The Best in All Respects, for Whatever That's Worth

Rating: 6/10 (1 July 2010)

This is perhaps the only Twilight movie for which I had any expectation of quality, as it was the only novel that I enjoyed from the series. I am wondering what Bill will do for Breaking Dawn but having any hope for that book is along the lines of watching The Princess and the Frog as a biography. Anyway, this movie was disappointing, as I expected. It failed to capture much of the magic that made the book the only tolerable entry in the series. Much of the problem goes to the screenwriter; Melissa is 3/3 (shouldn't someone call her out?) in ruining these films. Also, the leads are impossibly boring, and after watching Adventureland, I have decided that brooding is the only emotion that Kristen Stewart is capable of conveying on screen, which is becoming less and less enduring as time goes on. The male leads are just as atrocious, and it's sad when you find yourself searching for supporting cast members (Fanning, Howard, etc.) to fulfill the need to see acting. All this being said, this was the best of the three. The pacing is much better and that goes far towards keeping things interesting. It never quite becomes involving, but it's not nearly as draining as Twilight and New Moon. What else can I say? Read the book or don't. Watch the movie or don't. Your life won't be depleted or enriched either way it goes. It's two hours of your life; is it worth the numbingly casual entertainment this film has to offer? Blah