Forgive me...I actually really enjoyed this!

Rating: 8/10 (19 November 2011)

I'm what you could call half-twihard. I loved the first two books, barely remember reading Eclipse and when it came to Breaking Dawn that book was one that (to quote Dorothy Parker), "Should not be tossed aside lightly but thrown with great force". I never even finished the 4th book it disgusted me so much.
At about 9:45 last night I bit the bullet and bought a ticket to the latest in this saga. I was half-expecting to walkout on this film as I had HATED the film Eclipse.
My first surprise was when I was in the sold-out theater and there were A LOT of women (and men) my age and older in the seats. I was expecting teen pandemonium but nope, I got thirtysomethings having a girl's (Moms?) night out. Whoops were kept to a minimum. I think some parents might be trying to protect their wee ones from this last movie.
Of course we had to watch 25 mins worth of previews beforehand, but I digress.
All that I had been dreading...actually kept me glued to the screen. The humor was present, whether intentional or not. Thank god for Billy Burke (Charlie Swan) to still be the comic relief in this film and keep it grounded in reality when there was time.
Kristen Stewart has finally grown some confidence in her character, Bella, and for once, she didn't totally suck. She actually acted. How sad is that that I didn't like the lead until 4 movies into the saga?
There was implied rough sex, violence, and gore but NOT as gory as the birthing scene in the book. That I still haven't forgiven Stephanie Meyer for. Her way of writing of the birthing process would have scared me senseless if I was 12. In the movie, it worked.
The other thing I was dreading...how the heck are they going to pull off Jacob imprinting on Renesmee? I was shocked to see that was actually done well and it knocked all the previous pedophilia jokes out.
This movie is really only for the fans though. I can't imagine what a newbie would make of this series.
I won't be buying the soundtrack though. The score was fine and all but the artists they used did so not fit into my usual twilight playlist. It was jarring at times what they picked and just plain bad. New Moon still wins for best soundtrack, in my opinion, in capturing the mood of one of those films. That and there is no new Muse song out for this latest soundtrack (blasphemy!). Then again Neutron Star Collision was quite awful.