Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, The Movie Review

Vampires and the wolves are back and for millions of global fans that 'The Twilight Saga' has managed to accumulate over the years. In fact if there is one franchise in recent times that has made me wonder about the sheer reason behind such immense popularity, it is 'Twilight'. The basic story is entirely unimaginable, the chemistry between the lead couple (Bella Swan and Edward Cullen - who are supposed to be totally in love) is weird, the presence of another male lead (Jacob Black) who ends up contributing to the love triangle is amusing more than being romantic while the whole fight between vampires and wolves has now been stretched beyond limits. Moreover, if one has seen the earlier three instalments of 'Twilight', the plot just moves ahead as soap opera episodes instead of a full fledged film.
 
Still, and that's a 'big' still actually, there are millions out there who are fascinated every time a 'Twilight' movie hits the screens. Strange, but true! I am told that the franchise is such a huge success because women really love the romantic drama here. Well, I do agree to an extent here going by the fan following that so many similarly paced soaps on television enjoy as well!
 
I did expect the same in case of 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn' when it came to the basic plot being repeated and guess what, I wasn't disappointed. So yet again Bella is unconditionally in love with Edward and he feels that the two would be better off not to be together due to her being a human and he a vampire. Nevertheless, since this basic argument has been milked so much in the first three instalments that this time around it doesn't go beyond the first 10 minutes.
 
Of course there is Jacob who has a habit of jumping between the scenes at just the wrong times and much to the annoyance of Edward, he does that here as well. All of this means that even that segment of the audience which is unfamiliar with the 'Twilight' saga would more or less understand how the love triangle actually work.
 
Nevertheless, a series of extended love making scenes later, Bella becomes pregnant in a jiffy, well literally so, as neither her nor Edward were prepared for this, more so because she is now carrying a vampire's child. Her health starts deteriorating while Jacob's own kin now want her to die lest her child becomes a problem for them all. How Jacob, Edward and his family go about defending Bella all over again (something that they have been tirelessly doing for each of the earlier instalments as well) is what forms the crux of 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn'.
 
As expected from the film's narrative, this time too it is pretty slow paced with long pauses interspersed here and there, hence leading to those silences that are perceived as romantic by many. Of course the later part of the film just turn far grimmer than what has seen in the 'Twilight' series since Emma becomes a sorry picture of herself due to her unwanted pregnancy. There are some sequences that literally make you squirm in the seats as well, what with her sipping blood from a plastic cup and a delivery that turns out to be bloody and messy.
 
There is no novelty either in the sequences featuring wolves as edge of the seat excitement is clearly missing. There are no vampire chases either, something that had impressed in the first two instalments while the overall dramatic quotient is conspicuous by its absence. Also, there is unintentional laughter that comes in quite a few sequences, especially the ones where Jacob repeats his hatred act for Edward entering Bella's life.
 
As expected though, the film ends on an open note since the makers were clear from the very beginning to come up with Part 2. One hopes though that at least in that part, there is something much more interesting, engaging and exciting for audience to cheer about.
 
Rating: **1/2