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It's the most entertaining Twilight, but that's not enough to make Breaking Dawn Part 2 worth watching for filmgoers who don't already count themselves among the franchise converts.Read critic reviews
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Bella (Kristen Stewart) awakes -- as a vampire -- from her life-threatening labor, and her newborn daughter, Renesmee, proves to be very special indeed. While Bella adjusts to her new state of being, Renesmee experiences accelerated growth. When the Volturi learn of the baby's existence, they declare her to be an abomination and sentence the Cullens to death. Bella, Edward (Robert Pattinson) and the rest of the clan seek help from allies around the world to protect their family.
Rating:PG-13 (Partial Nudity|Disturbing Images|Sequences of Violence|Some Sensuality)
Audience Reviews for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
Mar 05, 2014
By far the best in the series, I was never keen on watching these but eventually I did and even though I thought the others were average they never made me look forward to watching anymore and now the series is over i'm wanting more, The fight scene at the end was by far the best plus it's never as soppy or has any cheesy one liners what make you cringe, Don't understand why they had a child with a CGI face for the first half of the film, The ending will be a kick in the teeth to some but I really enjoyed it and I thought i'd be the last person to ever say that.
Super Reviewer
Jan 25, 2014
This one and Eclipse are my 2 favorites from the franchise. They are both like vampire films and not like CW teen shows. The pacing was a little off in the beginning. The big fight sequence at the end was amazing and had a great twist. I did like the end credits, which showcased the entire franchise.
Super Reviewer
Sep 13, 2013
"We chased our pleasures here, dug our treasures there, but can you still recall the time we cried? Break on through to the other side, break on through to the other side... of this narrative!" Wow, that was a stretch to try and make a song reference out of the title "[u]Break[/u]ing Dawn", but, man, I just had to work in The Doors or somebody somehow, because if this series' finally coming to an end is good for no other reason, if means that I don't have to hear these blasted contemporaneous, teeny alternative tunes, at least until we get the next "Twilight" rip-off. Seriously, I could have reluctantly referenced Howie Day's "Collide", seeing as how it's also a cornball alternative pop rock tune that you would expect to hear somewhere in this film, and actually opens with "The dawn is breaking...", but it's a testament to just how cheesy this series actually is that my forced reference to "Break on Through" still wouldn't be as cheesy as a fitting reference to a more contemporary song that fits the tone of this film. No, actually, this installment is pretty decent, partially because it does, in fact, get kind of cool and action-packed at times, so much so that they actually gave the Bella Swan character something to do, and as a vampire no less, or, if you will, as "Bella Lugosi". ...Four years, five films that should have just been four, and wave after wave of obnoxious young girls who want to babble on and on about this series, and I finally, finally get to make that pun, so if you don't like it, well, I would concur, because that joke was not as satisfying as I was hoping it would be, though it's not like we're going to remember the cheesiness in this film, let alone the cheesy references to the film, or at least I hope we're not. Okay, maybe my jokes are more worth forgetting than this series, or at least that's the case with this film, because, again, it isn't too shabby of a conclusion to an often somewhat shabby saga, and yet, as you would expect, this wouldn't be the faithful conclusion to the "Twilight" saga if it wasn't without plenty of problems.
Look, by now, you should know about the characters and story behind this film, and besides, it's not like this particular installment even features a new narrative to flesh its characters out in the context of, being a direct continuation of a story that was conceived as one single part, yet that does not fully excuse this film for offering hardly any form of recap or redevelopment, as the considerable, if borderline expected undercooking of this drama distances you a bit from the distinctiveness of this installment, and leaves the final product too feel too much like a second part to a forcibly halved story, as surely as it feels too much like other melodramas of this type. Yeah, as usual, what uniqueness there is to this subject matter ultimately goes overpowered by the heavy deal of tropes that ultimately pave a predictable path that this film can't even tread along all that evenly, because just when you though that this series finally got a grip on its tonal layers, it breaks relatively serious moments with blatant fluffiness, if not self-awareness that really shines a light on the shortcomings in this uneven and messy story. The film puts only so much attention into fleshing out tonal layers are organic, and yet, it still takes more than enough time to get excessive, not just with meandering material, but with filler that thins out focus, occasionally into dissipation. Most all of these films have had aimless spells, and if this is to be a faithful conclusion, it too has to lose a sense of direction after a while with all of its repetitious feet draggery... or whatever, which is, of course, by no means the peak of the issues within Melissa Rossenberg's and Stephanie Meyer's script. Rossenberg's writing flaws have been settling down, at least to some degree, ever since "Eclipse", and Meyer's doesn't appear to mess with Rossenberg's interpretation of Meyer's vision too much, yet all of these scripts have been messes, with this one being no exception, boasting some fall-flat comic, - including the tongue-in-cheek ones - as well as plenty of cheesy dialogue bits that call your attention more towards the histrionics, which are about as settled down as they're going to be, but remain, forcibly manufacturing conflicts in a desperate attempt to pump some juice into this rather thin drama. Sure, I suppose the final product succeeds in keeping things adequately intriguing, or at least entertaining, but this is still a messy story concept, and its interpretation isn't too much sharper, regardless of a palpable sense of ambition behind the direction of Bill Condon, whose heart reflects shortcomings - both consequential and natural - enough for mediocrity to threaten this installment, just as it had with the predecessors, the first two of which ultimately fell victim. Well, I hate to admit it, but I guess that means that this four-part-I mean, "five"-part fluff saga is mostly decent, because for the third time in a row, this messy series turns in a flawed, but decent flick, which is hardly all that strong, but about as satisfying as a conclusion for this series can be, even from an aesthetic standpoint.
