Nothing on earth possesses more power than a fad. Many days have passed since Lisa Frank and pop rocks and easy bake ovens ruled the world. Now the fad is romance with the supernatural. It’s wild enough to reminisce over lukewarm brownie batter heated by a light bulb. The fourth installment based on the Twilight series, the book series written by Stephanie Meyer, Breaking Dawn Part I, embodies everything about a fad. It’s got a big opening, big stars, but ends up being a big letdown and, frankly, weird.
The movie picks up where Twilight: Eclipse left off. Quirkily beautiful and highly uncomfortable Bella (Kristen Stewart) prepares to marry the vampire who stole her heart, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). While the jitters are ever-present, their love, which is truer than any other in the entire world, prevails and the Cullens pull off the most overblown wedding of the year. Nothing more unexpected will happen until Thursday when you eat turkey. Bella and Edward embark upon a honeymoon on the beautiful vampire island where Edward can glitter in peace, but the tide turns when Bella becomes pregnant with a deadly child. Now Edward and the surly werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) must join forces to save Bella from death.
Melodrama runs deep throughout the film. Melissa Rosenberg, the screen writer behind the first three films, falls into the same conventions that fuel every adaptation. Edward and Bella speak of their love in the most grandiose and absurd terms that it feels completely unnatural. Part of the issue lies in Stewart and Pattinson’s capabilities as actors, but Rosenberg’s script stumbles multiple times in its melodramatic tension.
The person who takes the film to its peak of ridiculousness, however, is director Bill Condon. The director of Oscar-magnets Gods and Monsters and Dreamgirls overstuffs the movie with so many different genre conventions that it becomes impossible to place it. The wedding that opens the film reads like a sweet, folksy romance. Suddenly it becomes a Havanese getaway before not-so-seamlessly becoming a romcom in which Bella tries to bed Edward. Then it quickly cuts to a tense drama where Bella is dying, but lo! A love triangle re-emerges! And Jacob has a character arc, becoming a one-man wolf pack! Obviously, Condon throws in everything but the kitchen sink as he tries to bring this novel to life. While it does prove entertaining in its bizarreness, the direction takes a cohesiveness out of the film.
The story calls for a touch of ridiculousness, but the actors appear hesitant to embrace the characters even after three films. Pattinson succeeds, but just barely. He brings a stern confidence to the role yet does little to reveal anything interesting about Edward. Stewart remains the most uncomfortable actress in existence. While Bella’s lack of confidence is a touchstone of her character, Stewart never fully invests and delivers halfhearted line readings. A couple in real life, Stewart and Pattinson have the chemistry of Anne Hathaway and James Franco at the Oscars. Neither knows how to properly fill their role, but both are going to give it their best shot. A viewer would hope, though, that their chemistry would be stronger. Perhaps the one who fares worst is Lautner. He puts himself in pout mode for the entirety of the film and brings no complexity to Jacob, the only character with a full arc. The only actor to escape still shining is the ever-reliable Anna Kendrick, stealing the show in her funny portrayal as Bella and Edward’s catty school friend.
When push comes to shove, Twilight entertains through sheer ridiculousness. Does that mean it serves as a model for supernatural film? No, but that doesn’t mean you won’t want to see Breaking Dawn Part II.