The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011)
Certified: 12
Duration: 117 minutes
Directed by: Bill Condon
Starring: Kristin Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Nikki Reed, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Ashley Greene
KRS release

Break out the confetti! Finally fans of the Twilight Saga will view the wedding to end all weddings! But what’s there for the non-fans?

Bloated and too long, Breaking Dawn Part 1 sees acclaimed director Bill Condon lost in teen angst, vampiric aloofness and werewolf hot-headedness. It seems to be an exercise in melodrama that squanders its cast and setting.

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has decided to marry vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).

Here she gets a warning from Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), a Red Indian who is also a werewolf and the defeated beau of Bella.

This is followed by the romantic getaway to a honeymoon on a secluded island in Brazil.

By the end of the honeymoon Bella realises she is pregnant. And the couple are soon back home.

Here Jacob takes on the role of Bella’s protector, even going so far as to cut himself off from the pack as he defends the Cullens and the vampire/wolf treaty is thrown to the dogs.

All this is done to the tune of some really morose and ineffective songs that try to make this movie seem deep when it is simply being melodramatic and superficial.

The action sequences are very confusing; the wolves are never consistent in their size and while they look good, in sequences where they attack, they look articifial.

The first film had been about simmering teen passion; in the fourth instalment of the saga, that simmering passion is gone.

Like a chess game, Mr Condon moves the pieces around but there seems to be no feel for the characters, no surprises and no build-up.

Lautner is brooding and moody, Pattinson is a vampiric James Dean while Kristen Stewart tries to walk the line between the two.

The rest of the cast barely register as the film’s direction seems to have eyes only for the central trio, with everyone talking in throbbing hushed tones.

The end credits see an over-the-top cheesy Michael Sheen punishing someone for bad spelling.

This scene was a hoot and makes Breaking Dawn Part 2 something of a promise if it lives up to the hype and cheesy maniacal approach.