Monday, November 21, 2011

Two Sparkly Thumbs Up



What a glorious weekend! I took Friday off from work and I feel like I have been on an extended vacation. I take that as the official sign of a weekend well done. Do any of you happen to know what special event fell on Friday, November 18th? Yes, it was my sister Beth's birthday, which is indeed special, but not exactly what I was referring to. Mickey Mouse's birthday? Why, yes it was! But still, no.

Friday, November 18th marked the release of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 in theaters! (Insert the trumpets and horns here). After attempting to wait very, very patiently--an act in futility for me when it comes to these things--for the last year and a half, the moment finally arrived. We finally got to see Bella and Edward, or as I refer to him--my dear Eddie Spaghetti--tie the knot. Oh yeah, and there was also that rather tame, but still steamy, honeymoon to follow. The movie did not disappoint in the least, and that's not even coming from a biased standpoint.

If you've never read the series or seen any of the other movies, or if you're one of those ignorami who have declared this series terrible without even reading/watching them for yourself to even make that determination--seriously, at least read it before you claim you know it to be crap!--this post may not be of much interest to you and you might want to avert your eyes now (see, a healthy disclaimer). But if you don't mind listening to the mind-rattling of a fan, truly obsessed and smitten, by all means, pull up a chair and come hunker down with me...

Going to see these movies has become a nice little tradition for myself. It's much easier to take the day off from work and go see it first thing in the morning (I went to the midnight opening of New Moon when it premiered and I swore NEVER AGAIN) rather than attempting to see it on a Friday night when you have to battle the squealing teenagers, who in this case are all locked up in school--ahh, the perks of being a grown-up...I arrived early, knowing that even first thing in the morning there was going to be a crowd, which there was. Standing in line, I chatted with several people, all of us sharing our own little jokes and anecdotes about the books and movies. One woman got a real kick out of me telling her that any time I give my husband a hard time about anything, he apologizes for not being "sparkly" enough for me. Hee hee. He's such a good sport...

I wasn't sure what I was in store for with this movie. I knew the plot like the back of my hand, but for the first time I wanted to be a little surprised with the actual film. In the past with the first three, I had already seen so many trailers and online clips that by the time the movies arrived I felt like I'd already seen the entire thing. So for once, with the exception of the trailer, I avoided clips and photos like the plague. And it paid off, because the movie indeed felt like a fresh, new experience.


The movie began with the wedding, which felt sort of funny because in most movies, weddings are usually towards the end. This was a perfect example of how occasionally the movies have a huge advantage over the books. I personally find it very rare for a movie to exceed the written word (and that applies to any book made into a movie). Books have a way of making everything possible without being too silly because you don't have an actual visual. However, in the case of Bella and Edward's wedding, the movie blew the book out of the water. Rather than the tasteful, indoor ceremony that the book described, the Cullen's backyard was instead transformed into an ethereal, magical fairytale. Tree timbers were fashioned into organic seating for the guests. White flowers cascaded down over the audience like snowflakes. Visually, especially lit up on the bright silver screen, it was breathtaking to say the least. If I ever decide to renew my vows, I'm so having THAT wedding...Oh, and did anybody besides myself spot the cameo of Stephenie Meyer as one of the wedding guests?...The highlights of the wedding--1.) Bella's gown. Um, bea-u-ti-ful. But then again, Carolina Herrera designed it, and that woman does not design ugly dresses period. 2.) The wedding toasts! So unintentionally, yet intentionally hilarious. Emmett and Charlie never fail to deliver the great one-liners. And 3.) Bella and Edward saying "I do" to one another. The ceremony was filmed in such a way that it didn't drag but didn't leave anything out either. Also, adding the Flightless Bird, American Mouth song by Iron & Wine--otherwise known now as the Twilight prom song--was a lovely touch that brought a real feeling of closure to the rocky, and often agonizing, road it took for Bella and Edward to reach that moment.

