The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Careful What You Wish For

Director: Bill Condon

Writers: Melissa Rosenberg, Stephanie Meyers
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Peter Facinelli, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, Sarah Clark, Elizabeth Reaser

SYNOPSIS: Bella and Edward have now bonded in wedded bliss, but their honeymoon is short-lived as Bella becomes pregnant with what may be a fast-maturing vampiric hybrid that may cost Bella her life and give Jacob a reason to finally kill Edward.

REVIEW: The beginning of the end is upon us as the big screen adaption of Stephanie Meyer's fourth book in The Twilight Saga series comes to the silver screen. Worry not Edward and Jacob, the screen is not really silver. Beginning in 2008 with a Catherine Hardwicke directed Twilight, followed up with New Moon directed by Chris Weitz, and continued with the third entry Eclipse helmed by David Slade, Melissa Rosenberg has written the screenplay for all of the Twilight movies. For both parts of the Breaking Dawn films, Gods and Monsters and Chicago director Bill Condon takes a stab at bringing Bella, Edward and Jacob to life.

In the start of Breaking Dawn - Part 1, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) finds herself mere hours away from her wedding day with her chosen beau Edward (Robert Pattinson). Everyone is happy for Bella and Edward's union, with only Jacob (Taylor Lautner) concerned for the choices Bella has made. When he finds out that Bella will not be turned immediately after the wedding, Jacob fumes and is led away by his clan. Bella and Edward escape to their own private tropical island for their honeymoon, enjoying each other's company and bodies. Days later, Bella finds herself impossibly pregnant with a fast-gestating human/vampire hybrid. Secretly returning home to the Cullen residence, Dr. Carlisle Cullen (Peter Facinelli), his mate Esme (Elizabeth Reaser), and the rest of the clan of Emmett (Kellan Lutz), Rosalie (Nikki Reed), Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), and Alice (Ashley Greene) struggle to help Bella survive, with or without the fetus inside her. When the wolf pack discover through their pack link with Jacob that Bella is pregnant, they make the decision to void the treaty with the vampires to destroy the unborn child, including Bella if necessary. With one pack decision made against Bella, Jacob must make his own choice whether to follow the pack alpha or make his own decision concerning Bella's fate.

I will not give more away. If you have read the books, you will have to guess as to where in the story Condon, Meyers and Rosenberg choose to stop the narrative in preparation of the Breaking Dawn closer. How closely does Rosenberg's script keep to the novel? Besides Bella, Edward and Jacob, who else steps out of the shadows gets a sliver of screen time?

As a casual fan of the franchise, I cannot attest to the mass appeal of the love/hate triangle that surrounds Bella. Whether Team Edward or Team Jacob, fans will enjoy the continuation of the story. Now that the courtship dance has ended and Bella has made her choice to be with Edward, we can move past juvenile romantic antics and focus on three events - a forest wedding, a honeymoon with a pregnancy, and a confrontation about what to do about the unborn baby. Harder, more adult choices need to be made this time around.

Now familiar with the characters in the world of Twilight, Breaking Dawn - Part 1 steps right into the story. The wedding is beautiful, the honeymoon is exotic, erotic, and tragic, and the results of the honeymoon proves the catalyst to force Bella, Edward, and Jacob both together and apart. The landscapes, foreign and domestic, are breathtaking. The settings, interior and exterior, set the perfect tones. My only issues are a couple random inserted shots that are needless, overly artsy, and distracting. Also, the wolves are wonderfully rendered, but sometimes they do not fit into the world and seamlessly as they should. If the film was more fantasy throughout, like for instance the 2011 Red Riding Hood, the wolves would fit in better.

Eclipse had more intrigue for it for my money, but Breaking Dawn - Part 1 does its part to bring its own brand of suspense and good storytelling. Now that Bella has made her choice to be with Edward and gets all that she wanted, the old adage of "Be careful for what you wish for" is more appropriate then ever. Let's see what Breaking Dawn - Part 2 has in store.

WORTH: Matinee and DVD (for the fans)

The Last Airbender

Twisting In The Wind

[Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone]

It's Fourth of July weekend and more movies invade the big screen. Of course, with the holiday weekend comes family get-togethers, BBQs and no time to one's self. And with the 4th comes bigger or anticipated movies. Since this is the case, I had to bite the bullet and play for a full priced movie on Friday night. This was all strategic since I wanted the movies out of the way so I could enjoy the rest of the weekend.

SYNOPSIS: The ancient world is made up of 4 Nations representing air, water, earth or fire. Over the course of a century in the absence of the Avatar, the one who unites the hearts and minds of the Nations, the Fire Kingdom has waged war on the other tribes. With the return of the boy airbender Aang, the new Avatar incarnation, tribes start to unite against the Fire Kingdom for their independence.

I have always been a fan of M. Night Shyamalan's work. From the quiet desperation of "The Sixth Sense" to the water fantasy of "Lady in the Water" to the environmental politics of "The Happening", M. Night's writing and direction has been both subtle and classic to me. I am also a fan of Japanese anime from which the source material of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" originates. The question is whether these two forces can co-exist.

Right off the bat, I can tell you that the woman at the box office tried to talk me out of spending the extra money for the 3D experience. I was already going to the 2D show, but it was interesting that Tiffany would go the lengths to save me the extra $4. Shout out to Tif for looking out for me! That's what happens when you go to the movies as often as I do.

This certainly wasn't M. Night's best writing. I think he produces better films that come wholly from his own mind, not from established works. The narrative was sloppy and repetitive at the start, the dialogue was too obvious in trying to set up the back story instead of letting it unfold naturally, and some other dialogue was just unnecessary. For example, when the ice starts cracking under their feet, Sokka tells Katara to move back and avoid the chasms, instead of putting those words into action. This is starting to be a pet peeve of mine, I think.

Noah Ringer as Aang, the last airbender, falls flat throughout the first third of the film. As the movie progresses though, Noah matures as his character matures. By the end of the film, you can just begin to see the Avatar he was destined to embody. But only just. Nicola Peltz as Katara suffers from the same misdirection or misfortune. Dev Patel as Prince Zuko and Jackson Rathbone as Sokka have the most impressive acting resumes, but even they somehow missed the mark for me. Jackson will receive kinder words from me in my next review, I am sure.

The more seasoned actors fair better. Shaun Toub as Prince Zoka's uncle rings true as the fire nation warrior clinging to the old spiritual ways. Cliff Curtis as Fire Lord Ozai smolders with his iron fist bent on conquering all of the other nations. And Aasif Mandvi as Commander Zhao brings a cockiness and arrogance that could only have been bred if not familiar with the actor's skills.

Since the film does concern itself with the four elementals of air, water, earth and fire, we have to acknowledge their roles as well. Harnessing each of the elements are Benders with special ability born into each Nation. Each Bender learns and masters his Nation's element with a graceful martial arts choreography. Each Nation, based on their described element, has developed their culture based on that element. The Water Nation based their culture around water and ice, the Air Nation builds their monasteries high in the mountains to commune with their element, and the Fire Nation builds monstrous mechanical machines bent on domination. CGI has come a long way, and some of the sequences are pretty cool.

Although interesting and sometimes fun to watch, I think M. Night may not have the proper reach for this film. And if you do go to the film, expect an ending akin to the first "LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring" movie. Remember that feeling you had at the end of "Fellowship..." if you did not know that LOTR was in three parts. You are going to get that same disappoint here as well. Good luck.

Worth: Netflix