The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1

Movie franchises in and of themselves usually become weaker as they are produced. However, in the case of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-- Part 1", It actually was somewhat better, more than likely because it's a continuation than a sequel.

At last, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) are getting married. Wow! What a shock! When Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) finds out that Bella wants to spend her honeymoon as a human, he is horrified-- for Edward's passion could accidentally kill her. Bella does indeed survive her honeymoon, but a new complication arises when she discovers that she's pregnant-- and the child is growing at an alarming rate. The pregnancy sets the wolves against Bella and Edward, but Jacob vows to protect his friend at all costs.

Others to round out the cast are Billy Burke as Charlie Swan, Bella's dad, Peter Facinelli as Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Edward's dad, Sarah Clarke as Renee, Gil Birmingham as Billy, Jacob's dad, Elizabeth Reaser as Esme Cullen, Kellan Lutz as Emmett Cullen, Nikki Reed as Rosalie Hale, Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Hale, and Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen.

This was effectively directed by Bill Condon ("Gods and Monsters" '98, "Kinsey" '04, "Dreamgirls" '06) which is what made this installment anything palatable. It was written by Melissa Rosenberg based on Stephenie Meyer's novel, "Breaking Dawn".

As with the other installments, the demographic mostly involved here was targeted toward young girls and their 'soccer moms'. It was nothing more than an episodic TV show lengthened into 2 hours. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a total wash. What started out as a slow, agonizing pace of a plot, became a lot more exciting film as it progressed. I know a film has to build suspence, but com'on, this was a little long-in-the-tooth. They easily could've cut to the chase a little quicker and still not miss a beat.

This had some nice visuals, special effects make-up, and sound effects which helped, but if you're looking for a script that actually has some meat to it, this Twilight will just twinkle away into obscurity.

Out of 4 stars: 2.5                       Rated: PG-13                      117min.