Four stars for the Fourth and Worst Film of the Franchise

Rating: 4/10 (18 November 2011)

¨No measure of time with you will be long enough. But we'll start with forever. ¨ The biggest winners of the Twilight Saga are definitely going to be the producers since they managed to stretch the last book of the series into two separate films; which means a lot more money in the box office. The problem is that this first part feels so stretched out that nothing really seems to be happening. The two hour movie could have been only half an hour long, but in order to make more money the producers decided to give us an extended wedding and honeymoon scene. To be honest I really enjoyed the first two Twilight films, I felt the third was a little repetitive, but this latest film is by far the worst in the series. There are some scenes which are just ridiculous and laughable (the mind reading scenes between the wolves for example), although there are a couple that worked really well and were the highlight of the film (the bloody birth scene reminiscent of a famous Pulp Fiction scene). I've never read Stephenie Meyer's novels so I didn't know what to expect, unlike most of the fans of the franchise who have already read the novels and know what is going to happen. The first two movies surprised me, but then the fantasy wore out and the love triangle got boring. It's gone downhill for me since, and this latest film directed by Oscar winner Bill Condon is one of the worst films of the year in my opinion. All I can hope for is that the second part will work and end the franchise decently with a little more action or at least a decent plot. A scene after the end credits with the Volturi's gave me a little hope. Micheal Sheen is the best actor in this series and it's a shame he barely got any screen time. As for the plot goes, nothing really seems to be happening that we haven't seen before. The staring contest continues between Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart), and more tension ensues between Edward and Jacob (Taylor Lautner). The wolves continue to growl and run all over the woods while disputing with the Cullen's. The Volturi's are the ones that are left out of the film in this first part (until the credits that is). This fourth part begins with the wedding that is about to take place between Edward and Bella. Bella's best friend, Alice (Ashley Greene) is doing her makeup and helping her out with the fashion while the guests are arriving to the ceremony. The wedding is beautiful, everyone there looks great, and the toast after the ceremony is perhaps one of the funniest scenes of the film where we have several of the characters give some funny speeches like Bella's dad, Charlie (Billy Burke), who warns Edward that he knows how to use a gun if any harm is done to his daughter. Then there is also Bella's mom, Renee (Sarah Clarke), who sings a lullaby she used to sing for her, and Edward's parents, Dr. Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) and Esme (Elizabeth Reaser), who welcome Bella into their family. Edward's vampire brothers (played by Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, and Jackson Rathbone) are also present at the wedding and everyone is happy. Then it's time for Edward and Bella to go off on their honeymoon to Rio and finally consume the act. Edward doesn't want to convert Bella into a vampire until they have sex so he is going to wait after the honeymoon. The problem is that Bella gets pregnant with this vampire baby exceedingly fast and her health is threatened. The entire film seems as sort of an introduction to the final film, there is little going on really in the movie. I wonder if Twilight fans will sincerely enjoy this movie. To be honest I really liked the Twilight series at first, but it has grown repetitive and old, and the dialogue continues to get worse. The script was never the highlight of the franchise, it was about the characters and the fantasy world which was created, but instead of getting better the script continues to get cheesier and dumber by the minute. There is no reasonable way anyone would actually enjoy this film over the others. I think this was a weak effort and the material was never meant to be split into two films. The problem is that fans of the series are going to go see it anyways and the producers will be the ultimate winners. I expect most girls will enjoy this movie however in a similar way as they enjoyed staying up late to watch Kate and William's wedding. I don't think many guys will actually enjoy this film, and many will probably be dragged by their girlfriends.