Breaking Dawn Part 2 – a very personal and partial movie review by a twi-fan

“Make Love, Not War”

For all the blood and tearing of flesh or umm…Vampire skin…this seems to be the essential anD age-old – ‘moral’ of the entire Twilight Saga – Make Love Not War.

Now that I’ve unconventionally put the moral of the story right at the top let’s get to business…how does the finale film of this grand saga…adapted from Stephanie Meyers brilliant novel come about?

I watched the Indian version. My first shock and utter disappointment is that - I’m sorry to all the culture vultures out there but very aesthetically speaking – the entire sex scene…is chopped off. The highlight of the first half of the film, and of Bella and Edward’s love story…when both as immortal-equals enjoy the carnal pleasure…the thrill of watching the cinematographic interpretation of this particular paragraph from the book is denied to the Indian audience. Too hot to handle?
 

The vivid and brilliant experience of Bella’s strength and clarity as a vampire could have been comprehensive   …yes, definitely a few more frames could have been allotted to that. Just as soon as we begin to enjoy it, the story moves forward. Maybe this is just because I’m used to the liberal time allowance of Bollywood films J
 

Baby Renesmee looks very much like she is conceived in the animation room than Bella and Edward’s bedroom, despite sharing Bella’s brunette beauty. After seeing the lifelike werewolves we expected the inter-specie spawn to look just as convincing.
 

There are convenient clichés as well – like when Alice foresees the Volturi’s arrival she is just about to place a vase full of flowers and the shock of her vision has her dropping the vase and the shattering sound, well adds shock value to the scene as a whole.
 

But some clichés are more than welcome. Jacob’s undressing, for example.
 

But the highlight of the second half is no-doubt the war scene. Fantastic action choreography! Totally gripping. Sure to stir up a few gasps and ‘oh no’s’ from the audience. Brilliant effects here. The larger your screen the better.
 

No complaints for cinematography. Effects are cool just needed a li’l more convincing with baby Renesmee. Editing could’ve been more merciful? Or was it keeping in mind time constraints? Kristen Stewart, maybe because of the change in her character, is a lot more stronger with her histrionics. Everything about her is so bold in the film! Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner seem to have matured and look all the more comfortable in the character of their skins. renesmee brings out the confidence needed for Renesmee’s character beautifully. Rest of the star cast does total justice to their parts.
 

Christina Perri’s song lingers in your mind long after the end credits are over. An ideal ode to one of the greatest love stories of modern times.
 

Once again, we are back to believing in ‘happy ever afters’ which seemed to have gotten lost with the Disney cartoon era. And I wish there had been Alices in real life to show nobody wins in wars and everyone is happy if you walk away after sensible talks.
 

Rating: ***