A very commercial young adult chain of flicks, this series has turned in plenty of lame music, and while this film certainly features more than a few fall-flat contemporary tunes, the song soundtrack is less played up than usual, giving you more time with an original score by Carter Burwell that is as formulaic as always, but tasteful enough to breathe some life into the artistic depth of this film, much like Guillermo Navarro's handsomely well-defined. Now, visual style is particularly not that striking with this installment, but it's still fairly attractive, especially when some stylish camera plays are used to flavor up the immersion value of one of this film's stronger and more underused elements: action, which isn't really played up until the final act, but pays off the long wait through sweeping staging and near-dizzyingly lively choreography, complimented by anything from a couple of decent visual effects, to an audacious attention to intense violence that may not feature any blood, seeing as how the harshest treatment is being done to the vampires who are apparently made of marble or something for whatever reason, but still firmly reinforces a sense of consequence. Again, stylistic highlights rarely hit all that high, with some of the more gripping stylistic elements, such as the action, being played up only so much, but the point is that there are some compliments to entertainment value that keep you going, and yet, if this film is to stick the landing about as much as it can as the final chapter in a saga that hardly had a strong start, and didn't even boast a terribly impressive body, it's going to need some substance. Well, like I said, this film's story concept, like all of the other installments, is a histrionic, when not thin mess, but for what it is, it's not as out there as certain other "Twilight" films, and that gives you more opportunity to recognize some dramatic intrigue and tension, anchored by, of all things, the performances, which are underwritten more-or-less across the board, but quite surprisingly lacking in the weak supporting performances that have been practically obligatory throughout this series, and with more than a few genuinely decent performances, such as the effectively antagonistic one by Michael Sheen, as well as the endearing lead ones by Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, who share both convincing chemistry and a reasonably bit of charisma by their own rights. I guess this film is about as well-acted as this series is going to be, and while this sloppy chain of character pieces whose characters have rarely been as endearing as they probably should be doesn't raise all that high of a standard, acting-wise, the genuinely commendable onscreen performances help in keeping things going, but not nearly as much as the offscreen performance that truly saves the final product as decent, even if it cannot work past all of the issues. I'm not saying that this film was ever to be all that good, but if the material was relatively stronger, then Bill Condon could have perhaps made this better than any of the "Twilight" installments, yet as things stand, Condon does enough right to keep you going, sustaining a reasonably lively atmosphere that in turn sustains entertainment value, until he draws on what meat there is to this melodrama enough to inspire some tension, if not a hint of compellingness. In certain places, this series has been getting a little more competent as it's gone along, and while this film is still too limited in meat to be any better than any of its predecessors, at this point, there's enough here to keep you going with a pretty decent, maybe even, at least for the fans, satisfying conclusion to a hit-or-miss saga, regardless of its own shortcomings.
When it's finally said and done for good, underdevelopment, conventionalism, tonal unevenness, aimless dragging and some cheesy writing behind a somewhat dramatically thin story drive the final product into underwhelmingness, but not so deeply that decent score work and cinematography, a rather excitingly action-packed final act, and some intriguing areas to a story that goes carried by decent performances and a lively, when not reasonably effective direction by Bill Condon aren't enough to make "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" an adequately enjoyable final note in a movement that has had its share of rises and falls, even if it itself falls short in its share of places.
2.5/5 - Fair
Super Reviewer
Apr 17, 2013
Bill Condon's <i>The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2</i> is a mediocre end to a mediocre series.<p>100 minutes may seem like a brief run time for a story of this caliber, but it definitely feels longer. Supposedly, the first 75% of the film serves as a buildup for the massive finale, but it turns out to be tedious and uneventful. Then the finale comes and it is a tad underwhelming.</p><p>The violence is toned down brutality with no blood in sight, while the CG is passable. There is a bunch of it in the finale, but epic the battle is not.</p><p>For the most part Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are stale and monotone. Taylor Lautner is a little better. Ashley Green and Martin Sheen are the lives of the party, but they can only do so much.</p><p><i>The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2</i> brings closure as needed. Nothing more. Nothing less.</p>
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