Dawn of the Living Tweens!

Rating: 6/10 (29 December 2011)

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1", Rated "PG-13" for Adult Situations, Adult Language, Sexual Content, Partial Nudity, Some Gore and Mild Violence. Running Time: 1hr&57mn - Two & 1/2 Stars (out of Four).
"Team Edward" is upon us once again. This fourth installment, "Breaking Dawn Part 1," is the beginning of the end for "The Twilight Saga" film series. Next year's counterpart will close out the teen-vampire love story based on the popular books by Stephenie Meyer.
The series centers around high school girl Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) who falls in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a 108 year old vampire teen. He lives with his own vampire family, which doesn't prey on humans. They're the good guys.
Naturally, any human-vampire romance isn't without complications, especially if you're an angsty teen. There's Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), who is part of clan of shape-shifting werewolves: sworn enemies to vampires with extreme prejudice against the Cullens.
Complicating matters is Jacob's love for Bella and his intense hatred of Edward. What girl wouldn't want a love triangle between herself, a walking undead teen who sparkles in the sunlight and an uppity canine shapeshifter who spends much of his time sulking around shirtless? "Breaking Dawn Part 1" opens with the marriage of Bella and Edward. Jacob is heartbroken and upset. He's deeply concerned for Bella's safety in both a physical sense (as a wedding night with a vampire could be dangerous) and for her eternal soul, should she become a vampire which would be inevitable in this kind of union.
Bella and Edward's Rio de Janeiro honeymoon is probably everything a teen girl's fantasy could be: luxurious location, a secluded tropical getaway and a beautiful full moon over the ocean as our young lovers finally consummate their relationship. I really admired the photography of the South American country and the attention to art direction for this part of the movie. It's a nice representation of complete wish-fulfillment in a "happily ever after" kind of way.
Then things take a turn. Against all odds, Bella is now pregnant with a human-vampire hybrid. In a daring move, she decides to keep the baby and refuses to consider the adverse effects on her health and life. What's interesting to note in "Breaking Dawn Part 1" is the fact Bella is carrying a baby whose very existence is the crux of the story. Sure, Bella's life is at great risk, but it's about the consequences of having the baby or not. I'm reminded of movies like "Alien" where an unknown creature gestates inside a human host and bursts through their chest upon coming to term. Another scene that has potential horror flick connotations is when a local Rio de Janeiro demon expert puts her hands on Bella's tum-tum to determine the length of the pregnancy. At that moment, I'm channeling John Carpenter's "The Thing" (1982) where the guy defibrillating the other guy has his hands bitten off at the wrists by "The Thing" when the other guy's ribcage opens.
Those horror movie clichés are inconceivable in the Twilight world. As far as everyone is concerned, it's only a matter of whether Bella's going to have this baby or not. That's the big dilemma: not only for the Cullens, but also for Jacob's werewolf clan which is hell-bent for war over the whole affair. Why they even care, I'm not quite sure. Something about protecting humans and abominations coming to life, I gather.
What I've never understood about these movies is why everyone makes a big deal out of everything. Bella's decided to have the baby. She's in dire straits with a complicated pregnancy while everyone fights and yells around her over it. But hey, that's the Twilight universe for you. Everyone has to get huffy and puffy over matters which others would handle with more maturity. Can someone explain to me how Edward, who's more than 100 years old, has the cognitive reasoning of an adolescent with his knee-jerk reaction to Bella's pregnancy? So much for marital support.
Interesting to note: the film, where Bella carries a child of great significance like a vampirical Virgin Mary, is drawing heat for her wanting to keep her baby. Natalie Wilson of the "Ms." magazine blog criticized the film for a "latent anti-abortion message." Sandie Angulo Chen of "Moviefone" saw the film as "one long pro-life debate. In contrast, John Mulderig of the "Catholic News Service" praised the "strongly pro-life message being conveyed via Bella's unusual plight," saying it "presents a welcome counterpoint to the all-too-frequent motif in popular entertainment whereby pregnancy is presented as a form of disease or an almost unbearable curse."
Well, think what you will of "Breaking Dawn Part 1." I know I did, though I'm not the film's intended audience. I appreciated the film's craft, yet, like its predecessors, the dialog is utterly hokey and the character interaction is preposterous. I guess these observations are things best left alone here. The "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob" minions would not have it any other way. I'm sure this film will be heralded by their legions. That's fine. It's their call to make. I have mine too: Netflix and "Team Sookie!" ("True Blood").