The crew performed on the highest level

Rating: 9/10 (22 November 2011)

I am a fan of Twilight books, for I admire Stephenie's writing style, and as for the movies, I used to consider them a nice addition to the books, since none of them really reflected the book plot and details - that is, until Breaking Dawn.
Ms Rosenberg must be praised first of all for sticking to the book and finding a perfect balance between an exact reproduction of the book and creating a story which would be amusing to look at. Can't but add a point my friend expressed - if this is your first Twilight movie, you will hardly get the point - although why one would watch BD without the previous movies I can't imagine.
The cast performs on the highest level. Kristen Stewart portrays all confused emotions Bella experiences in a very believable way, and the scenes in which she has to cry are so touching you may also get upset. Robert Pattinson also does a great job - with his face all happy and amused in the first half of the movie, and then when he learns about the baby, it turns into a mask till he hears the baby's thoughts. Some consider it lack of acting, but I believe that's the way Stephenie imagined a vampire "in shock". Taylor Lautner with his brand-new stubble looks more mature which is very suitable for the situation. The supporting cast, not to mention every single person, can also be commended.
As for the characters, I must mention this movie changed my opinion on Jacob. I know it's not how he was designed, but he used to irritate me a lot with all his first-do-then-think pranks. Here, however, we get a much closer look at his personality. He still makes mistakes, but he also arrives at right conclusions, makes important decisions and in general tries to behave very wisely. The character of Leah is developed extremely well. We see her struggle as she tries to fight her inherent hatred for the Cullens for the sake of Seth, and eventually we see her overcome it during the fight between the Cullens and the werewolves - she pushes another wolf off Alice.
The most memorable scenes for me were: "toasts" at the wedding; Bella preparing for the first night with Edward (Kristen illustrated the nervousness in such a humorous and touching way, and the soundtrack was incredible); then of course the lovemaking (Pattinson said it was little for him, but well, if they showed more, the movie would be NC-17, definitely); Jake "overpowering" Sam and refusing to obey his orders - it was done in such a simple and yet genius way; the fight between the Cullens and the werewolves; Jake imprinting on Renesmee (nicely done, with flashbacks, flash-forwards and amazing editing) and Bella turning into a vampire - it was fascinating how her body was being healed by the venom, and the last thing we get to see on the screen is her pale face with crimson eyes opening.
Tip 1: don't miss a chance to watch it on the big screen - some scenes were just meant for that. Tip 2: if you aren't a native-speaker of English but your English is good enough, watch the original. I've already watched two translated versions and there was a number of ridiculous mistakes in the translation.