The honeymoon. Hubba, hubba. It didn't go too far, though. As a matter of fact, I heard somewhere that the honeymoon scene actually had to be re filmed in order to bring it down to a passable PG-13 rating.
I guess I haven't a clue as to what constitutes an R rating because in my opinion, it was still racy enough that I probably wouldn't have felt too comfortable taking a 13 year old to see it. But then again, I'm 33 years old and what might seem a bit much for a young teenager to me may be completely different for an actual teenager these days. These are some scarier times we're living in after all...But overall the entire honeymoon sequence was done very well and at times had the feel of a romantic comedy. Kristen Stewart bouncing up and down while brushing her teeth, combing her hair, and shaving her legs in her nervous state was pretty comical, as was Edward breaking the headboard of the bed with his super-strength during their...er...moment. I was rather proud of both Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as they both seemed to have let go of some of the stiffness they both carried in the earlier films (perhaps their real-life romance had something to do with it). But they both seemed more at ease with one another and much more believable as a couple. Edward alone did so much smiling during the first half of the movie that it almost felt like an alternate universe, as any fan knows Edward spends more time brooding and worrying himself to death than any other emotion, so it was a nice change to see him so happy.



Too bad that happiness was pretty short-lived. Next came the pregnancy. Wow. The make-up artists and CGI people did one heck of a job here of creating the illusion of the baby literally sucking the life out of Bella from the inside. They turned Bella into what, to me, looked like a bonafide crackhead (for lack of a better term)--sunken cheeks, dark circles under her eyes, all skin and bones. It was almost frightening looking at her.
The actual birth scene was a whole other level of intense. That particular scene had such huge potential to be amazing, even on a slight morbid level, or a complete disaster. For anyone whose read the book knows that the birth scene was all kinds of gruesome--spine-cracking, bloody, skin-tearing gruesome. The movie pulled it off fantastically. It was bloody, it was cringe-inducing, but not so off the charts that it became cheesy (not that there was a total lack of Velveeta in this movie, but I'll get to that in a minute). It was a roller coaster--it started as a bit scary, morphing into a little gross, then into a brief, fleeting moment of happiness, then back to a little scary, and finally into what felt, to me, very sad. Edward really tugged at my heartstrings in his moment of trying to resuscitate Bella. As odd of a moment as it was, that may have been the best scene that Robert Pattinson has filmed in this entire franchise. He was so desperate, so scared, so unglued in that moment. As an actor, he was completely believable in that scene, and as a fan who has really enjoyed witnessing his craft improve with every film, it was a real moment of pride for me, bites and all.

As for some cheesiness, it was there of course. Particularly, with the wolves. Remember when I said some moments in books don't always translate very well to movies? This was no exception. In the books, the wolves all hear each others' thoughts when they are in wolf-form. In a book it reads as simple dialogue, so it's no big thing, but in a movie it came off laughable (kind of the same way that Bella's visions of Edward came off as silly in New Moon did). As in, many people were actually giggling out loud. As Jacob is being circled by his fellow pack, the audience is hearing these lines like, "It's a monstrosity!", "An abomination!", and "It's unnatural!" being shouted from all directions, and for whatever reason it just came off as strange and silly and out of place with the rest of the film. But, I guess it had to be done somehow. Other than that, all around this was a great movie--funny, romantic, action-packed, and a little gory. Not all movies can pack that range of emotions in one and pull it off. Even my husband David said this one was much more suspenseful than the rest. We both agreed that it's the best film (so far) of the series.

Of course, it's fluffy, it's cheesy--come on now, we're talking vampires and werewolves here, not War and Peace--but that's what's so good about the entire Twilight saga. I'd compare it to a soap opera--they're silly, over the top, melodramatic--but that's part of its charm. If the anti-Twilighters in general would not take the whole thing so seriously and just accept it for what it is, they might actually enjoy it. You'd be amazed if you knew how many people I had to battle to convince to even read the first book alone. I heard so often, "I'm not interested" or "Vampires aren't my thing" from my friends. And then when they finally did give it a whirl, they found themselves stunned that they loved it. It's not for everyone, but despite whatever preconceived notions you might have about these type of stories, you'll never actually know for sure until you pick it up and read it for yourself. You might be surprised.

So my official review in a nutshell? Two sparkly thumbs up! Can't wait for part 2!

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