Monday Morning Madness #8: My Final Thoughts on the Twilight Saga

If you read my post last year about the Twilight film saga, then you would understand my dislike for the series. I recall reading the first book by Stephanie Meyer when it originally came out in paperback. I didn't have much of a opinion of it, besides it was a rip-off of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel romance, and I ended up tossing it on the bookshelf to collect dust. I only dragged it out again when I heard about the first movie. And, yes, I bought each book when they were released, but I have never opened them yet, if ever.

I'm a vampire fan, so I naturally, or stupidly, have bought each overrated movie on DVD. This led me to buy Breaking Dawn part 2 on Saturday. I wasn't feeling well that night, so I figured I would just fall asleep during it, but surprisingly I stayed awake through the whole 116 minutes.

It picks up almost directly from part 1, where Bella has been turned into a vampire after giving birth to the half human half vampire, Renesmee, which the werewolf, Jacob, has claimed as his mate. The daughter begins a huge growth spurt. The Volturi becomes aware of her existence, which happens to be a bad thing since hybrids are not allowed to live. The Cullens gather their long-distant family members and friends to be a witness to what Renesmee actually is. Everything leads to the final confrontation between the Cullens and the Volturis.

I was in complete shock that Taylor Lautner (who plays Jacob) actually kept his shirt on (except for one scene) unlike the other movies. He is the worst actor (that doesn't say much) in the franchise as he can barely pronounce his lines. The producers probably made him take his shirt off to distract this very fact from the female audience. The only decent actor is Robert Pattinson (who plays Edward), but his performance has been wooden since the first movie as if he is bored to death with the character or the badly adapted scripts. Kristen Stewart once again gives another depressing performance as Bella (and in all her other movie roles). Yes, she is cute, but she needs some acting lessons. She makes Nina Dobrev (from Vampire Diaries) look like an Oscar worthy actress. Let’s face the facts; the whole franchise was miscast with below average actors.

Despite receive a Golden Raspberry Award for the worst picture of 2012, I enjoyed it more than the other movies. Even though it was a dream sequence, I liked the battle between the Cullens and the Volturis. There is actually several beheadings. What I didn't like was the horrible CGI for the baby, the cheesy dialogue, and the happily ever after ending. The ending left several loopholes, probably because of a bad screenwriter.

The Twilight premise about a human falling in love with a vampire has been done to death, but the movies could have been enjoyable it wasn't for the horrible casting, cheap effects, bad writing, and shallow directing. Like I said, I somewhat enjoying Breaking Dawn part 2, but I'm glad that the franchise is over and done with.