'Breaking Dawn' Is Breathtaking. Twi-Hards Will Be In Heaven — REVIEW

Rating: 10/10 (17 November 2011)

From the moment that Jacob freaks when he receives Bella's wedding invitation, to the very last frame of 'Breaking Dawn', the 5 star film is like a magnificent tasty feast that you won't want to ever end. Breaking Dawn fans–you will NOT be disappointed. Director Bill Condon has worked hard to capture the breadth of the action and emotion in Stephanie Meyer's last Twilight novel.
Thank goodness, the powers-to-be at Summit Entertainment which produces the Twilight series, made the decision to break Breaking Dawn into two films. There's no way you could have packed all the action in the last book into one movie.
Even so, Breaking Dawn Part I could have been 15 or 20 minutes longer, to my mind, to have had enough time to luxuriously dwell on all the significant moments and life events that it covers.
Kristen Stewart perfectly captures Bella's apprehension as she's about to walk down the aisle at her wedding. And the wedding scene is so lush, romantic and heartfelt as Edward and Bella whisper their vows–I just wanted it to go on and on and on.
Now–the gown. It will not be a letdown. I don't want to reveal too much but it manages to be very Bella–not overdone–and yet it is stunningly and elegantly fitted (Kristen has said that it was tight), with elegantly figure-highlighting details.
Will Bella's gown be as widely copied as Kate Middleton's? It will come close. It's design will certainly flatter many young women.
But back to the lavishly romantic wedding–creatively designed by Alice Cullen. My only criticism is that we all could have spent even more time at that wedding, honing in on meeting the visiting vampire contingents, checking in with Bella and Edward's baffled schoolmates and on Bella's nervous parents.
Then Bella and Edward take us along on the honeymoon that is every bit as exotic and luxurious as Stephenie Meyer paints it. Is the highly written about and hotly discussed sex scene as erotic as Robert Pattinson has told us it would be ?
I'll leave it to you to decide but there's no question about the sizzling sexual tension and chemistry between Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. The two are always totally believable as the star-crossed lovers who pledge to be together for eternity.
What you'll probably be surprised by is the unexpected humor that pops up from time to time in this epic film. And we get some of it endearingly during Bella and Edward's Brazilian honeymoon heaven.
But it's when Bella's pregnancy kicks in (literally) that the film really takes off. That's because Jacob a.k.a. Taylor Lautner comes back into the picture along with all his tortured love triangle tension.
Other "film" critics – boo on you – I don't agree with the fine cinematic reviewers who deride Taylor as just a fabulous chest, strong jaw, and handsome face.
Yes, he is all those but his character–a 16-year-old young man/wolf struggling to adjust to his werewolf fate – isn't supposed to be a chatty self-expressive New York dude like Jonah Hill.
No, he's supposed to be a tongue-tied semi-lost soul who loves Bella like a soul mate, and doesn't know how to express himself most of the time, except for physically. Not too unlike many 16-year-old boys.
But once Bella and Edward are back from their honeymoon and she is clinging to life while trying to gestate her baby, the tension is intense.
Tension between Bella and Edward, Bella and Jacob, and Jacob and the entire wolf pack.
A lot of attention has been paid to Bella's wedding hair and makeup but Bella as a vampire mama is a pretty intense makeup job itself . And acting job.
Kristen Stewart, to her credit, is completely believable as a weak Bella desperately holding on to life for the love of her baby.
As promised – the birth scene is wild, shocking, and yes, quite bloody.
And there's no way that any Twi-hard isn't going to be left desperately wanting to see Breaking Dawn Part 2.
But let me tell you – stick around for the credits. There's a surprise last scene. There's also a wedding surprise bonus that I won't detail, but you will go WILD!
My only real criticism is that I wanted more werewolves. We don't watching the film, get as deep an understanding of the communication, hierarchy, and pack lives of the wolves. Neither do we understand enough why Bella's pregnancy becomes such a HUGE issue for the pack.
Every fan who has read the books will know what is going on and I understand Bill Condon's need for shorthand on the wolves–something had to go. But the wolves created for the screen are so magnificent and mysterious–I wanted to see them more and have their behavior and history explained. Maybe Condon will get to that in Breaking Dawn Part 2.
So Twi-fans–snap up your tickets and head to the theaters–there's no way you won't want to see this film more than onceor twice! I do!
Hollywoodlife by bonnie