Over-all, the movie wasn't that bad. It stuck very, very close to the book (like, literally taking lines straight), with the exception of one or two parts, so Breaking Dawn fans will absolutely love it. But, even if you're like me and hated Breaking Dawn, the movie was still pretty enjoyable. Definitely not unbearable. The effects were great, the music was awesome, and Kristen kicked major ass. There was humor (because Charlie was there), there was drama, and there was even an awesome fight scene. (One-and-a-half, really.)
Spoiler-y Opinions
Liked:
-The one-liners.
Charlie's “are those graduation caps.” That would be a great tie-in for when Charlie finds out about the Cullens in part two.
Jess' “do you think she's gonna show?” and her comment about the size of the wedding cake.
Charlie's “you needed something old. Well, besides your mom.”
-The toast speeches.
-Jasper's facial expressions. Especially is “WTF bro?” look at Emmett for his double entrendre toast, and his “wait...what?” look at Carlisle when Carlisle announces that there's a bag of blood in the fridge. And his various creeper grins for no reason throughout the movie.
-Carlisle and Esme scenes. For someone who doesn't speak a lot, Esme shows some pretty intense chemistry with Carlisle.
-Seth. I didn't think it was possible for him to be more adorkable than he was in the books, but he managed to pull it off. I just... really want to shrink him down, keep him in my pocket, and carry him around forever.
-The special effects. Kudos for doing just a good a job as Captain America in making someone who's not scrawny and sickly into someone who believably is. My mom honestly thought Kristen had gone anorexic or something for the role.
-The fight at the end between the Quileutes and the Cullens.
-Jacob's trick to allow Carlise, Esme, and Emmett to go hunting.
-Mike, Eric, Alice, and Jasper dancing at the wedding.
-The soundtrack. The music for the series is always great, but this one just took the cake. The music that played while Bella decides she wants to keep Renesme was just absolutely brilliant.
-Edward frantically trying to resuscitate Bella. Rob actually moved me with that performance. Kinda.
-Kristen's acting. Yeah, I said it. She was phenomenal here as Bella.
-Brotherly wrestling under Bella's window. We hardly (in the movies, anyway) get to see Edward, Jasper, and Emmett interact, and seeing them act like normal brothers (and guys) was cute.
Didn't Like:
-Lautner and Reaser's acting. I don't know what it was. Dialogue? New Director? New writer? Bad day on set? I don't know – but their lines were just stilted, flat, and awkward. And Lautner just really didn't get to me while he sobbed outside. I was more entranced by Jacob's wonderful leather jacket and Reaser's absurdly large forehead than I was by their acting. (Which is crazy, because I normally like Lautner way more than Rob, but that all switched this movie.)
-The imprinting scene. I knew there was no way to do that without being really corny. It was written as an internal monologue, and those are pretty hard to portray (unless it's a play). But it wasn't the cheesiness that got me – it was the creepiness factor. When Jacob thinks of Renesme, he doesn't see a little child in need of protection (like it was sort of done in the book), he sees this a much older woman (maybe early twenties?) who he would do anything for. It was just squicky.
-Edward forgetting for about five minutes that Bella needed vampire venom. In the book, there isn't much time for Edward to get the venom. In the movie, he stands and holds Renesme for around five minutes, cooing over her, before Bella dies. And then, he takes another few minutes trying to resuscitate her before reaching for the venom.
-The implied “Sue's sleeping with Billy and Charlie.” Sue and Charlie's relationship was never really expanded upon, so we never really get a feel for how serious they were. But I'm pretty sure they were serious enough that Billy didn't think he had a chance, and Sue wasn't seen traipsing back and forth between the two houses.
-Stephenie Meyer in the movie. I've had this problem before. It's not a problem of Stephenie, I just dislike when authors put themselves in their movies.
-Edward telling Bella about his past the night before the wedding. Mostly because it served no purpose. Readers already knew that, and non-readers didn't need to know. Edward tells Bella he killed murders (for no apparent reason, since he knew it wasn't going to change her mind about marrying him, and she kind of knew that already), and it was never brought up again. It was just some really awkward “hey, let's remind everyone that Edward is a killer to kill time” type of scene.
-Changing the wolves voices while shifted. I understand Sam's voice changing, since he's the alpha. I can understand Jacob's voice because he's the beta-turned-alpha. But the others? We don't know very much about the Quileutes, and the only recognition we have for them are faces and voices (except Sam, Leah, Seth and Jacob, who we can recognize in wolf form). It just served to confuse people and made it harder to keep track of who was who.
-Rob's trouble with his speaking/accent. I swear, I thought the first line he spoke was “I was just checking for coffee.” It wasn't until they started talking about the wedding that I realized he had said “cold feet.” He does this a couple of times throughout the movie. It doesn't take away from the movie, it's just a pet peeve of mine. Especially since Rob is usually good about his accent and speaking clearly.
