The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (A)----------------Rating: 4/5

Rating: 8/10 (16 June 2012)

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (A)----------------Rating: 4/5
An action romantic adventure flick.... very beautifully filmed this is an vampire movie.....
The Quileutes close in on expecting parents Edward and Bella, whose unborn child poses a threat to the Wolf Pack and the towns people of Forks.
There is a melodramatic tone throughout, amplified by the music, whether it was the piano-heavy soft moments, the epic score (often played over non-epic moments), or the emo rock songs. A little melodrama is fine, but it goes on for most of the movie, and when there is little hook of a story, it just becomes a drag. Even people who are fans to the series will admit that dialogue has never been its strong suit. Bill Condon attempts to make the sex scene and honeymoon to be tender, but it came off more sappy and overbearing.
"Part 1's" strength is that it is the best-acted of the series. Stewart certainly gives it a good go and Lautner gives what is a half-way decent performance. Pattinson was slumming it, but with some of the cheesy dialogue he has to say, even someone like Laurence Olivier would have struggled.
Condon does have a few moments of visual darkness, including the dream sequence in the beginning with its juxtaposition of bright white clothing and blood and Bella and Edward standing on top of a load of corpses. The birth scene was actually intense and gory. But these are counter-balanced with goofy moments, one of the most infamous being a psychic werewolf argument.
The whole wedding sequence and honeymoon plays like a young girl's fantasy, sort of idealistic. This is fine, but hardly dramatic and not likely to have wide appeal.
Previous "Twilight" movies have had some interesting side issues that could and should have been explored. This is not the case with "Part 1." There are no issues of a man resisting his urges and dark side, a young teen forced into being a vampire, an army of powerful new vampires being formed and the idea of there being a vampire council. There is nothing like that. The few themes there are include a look into Edward's past, a brief debate about abortion and the idea of imprinting, which is basically brainwashing. A better idea could be looking at somebody forcing someone else to love them. That would be a dark story.
"Breaking Dawn Part 1" is the weakest movie in the series so far and I speak as someone who is neutral to the overall experience.