the twilight saga

breaking dawn pdf book and movie review

The Breaking Dawn PDF Book and Movie Review

50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Above and Beyond Expectations,

November 21, 2011

By lilnhavoc Click image to buy from Amazon.com

This review is from: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part I [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

Being a huge fan of the books and a pretty big fan of the movies, I was blown

away at what a great job they did with this movie installment. I loved the visual

and audio parallels they drew between the original movie, Twilight, and this

movie. For instance (Spoiler Alerts throughout): I loved how they played

Flightless Bird during the wedding ceremony and the way the camera circled

them kissing in the same manner the camera circled E & B kissing at Prom at the

very end of Twilight. It was a subtle, yet stunning way to visually tie the two

movies together and really made more of an emotional impact than if they had

just shot them straight on and plugged in a different song. That was genius. And

that dress...gorgeous. Just as it was described in the book.

I also loved that rather than having one continuous honeymoon "consummation"

scene, they broke it up with Bella thinking about certain moments the next

morning after looking in the mirror for the first time, where she's no longer a

virgin. It was all done so tastefully. The way one's first time should be at that

age. Not at some house party or in the back of some guy's car. For those who

read the books and knew how Edward did everything he could to exhaust Bella

with activities on their honeymoon so she'd be too tired to "try again", you have

to admit that Bill Condon did such a great job showing you visually all the things

they were doing without either character having to come out and say, I'm/you're

trying to exhaust you/me. And it was adorable with KS put on her little

nightgown and leaned against the wall...I got married when I was 19 and I felt

the exact same way when I put on lingerie for the first time and dreaded walking

into the bedroom with my little gown on. I felt like a child playing dress-up,

much like it came off Bella felt.

I was also very impressed by the manner with which Bill Condon allowed us to

see through the eyes of Jacob for the first time and hear what he hears with

regard to the internal dialog between him and the pack. That scene where the

wolves were running to the lumber yard and their voices echoed in Jacob's

mind...that was so perfectly done. AND, I loved loved loved the way the Sam

and Jacob had their battle for alpha. It was as if you, the

person watching the movie, was in the mind of a wolf who is

being forced into submission by it's Alpha. The CGI team did a

great job because I forgot I was watching computer generated

wolves and the intensity of the scene felt like I was there

witnessing the true dynamic of a wolf pack.

I thought the birth scene was beyond intense. The scene

almost mirroring that as it's written in the book. I think they showed just the

right amount of Bella's internal agony during her transformation. For those of us

who read the books, to say she had a prolonged bout of suffering during her

transformation would be an understatement. However, if they had shown more

of that in the movie, it would have taken from the torture that Edward was going

through thinking he had lost Bella, and Jacob's malevolence towards Renesmee

prior to imprinting on her. That whole scene allowed for each character's state of

mind to be both seen, visually, and felt, emotionally. Powerfully shot and

brilliantly executed.

I imagine the imprinting scene was a difficult one to translate from paper to

screen. They did a great job in this as well. Not in any way cheesy, but sweet

and breathless...if that makes any sense. The only thing I did not love about it

was that the girl/teenager Jacob sees as an older Renesmee appeared to be CGI.

They used an actual young girl to play the younger Renesmee, why not use a

real person for the older Renesmee too? I'm sure Hollywood has a few young

actresses that would have auditioned for the part???

I loved the fight between the wolves and the Cullens at the very end of the

movie. In the books, you go from Jacob's perspective where he witnesses Bella's

death and then walks into the living room to kill Renesmee, only to imprint on

her. And then you go immediately back to Bella's perspective where she's riving

in pain while she's transforming into a vampire. I feel Melissa Rosenburg had a

stroke of brilliance when she decided to add this scene so that the audience

could see what could have happened in the books, but did happen in the movie,

during the time period between Jacob imprinting on Renesmee and Bella

awakening for the first time as a vampire. Another unexpected and totally

welcomed brilliant surprise of this movie.

Another welcome surprise for me was while Bella was at the very end of her

transformation. I thought it was a touching visual moment that just before her

heart beat for the very last time, we witnessed Bella's memories in a somewhat

reverse chronological order, ending with her very first human memory as a baby

in the arms of her parents bouncing her in front of a mirror.

But what was not a surprise and what I've been telling my fellow twi-hards the

past couple years is the very last scene of the movie. Once I heard they were

splitting BD into two parts, I've always maintained there's only one way to end

part 1 with truly visual impact...and that is to witness Bella's subtle

transformation from a broken human to a perfect vampire, surrounded by the

Cullens, with the scene closing in on Bella's perfect facial features, zooming into

her perfectly shut eyes...that suddenly open the most gorgeous crimson

red....and straight to credits. I actually gave myself a little pat on the back for

that one because so much of the movie exceeded my expectations of visual and

audio creativity, and yet the last scene ending a certain way was something I

was very adamant with my friends about, and sure enough that's how it ends.

So maybe now I can revel in having an ounce of the vision that Bill Condon and

Melissa Rosenburg possess...hey I'll take that ounce.

Aside from the standout scenes I've mentioned herein, I thought Kristen Stewart

did her best portrayal of Bella yet. Her facial expressions alone are so real to

each moment they're almost tangible. I've enjoyed the work KS

has done prior to the Twilight Saga, and I am so glad these

movies have launched her career because I am certain she will

be one of the great leading ladies of acting for many decades to

come. So to all Twi-hards out there. This movie was amazing. A

must see for those who loved the books and fans of the

previous movies. I can't wait for it to come out on DVD so that I

can add it to my Twilight Saga collection.

Click image to buy from Amazon.com

Get The Breaking Dawn Book & DVD @ Amazon.com