-Bella and Edward getting out of the car, to walk into the middle of the street, just to make out. Much like the "I'm a killer, Bella" scene, it just didn't serve any purpose. At all. It wasn't fluffy romantic, because they spent more time showing what was happening around Bella and Edward than they did focused on the two. And because they didn't even honeymoon in Rio, and they still had to get back to the car to get to the boat.
Spoiler-y Opinions
Liked:
-The one-liners.
Charlie's “are those graduation caps.” That would be a great tie-in for when Charlie finds out about the Cullens in part two.
Jess' “do you think she's gonna show?” and her comment about the size of the wedding cake.
Charlie's “you needed something old. Well, besides your mom.”
-The toast speeches.
-Jasper's facial expressions. Especially is “WTF bro?” look at Emmett for his double entrendre toast, and his “wait...what?” look at Carlisle when Carlisle announces that there's a bag of blood in the fridge. And his various creeper grins for no reason throughout the movie.
-Carlisle and Esme scenes. For someone who doesn't speak a lot, Esme shows some pretty intense chemistry with Carlisle.
-Seth. I didn't think it was possible for him to be more adorkable than he was in the books, but he managed to pull it off. I just... really want to shrink him down, keep him in my pocket, and carry him around forever.
-The special effects. Kudos for doing just a good a job as Captain America in making someone who's not scrawny and sickly into someone who believably is. My mom honestly thought Kristen had gone anorexic or something for the role.
-The fight at the end between the Quileutes and the Cullens.
-Jacob's trick to allow Carlise, Esme, and Emmett to go hunting.
-Mike, Eric, Alice, and Jasper dancing at the wedding.
-The soundtrack. The music for the series is always great, but this one just took the cake. The music that played while Bella decides she wants to keep Renesme was just absolutely brilliant.
-Edward frantically trying to resuscitate Bella. Rob actually moved me with that performance. Kinda.
-Kristen's acting. Yeah, I said it. She was phenomenal here as Bella.
-Brotherly wrestling under Bella's window. We hardly (in the movies, anyway) get to see Edward, Jasper, and Emmett interact, and seeing them act like normal brothers (and guys) was cute.
Didn't Like:
-Lautner and Reaser's acting. I don't know what it was. Dialogue? New Director? New writer? Bad day on set? I don't know – but their lines were just stilted, flat, and awkward. And Lautner just really didn't get to me while he sobbed outside. I was more entranced by Jacob's wonderful leather jacket and Reaser's absurdly large forehead than I was by their acting. (Which is crazy, because I normally like Lautner way more than Rob, but that all switched this movie.)
-The imprinting scene. I knew there was no way to do that without being really corny. It was written as an internal monologue, and those are pretty hard to portray (unless it's a play). But it wasn't the cheesiness that got me – it was the creepiness factor. When Jacob thinks of Renesme, he doesn't see a little child in need of protection (like it was sort of done in the book), he sees this a much older woman (maybe early twenties?) who he would do anything for. It was just squicky.
-Edward forgetting for about five minutes that Bella needed vampire venom. In the book, there isn't much time for Edward to get the venom. In the movie, he stands and holds Renesme for around five minutes, cooing over her, before Bella dies. And then, he takes another few minutes trying to resuscitate her before reaching for the venom.
-The implied “Sue's sleeping with Billy and Charlie.” Sue and Charlie's relationship was never really expanded upon, so we never really get a feel for how serious they were. But I'm pretty sure they were serious enough that Billy didn't think he had a chance, and Sue wasn't seen traipsing back and forth between the two houses.
-Stephenie Meyer in the movie. I've had this problem before. It's not a problem of Stephenie, I just dislike when authors put themselves in their movies.
-Edward telling Bella about his past the night before the wedding. Mostly because it served no purpose. Readers already knew that, and non-readers didn't need to know. Edward tells Bella he killed murders (for no apparent reason, since he knew it wasn't going to change her mind about marrying him, and she kind of knew that already), and it was never brought up again. It was just some really awkward “hey, let's remind everyone that Edward is a killer to kill time” type of scene.
-Changing the wolves voices while shifted. I understand Sam's voice changing, since he's the alpha. I can understand Jacob's voice because he's the beta-turned-alpha. But the others? We don't know very much about the Quileutes, and the only recognition we have for them are faces and voices (except Sam, Leah, Seth and Jacob, who we can recognize in wolf form). It just served to confuse people and made it harder to keep track of who was who.
-Rob's trouble with his speaking/accent. I swear, I thought the first line he spoke was “I was just checking for coffee.” It wasn't until they started talking about the wedding that I realized he had said “cold feet.” He does this a couple of times throughout the movie. It doesn't take away from the movie, it's just a pet peeve of mine. Especially since Rob is usually good about his accent and speaking clearly.
-Bella and Edward getting out of the car, to walk into the middle of the street, just to make out. Much like the "I'm a killer, Bella" scene, it just didn't serve any purpose. At all. It wasn't fluffy romantic, because they spent more time showing what was happening around Bella and Edward than they did focused on the two. And because they didn't even honeymoon in Rio, and they still had to get back to the car to get to the boat.
