breaking dawn - part 1

Two weeks after opening night the theater still got quite full.  Even the tardy section at the very front below the crossover aisle was full of large groups who were shocked yet again to find that they would not be able to all sit together only because they had walked in just as the lights went down on a Friday night.  I have always been lucky at these twilight films though.  Even when the room is full I have always had empty seats beside me because everyone assumes that surely I wouldn't be there alone and that the woman who dragged me there was just out buying some popcorn chocolate and a diet Coke while I saved her seat and watched her purse which must be hiding under my jacket on "her seat".

It's been quite a while since I read the last book. Once the movie got going I realized that besides my memory of the major plot points and the overall outcome of the story I had forgotten most the the smaller details. I suppose that's a good thing as much of the story seemed new again. The movie begins with Jcub getting his wedding invitation which immediately makes him take his shirt off (I mean REALLY, is he still doing that?) and go off running to prove that this time he really is done and is never coming back again... ever, ever, ever! (or at least until everyone has forgotten that he is still pouting.)   Of course he does show up at the wedding where he makes a scene and a injects a fresh dose of love triangle drama that all the girlies love so very much.  Thankfully even in the movie version of the story Bella doesn't invite Jcub to come along on the honeymoon which was a huge relief to me. I  was actually slightly worried about something like that happening given the blatant and obvious team Jcub nature of the screenplay writers and directors thus far.

The honeymoon on the private island is well done. The one thought that stuck in my mind though was, "so she didn't shave her legs for her wedding then?"  Bella gets pregnant and the rest of the movie is mostly the drama surrounding that.  I was yet again disappointed that the love triangle angle was still so prominent even after Bella becomes Mrs. Cullen.  It seemed most of the time Ed was standing over in a corner while Bella and Jcub got cozy.  Shirley it wasn't this bad in the books because I don't think I'd have been able to finish them if it was.

The highlight of this movie for me was the special effects.  Just writing that makes me sigh but I'm afraid it's true.  Bella's decomposition into her sickly, being consumed from the inside out, skeleton is frighteningly realistic.  Even greater than that though is her transformation into vampire Bella.  The regeneration of her body is done so well and convincingly that seeing her lying there with her still closed eyes I was sure she had never looked better, EVER!  The effects weren't cheesy and obvious either.  Somehow it looked like I was seeing a real transformation, it was impressive!

Ultimately, given its negative synergy status as a "part 1" movie BD1 is at best a satisfactory experience.  Did you ever get an S on your elementary school report cards?  I remember thinking, not knowing what to think.  I wasn't good and I wasn't bad, I was satisfactory, whatever that really meant...

The movie ends at the exact moment I would have ended it too so i can't fault it there but the fact that it's just half the story makes it impossible to be truly satisfying. Satisfactory? Yes. Satisfying? No way!

I'm not a fan of these final book movies being split into two but considering the extra money they bring in I'm sure they're here to stay.

Ah, by the way, apparently there is a scene involving the Volturi after the credits so be sure and stay for that, I missed it.