So peoples - it has been a while since I have a) had the headspace to be able to formulate any kind of opinion and b) actually had the time to go and see a movie...so thank you Bill Condon and Stephanie Myer for getting me logged on and engaged again.
For those of you who know me, you will be very aware of my tragic taste in movies and books, of which the Twilight Saga is a part. I am a traditionalist at heart and one of the things I have loved to date about the Twilight Saga has been the tendency to keep fairly close to the written word. I mean, I don't even HAVE a teenager yet and I would not take the chance of world-wide rebellion of Tweenies by bastardising the Twilight Story....Let's not even think about the ramification of a Twihard Mums rebellion.....*shudder*.....
Did I love it? Why, thank you for asking...as a matter of fact...yes I did. I loved it so much , I dragged my dearest Manila family to see it on Thursday night (Bec - you were there in spirit) and then my poor devoted (snoring) husband (partner in crime) to see it on Friday night (Pip - if you read this - we are still on for our date next week!).
As always, let's get over my grievances quickly so we can get back to happy land.
1) Melissa - you skipped over Bella's first days as a vampire. Not cool, dude. Not cool. The detail of her amazing defensive ability needed more than a couple of scenes.
2) Bill - I needed more on the visualisation of Bella's Shield - where was my rubber band???
3) Bella should have kicked a lot more of Jacob's arse than that. I mean seriously - if someone imprinted on my
4) Kristen Stewart - you punch and kick like a girl. Body double required.
5) Melissa - back to you - where is my detail around the other Vampire talents. Bill - CGI - LOOK IT UP.
6. CGI babies freak me out
So why did I love? Well, I am always a sucker for the ugly ducking turning into the beautiful swan(pardon the pun).I understand should Kristen Stewart ever be classified as an ugly ducking we are all screwed. Forever. I have been fairly brutal about Kristen in the past - and I must say in this movie she was less insipid than usual and almost enjoyable to watch. Yah! Back to happy land. The movie in 1 hour and 55 minutes pretty much condensed what it needed to condense to provide a somewhat continuous finale. The brilliance of the entire movie, however, hinges on the last 30-45 minutes....everything til then is set up and kind of feels that way.
SPOILER ALERT
The fight scene on the field of ice. Superb. This was pretty much the only part of the movie my husband watched. The seamless inclusion of the vision sequence into the story line had me second guessing whether it had actually even happened in the book. So much so, I had to go and check when I got home. The fight scene was well crafted, bloodless (thank god after the Renesmee's birth scene...) and well choreographed. It pretty much sang.
The characters were strong, Aro's madness was a high point for me, Jasper's woodenness a low point, Emmett was visually awesome and always one of my favourites. Garrett was a pleasant surprise and I liked the grittiness of Alistair. But the surprise of the film was young Mackenzie Foy as Renesmee - I loved her seer-like gaze and her serenity.
If I was not already sold at this point, the last scene would have maxed out my credit card. In fact, I could may have watched the crappiest film of all time and if it had ended with this scene, I would have loved the whole damn movie (I'm kind of hoping this didn't happen). The field scene has always been one of my favourites. But the scene where Bella let's Edward see her mind for the first time just got me. It was soft and romantic and exposing and honest and giving (it also gave me a really good summary of all my favourite scenes!).
I know it's not War & Peace and it's certainly not Gone With The Wind - but it works for me.
4/5 stars.
Yes, I liked Michael Sheen's sociopathic Aro too - however, with the Volturi and Cullen and associates facing off across the snowfield all I could think of was the final battle at Hogwarts with the death eaters in their black cloaks. And Aro spoke like a Voldemort/Umbrage hybrid - bit off putting. However, his psychotic, high pitched giggle did underscore how much of a madman he is.
ReplyDeleteYou loved the field scene, but I just wanted to slap the director of photography. Angles, mate! Angles! The arial view of the the opposing sides made it look farsical. Honestly, the director should have been shot.
However, the imprinting of Jacob onto Renesmee didn't phase me as it has so many others. I saw it as more a spiritual connection rather than something sexual. It transcended the standard male-female link. And the scene at the end of Pt 1 when he connects with her is my favourite of all the movies! Probably because it had real emotion! ;)