about these characters it'll entertain you. If you don't, you'll be bored. If you love the series, you'll love the movie. It's not exactly like the book, but close enough to not disappoint too much. It's worth a shot, but if you've always been a twilight hater or bias of the series, this one will not change your mind.