Mixed Emotions

Rating: 6/10 (6 December 2011)

I jumped on the Twi-wagon much later than the rest of the world. I actually started reading the series when Eclipse was in the theaters last year. I read the book, then watched the movie for the corresponding book and since I didn't get to see Eclipse until it was on DVD, I finished up the books. All I can say is that they were amazing, and kudos to Stephanie Meyer for writing a heck of a story! I was disappointed in the movies only because I felt there were important details left out that probably would have made for great cinema. I digress - fast forwarding to this past weekend I finally forced myself to see Breaking Dawn pt. 1. I was completely obsessed with it's release initially, but after reading the reviews I waited until it had been out for a couple of weeks before seeing it. Overall, the movie wasn't bad. The last 40 minutes were really the most exciting for me, and Condon did a decent job in stirring emotions that were felt so strongly from reading the books. I'm going to see it again before it's out of theaters. One thing I did enjoy was seeing Stewart and Pattinson grow as actors.
I had to constantly remind myself that the movie will NEVER be as good as the book. Period. I think if you haven't read the books, the movies are acceptable, because you don't truly know what all is missing. The books evoked so many different emotions in me, and I was hoping to get that feeling back from seeing the movies.
I will say that Breaking Dawn has the strongest adult themes of all of the movies/books and if you look past the vampire v. human aspect, you can equate the character's lives with issues that we deal with daily.
Overall, I left the movie feeling satisfied but wanting more - not really for the 2nd installment (simply because I know what's going to happen) but because I felt only the surface of the very intense book was scratched. I'm hoping that the second installment will bring back those intense feelings in response to the Cullen's experiences after Bella's change and Renesmee's birth.