Review: The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 2

MANILA, Philippines - A “Twilight” story I really enjoy telling is how I slept in the theatre halfway through “New Moon” (or was it “Eclipse”?) and how I vowed never to sit through any of the films that would come from the popular Stephenie Meyer books.

I may have succeeded in doing that as I never knew that Bella (Kristen Stewart) had a child with Edward (Robert Pattinson) in the previous film, "Breaking Dawn Part One". The child, Renesmee, was in more ways than one a surprise. There will certainly be dozens of reviews pointing out how too CGI-ed the baby is and whatever the reason for doing this is lost on me.

Thankfully babies grow fast in the world of “Twilight” and soon we get a real live girl in Mackenzie Foy. Now Jacob (Taylor Lautner) apparently imprinted on Renesmee earlier on and by some wolf code is now sworn to protect her.

Much of the film’s first act focuses on Bella’s transformation into a vampire and the adjustments she has to make. But seriously, showing us once how fast and how strong she has become is enough. It felt like a running gag already and even that is something the spoof film “Vampires Suck” has run to the ground.

Anticipating conflict in “Breaking Dawn Part Two” is easily the most tiring part of the film. Everything seems to be going so well that you start thinking “where is this headed?” (future pun intended).

The Volturi has found out about Renesmee, thinking that a crime has been committed by her mere existence; the result of a normal human baby being bitten by a vampire to give it immortality. As the Volturi, led by Aro (Michael Sheen), march towards the Cullen household, Bella and Edward gather witnesses who will prove that Renesmee was conceived naturally.

In the interest of fairness, I will admit that the film started to hold my attention from this point—when both sides started beheading each other. The action sequence was done fairly well that even if I could not name half of the characters and their backstories, I found myself rooting for the Cullens to win. And the surprise twist isn’t just for those who haven’t picked up a “Twilight” book if I were to go by the collective gasp in the theatre.

“Breaking Dawn Part Two”, ultimately, will probably end up as the best film in the series, which is really saying a lot. Die-hard fans will get their dose of vampires and those who hate it will still find things to hate about it. There’s also wit, a topless Taylor Lautner, a so-so bed scene between Bella and Edward, and the stunning-as-a-vampire-Alice Ashley Greene, who would have probably been a better Bella than Stewart.

And no matter how corny it has all been, it is still, after all, a story about love; one that is no longer about who gets the girl but the strength of a mother’s love and its power to protect, which may very well end up as the over-arching story’s salvation.