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The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (Movie Review)

Well it is finally here, the end of ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -Part 2’, something the fans of the books have been waiting for seven years when the first “Twilight” book came out, for the movie fans it has been a four year investment. This series has taken the world by storm and it certainly goes out with a bang. Bill Codon who also directed ‘Part 1’ improves the story almost making it his own with the help of scriptwriter Melissa Rosenberg.  The people in the theater I watched the movie with couldn’t contain their excitement, they began cheering when the credits began to roll in the introduction and I knew it would be hard for them to walk out of the theater hating the outcome of the film. This is the best movie out of the whole franchise, for the fans of both the books and the movies this will not be a disappointment, the director is truthful to the source material while enhancing some of the scenes for the good of the film.

 

The movie picks up right after Renesmee’s (Mackenzie Foy) birth, Bella (Kristen Stewart) is starting her new life as a vampire and her husband Edward (Robert Pattinson) couldn’t be more thrilled. After dealing with some issues with Jacob (Taylor Lautner), The Cullens and the wolves live in harmony, but not for long. Once again they find themselves in trouble with the Volturi who threaten to harm Renesmee. In order to save her The Cullens decide to call upon their acquaintances for support. 

 

The fourth book(half already explained in Breaking Dawn-part 1) has the most concepts that are far-fetched and hard to accept, so seeing them play out in the big screen makes many people laugh although that’s not their purpose; I admit a lot of them are ridiculous and this coming from someone who loved all four books. It tries to explain imprinting, superpowers, immortal children and some vampire history. The tension some scenes are meant to have are laughable, because of the soap opera element the series has always held and although these actors have shown they can act in other movies, here they haven’t improved much as a lot of the lines they deliver feel flat and emotionless. Since the story gets more complicated Bella becomes a narrator throughout the movie, which is a little off-putting but does help, especially for those not familiar with the books. Renesmee is a computerized baby and as weird as she looks I understand why they couldn’t use a real baby, since she’s described as a unique child and she’s more advanced than a regular baby. But as she grows they continue to use a computerized face, which I thought was unnecessary because they seemed to be using Foy’s body, but finally towards the middle of the film we get to see Foy’s real face.

 

If you are seeing this final chapter then you are clearly a fan and are willing to open your mind to the new concepts. There’s just not comparison with the first film of the franchise and this last one, as they both have completely different budgets and directors, and it shows. The introduction to the film is a blend of beautiful white and red backgrounds that set the stage for the film. The camera work does a great job at showing the different world Bella lives in and how acute her senses are. It perfectly shows how Bella feels and the audience had fun laughing at things that were expected and are overacted such as an argument between Bella and Jacob, because of his imprinting. This has a lot more intended and unintended humor than the other films and everyone seemed to enjoy that. This is no longer a film for teenagers but more so for young adults, the sex scenes get even hotter than the last film and the jokes are also a bit more mature.

 

Everyone was excited about seeing their favorite vampires once more, The Cullens: Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), Esme (Elizabeth Reaser), Alice (Ashley Greene), Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), Emmett (Kellan Lutz) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed). This movie introduces a whole new set that the audience was just as static about, I won’t name all, but the ones that certainly stood out were: Irina (Maggie Grace), Jane (Dakota Fanning), Elazar (Christian Camargo) and Zafrina (Judith Shekoni). Seeing them all come together is what makes this movie, their preparation for the stand off against the Volturi is entertaining, but the final scene when the tension builds and no one knows what will happen will take everyone in the theater by surprise.

 

I couldn’t have imagined a better way for the franchise to end, although I read the books it was refreshing to see what the director did with what he was handed. The crystal clear images of the beautiful setting add a nostalgic and memorable tone to the film. There are some scenes where you can clearly see the CGI, but they are easy to overlook, the baby is one of the toughest ones to get used to though. For anybody that’s ever enjoyed this story whether it was in print or the big screen, get ready to live out this last chapter in a more sophisticated, fun and thrilling way than all the other chapters.  

Anna Karenina (Movie Review)

Period pieces can be quite enchanting especially those that are based on well-known books beloved by many, as could have been the case with ‘Anna Karenina’, but unfortunately it didn’t take me anywhere I wished to escape to. Honestly I’ve never had the opportunity to read the book, so I can’t speak of similarities or lack there of but what I do know is that screenwriter Tom Stoppard decided to focus only on the love stories of the book by Leo Tolstoy, which might have been a mistake. Director Joe Wright who has made period pieces such as ‘Atonement’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ decided to go a different route with this one making it theatrical. So, the movie is set almost entirely in a theater where you can see the different scenario changes and props, which didn’t work for me among other things.

 

This story is set in Imperial Russia during the late 19th century where in an image based society the aristocrat Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley) who is married to affluent Alexei Karenin (Jude Law) and lives in St. Petersburg, unexpectedly meets Count Vronksy (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in a trip to Moscow and a passionate affair begins which will change Anna’s life forever.

 

I enjoy going to the theater but here the experience of seeing a play carried out in a film wasn’t so entertaining; the different scenario changes are distracting and confusing. Some scenarios are lavish and well crafted and would do well in an actual theater, but here I found the stage act to be pretentious and tedious. The main love story itself is captivating up to a certain point, then it just becomes overly dramatic and unbearable. There are about four different love stories that come into play, each with different importance and significance, but none interesting enough to keep me engrossed in the film.

 

The acting is actually pretty good and it was one of the few things I liked about this film. Knightley shows a difference side to herself as a demented, passionate woman who will fight against gossip and society’s standards, although her character gets annoying I blame that on the script. Law gives a very artistic, compassionate performance as a loving husband and Taylor-Johnson is perfect for his part as heartthrob that only listens to his heart and he’s ever so yummy even with his ridiculous mustache and messed up hair.   

 

Every single actor involved really give wonderful performances and give the movie a well rounded feel which could have made it enjoyable, but the script and format did not do it for me. Towards the end of the 130 minutes I felt like I was being tortured and could not wait to leave the theater. As it progress it kept getting more pretentious, dramatic and boring.

I’ll give credit to the love scenes that are artistically beautiful as are some of the scenarios and shots. The costumes are beautiful and there’s a dance scene that’s elegant and captivating.

 

So, therefore the aesthetic look of this film is beautiful but the heart of the movie aka the story is torturous and very hard to enjoy. This movie is wrapped up in a beautiful shiny shell that would make you think and imagine it would be epic but it’s completely empty and shallow in the center leaving you upset, bored and annoyed.