Yay! It’s that time again! The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 came out in the wee hours of the morning, and I’ve already seen it twice. Of course I knew I would like it, because I’m blinded by all things Twilight, but I really thought they did a fabulous job. They hit on all the important scenes, and for once they really nailed the script. Perfect amount of banter, seriousness, and comic relief, and no spider-monkeys.
I’m going to include some photos from TwiSarah’s party last night (she made everything, btw). Then I’m going to talk more specifics about the movie after the cut!
***SPOILERS BELOW***
Here are just some of the things I love about Breaking Dawn, Part 1:
• Edward’s flashback to his rebellious time. Although I can’t remember when specifically the details of his past were addressed in the books, I think it’s about time this was covered. Also, there’s something extremely sexy about him with the red eyes.
• Bella’s pre-wedding nightmare. I love how they incorporated her nightmares of killing people in without including the baby that wasn’t even conceived yet. The best part about this scene? Edward’s pleased smirk while Bella is covered in blood and looking on at the stack of bodies in horror.
• Everything about Charlie. Something old besides your mother? Come on, the man is made of funny.
• The wedding was beautiful. I’ve heard a lot of people on Twitter ragging on KStew/Bella for being grimacey while walking down the aisle. I think those of us who’ve been married know just how nerve-racking it can be, no matter how much in love we are with the person we’re marrying. To me, her nervousness and anxiety hit the mark perfectly. Also, the kiss. If that doesn’t win an award, there’s something wrong with the world. I could stare at Robward’s lips all day.
• The wedding toasts. These were perfect and witty. Emmett’s double entendre about sleep, Charlie’s not so subtle threats, Jessica’s backhanded speech, and Renee singing the baby song. Because let’s face it, those of us who are daughters know what it’s like to have our mothers embarrass us by reminiscing about our childhood. It’s like a right of passage or something. Secondhand embarrassment FTW.
• The sex scene. Okay, so they had to make it PG-13. That’s cool. People were in an uproar about the last minute trip to the cutting room floor to remove some thrusting. Honestly, I don’t think the scene needed it. I think everyone feels cockblocked about the fade-to-black in the book and wants gratuitous sex to make up for it. But really, these are 17/18-year-old virgins. The showed plenty so that you can’t doubt what is happening, and most importantly, the scene was really lovey. Not to mention the lips, people! *sigh* My absolute favorite, however, was the look on Edward’s face after he broke the bed. There are also lots of people tweeting that they missed the conversation about the feathers (“Why am I covered in feathers?” “I bit a pillow. Or two.”). As much as I loved this line in the book, I really didn’t think it was needed in the movie. For one, we actually see him breaking the bed—it’s not discovered by Bella (us) after the fact. And two, unlike the book, where the bed is the only casualty, the entire room is destroyed. I think it goes without saying that a few pillows met their fate in the process.
• The oh, shit, I think I’m pregnant scene. I really wondered how they were going to pull this whole thing off with the sickness and the tampons and the housecleaning lady, and it worked quite well. I love the definitive moment when we get to see exactly when Bella realizes her and Edward are on two completely different pages.
• Jacob and the wolf pack. I didn’t particularly like Jacob until reading his POV in Breaking Dawn. The voice-overs struck me as a little strange at first (maybe because it was all echoey and chaotic, or maybe because it was new to this installment), but the second time I saw the movie it it didn’t make me go hmm. They did a wonderful job at showing how Jacob matured. I would like to have seen more interaction between him and Rosalie to show their disdain for each other, and him and Alice to show how they formed a bond, but in the grand scheme of things, I don’t disagree with their decision to cut those parts out.
• Bella’s pregnancy. One of the things I thought the filmmakers would gloss over was Bella’s deterioration throughout the pregnancy. Wow, they did a super-stellar job of making her look like sh*t. I can’t wait for some “making-of” DVD material on that one. I know they used a dummy for the full body scenes, but I’d like to know how they made her face look so gaunt and her bones protrude from her back and shoulders. The thing I liked the most about the way they did these scenes was that Edward actually showed his emotions! He’s typically so stoic. Even in the book, I don’t think he ever really had any sort of freak out. Maybe when he let his guard down around Jacob, but otherwise he was mostly just mopey. I loved how in the movie he lost it and yelled at Bella for her decision, and I also liked how he was being angry and standoffish as opposed to Rosalie keeping him away. Most of all, I liked that later on he apologized for not being there for her.
• The fight for Bella’s life. I cannot believe how well this scene turned out. The cinematography was done fantastically. It had kind of a chaotic, fuzzy, dreamlike quality, which I think really portrayed how something like that would be interpreted by the person going through it. Emotions were running high for both Edward and Jacob, and I think the actors did a great job of bringing that to life in a believable way. We got to see another panicky freak-out from Edward, and I love how him biting her seemed more like an afterthought out of desperation than part of the original plan. Also, I totally called that the movie would abruptly cut off after Bella opened her blood-red eyes.
Anyway, to recap, I think they did an awesome job of bringing the book to life. There were also a lot of ways that they tied this movie in with the first one, giving it this complete, full circle kind of feel. My biggest complaint is that at times it felt too CGI-ish. Obviously when a scene involves wolves or fighting or running vampires or newborn transformations there will be noticeable CGI. However, I don’t feel they needed to use it as much as they did. For instance, when the Cullens were carrying trees and jumping up to Bella’s window to get Edward. Or when they used some fancy stuff when Edward and Jake were talking over a large distance. Or when they showed the venom working inside of Bella a la season one of House. Even at the very end when Bella opened her eyes. It looked fake, and I found it distracting. Almost as distracting as the wigs that they just can’t seem to get right even after four movies. Perhaps I will look at some of these things differently when they’re viewed on a TV instead of on the big screen. Until then, I will just have to be content with all the stuff they got right.