Bella enjoys her new life as a vampire
while she fights to balance her hunger for blood. The biggest problem of
Edward and Bella is that their daughter Renesmee is growing super fast and the Volturi think they have made an immortal child. The Cullens seek to gather witnesses to stop a fight they may not be able to
win.
BREAKING DAWN Part 2 continues to
prove to me that they shouldn’t have spilt the book into two movies. I
wonder how the book is to the movies (I only read TWLIGHT and NEW MOON thus far). I
did really enjoy TWILIGHT and ECLIPSE while I think NEW MOON is OK and yet a little flawed.
BREAKING DAWN Part 1 is a bloated movie
that runs on for too long. Part 2 is also too long while adding a few problems
for everything they do right. The special effects for super vampire speed
are really badly done compared to the other TWILIGHT movies in addition to some editing that could have leaned this movie
down. I do think Summit Entertainment should have left BREAKING DAWN as one two
and half hour film with a different director instead of two overlong films. Then
you have the inclusion of too many chick flick pop songs as they try too hard to sell this final installment as a chick flick
that just happens to have sparkly vampires and smelly wolves. The
first three directors knew how to balance character and story more than Bill Condon does for the TWILIGHT movies, but it may
be partly out of his hands due to Summit’s error in judgment in splitting the final book into two movies. It worked for HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS, but it just doesn’t quite work for this one.
However, BREAKING DAWN Part 2 does have
some good character moments and some interesting new characters (who hardly have anything to do) while Kristen Stewart does
her best performance as Bella out of the entire series. Michael Sheen camps it
as the leader of the Volturi (and it shows he is really enjoying the role) while Dakota Fanning shows the right emotions without
saying anything at all. I do think the search for witnesses’ part
does feel too much like a religious experience where people must witness how special the child is. I love the climatic battle sequence, but the final twist at the end was the final straw and I feel
it was a big cheat. As a result, there are two many things I hate about
the final movie compared to what I liked about it. I think BREAKING DAWN
Part 2 was one of the worst movies I saw in 2012 and maybe they could have made a good movie out of BREAKING DAWN as one film
and edited at least an hour out of the bloated running time with a different director at the helm. Upona second viewing, the good parts stand out more and I now tolerate the movie ending up anticlimactic
as Arlo learns a lesson like some vampire version of After School Special.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Disc 1 has a Jump To your favorite scene
feature in addition to an audio commentary with director Bill Condon.
DISC 2-
FOREVER- FILMING THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING
DAWN PART 2- It is an in-depth seven part making-of documentary that runs for 93 minutes.
REBIRTH- focus on Bella as a vampire and
how Kristen Stewart loved playing Bella as a vampire
RENESEMEE- All about Renesemee, the actress
who plays her, and how they used her face and old photos to incorporate into the look of Renesemee from baby to 10 year old
girl and the 18 year old version of her
THE COTTAGE- production design of Bella
and Edward’s cottage in the woods which they created the exterior in the woods with the interior on a soundstage
THE GATHERING- focus on the casting of
the actors who would play the vampire allies of the Cullen family and the characters they play
THE FIELD- After deciding it wasn’t
practical to shoot the battle outside; they created it on a green screen stage in a livestock arena. A behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of filming on a green screen stage including the cast breaking
out in a well rehearsed dance off during one of the takes.
THE BATTLE- a closer look at the various elements that went into creating the battle
on the green screen stage and in post-production
FOREVER- cast and crew say farewell to
filming the Twilight series
TWO MOVIES AT ONCE- a quick featurette
that looked at the challenge of filming two movies at once when they knew they didn’t have the extra time to film it
as two movies and having to keep track of what scene was in what movie
“THE FORGOTTEN” music video
by Green Day
A digital copy code is included with each
version released on Blu-ray and DVD.
If you bought BREAKING DAWN PART 2 at Target
on DVD or Blu-ray, a bonus disc is included with six additional featurettes:
SPECIAL VAMPIRE POWERS: TINGLES AND CHILLS-
a look at the new vampire powers seen in the final TWILIGHT film
CARLISLE’S
CONTACTS- focus on the various new vampires that are friends with Carlisle Cullen
JUDGE, JURY, & EXECUTIONER- all about
the Volturi and the actors who play them
BEING CHARLIE SWANN- a look at how the
relationship between Bella and Charlie evolved over the course of five movies
2012 COMIC CON- a featurette that takes
a look at the fans who are excited to see the cast at Comic Con in addition to excerpts from the Comic Con panel
THE WORLD PREMIERE- footage of the premiere
with the cast and crew courtesy of Target
FINAL ANALYSIS: I tolerated BREAKING DAWN Part 2 better on a second viewing (I saw it once in theaters) instead of
hating it like I did on the first viewing, but the making-of documentary is a great look at the making of the film. Only the most devoted fans will pick up the three disc version on DVD (or the two disc blu-ray) from Target
because the extras are mostly stuff you can skip and you will be fine just watching the making-of documentary.
This DVD review is (c)3-6-2013 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com