Nov 18, 2011

BP Film Review; Breaking Dawn - Part 1

-Image from movieweb.com

IMDB Plot Summery
The Quileute and the Volturi close in on expecting parents Edward and Bella, whose unborn child poses different threats to the wolf pack and vampire coven.

by Christian Salinas
Expectations…
There’s no doubt in my mind that anyone walked into the theater expecting any surprises. This movie is, after all, based on one of the best selling novels of all time, and adored by the one demographic that is incapable of keeping a secret or spoiling surprises (mainly teenage girls).  For better or worst everyone knows this is the movie where the world famous couple, Bella and Edward, get married and…. well, you know.

Entertainment Value…
As I mentioned, this is a movie very specifically made for a young female audience which is arguably one of the easiest audiences to please. Entertainment value takes a back-seat to scene after scene of over-romanticized everything. But even by teen-vampire-romance standards, this movie is very slow paced. It eventually becomes overwhelmingly clear that some elements were purposely overextended just to be able to make two feature length films from the original source material.  The unfortunate thing is that the wrong elements are over extended…

Overall…
This movie is difficult to review for several reasons, but I’ll just mention the first two. First of all, it’s tough to review movies for which you know a review is not really necessary. Everyone is going to see this movie (either willingly or unwillingly) regardless of what this or any review says. Second, this film will be embraced by its target audience and in that senses I have to declare this movie to be a success. My very personal opinion is that this is a very disturbing film, and I’m not at all referring to the supernatural elements. All of the characters clearly have a dramatically unhealthy view of love and a complete lack of regard for the emotional well being of others. They are mostly all motivated by selfish desires, and if I were a parent of a teenager I wouldn’t want my kids to be friends with any of them.  As a “movie” the main concept of Bella’s pregnancy, I would say, is actually very interesting but it’s unfortunately simply crammed into second half of the movie, and very little effort is placed into exploring the overall meaning of what is actually happening. There are very few action sequences if compared to the previous installment, and it seems as though a lot of the issues that were “settled” in the first to films are unnecessarily brought up again.

The Good…
This film is absolutely everything it makes itself out to be. It will certainly please its target audience.

The Not So Good…
This is more of a “product” than a film.

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