Justin Kroll

News Editor

Rating: PG-13: For sequences of violence including disturbing images, some sensuality and partial nudity.

I’ll admit, I was very excited to see The Twilight Saga – Breaking Dawn Part 2 though not because I was expecting it to be a quality film. I was excited for the laughs that would undoubtedly come when I was unable to take the serious moments, well, seriously.

And come they did. Breaking Dawn Part 2 does not disappoint in that regard. It does, however, disappoint in nearly every other regard.

My complaints are very similar to my complaints about Breaking Dawn Part 1. The plot is, again, overly simple, and can be best described as “much ado about nothing.” And I really do mean nothing. The half-vampire, half-human baby Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy), spawn of Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson), is apparently a problem in the vampire world, because there is some rule against vampire babies. I mean, obviously. The thing is, since Renesmee is half-human, technically she’s not a violation of this rule. The Cullen family goes out to recruit witnesses to stop the vampire government from destroying Renesmee. The downside of this is that the main storyline of the movie has our main characters going around the world and convincing their vampire friends that Renesmee is not a violation of this ancient vampire rule, and, truth be told, that’s not particularly interesting. For Breaking Dawn Part 1, I was able to summarize the plot in eight words. For Part 2, I can summarize the resolution in three: Renesmee touches Aro (the leader of the vampire government, played by Michael Sheen).

If the movie modeled itself exactly after the book, it would be incredibly anti-climactic. When the Cullens and allies (werewolves and vampires alike) “face-off” against the vampire government, all Renesmee has to do is touch Aro, who can read thoughts, and the problem is solved. This movie really does not deserve nearly two hours, since the conflict can be explained and resolved in about 20 minutes. However, the movie adds a twist that the book did not include, which actually makes the final confrontation exciting, and saves the movie from failing this movie review. I would say “Spoiler Alert!” but since the story’s practically nonexistent, it doesn’t deserve such a phrase. Anyway, they actually did something during this part. The ensuing fight scene is exciting, action packed and includes several unexpected deaths. This twist is the single enjoyable thing about the film.

Now that we’ve covered the (lack of) plot, let’s move on to the other awful aspects of the movie. The acting is abysmal as always. Stewart finally shows some emotion (she smiles!) and rarely bites her lip, but by no means was she a good actress. Pattinson, on the other hand, still acts as if he’s constantly constipated. Neither really branched out and showed any real personality, which is disappointing (yet also quite funny to watch).

The movie starts with an overextended, overly dramatic opening credit scene. Aside from the fact that this is completely unnecessary, it’s also incredibly boring. With text that changes from white to red on top of pictures of snowy nature, we really don’t need to be watching it for about five minutes. After all of this, we hear the first line of the movie, said by Edward: “You’re so beautiful.” Quality dialogue right there.

The ending credits are even worse.  I found it quite insulting that they showed every single character, no matter how insignificant (even that chemistry teacher), from Twilight all the way to Breaking Dawn Part 2. Do we really need a recap of everyone? Do I really care about who played that one character four movies ago?

And, as always, the special effects are cringe-worthy. In this day and age, it shouldn’t look completely unrealistic when people run super fast, but the movie proves me wrong again. Which really is a pity. I tried to get into it, to really experience it, but I was constantly thrust back into reality by the movie’s blunders and pure ridiculousness. Speaking of blunders, they only show Taylor Lautner’s wondrous abs once. Come on, seriously?

Grade: D