From the Mouth of a Hardcore Twihard: A Secondhand Review of Breaking Dawn Part 1

Ever see those GIANT Twilight displays at stores and movie theaters? You know, those giant cardboard decorations that are three times taller than you and take up an entire section of the theater lobby? Yeah, I have one of those ridiculously massive displays hanging on the wall in my house. There is actually a cardboard Twilight display larger than me on the wall. You see, my beloved roomie is a hardcore Twihard (hence the soul crushing display on the wall), which means I have endured countless hours of her gushing about Breaking Dawn: Part 1, which she has already seen twice. Since I have no intention of watching this film anytime soon, I bring you a secondhand review straight from the mouth of my mildly obsessed roommate.

Breaking Dawn: Part 1 tells the story of Bella and Edward’s marriage, honeymoon and the horrific result of said honeymoon – a vampire baby. According to the roomie, this is hands down the darkest and most grown up of the Twilight movies. It starts off bright and beautiful, with loads of hilarious one-lines, but the second that honeymoon is over everything goes very dark very quickly (like most marriages… har har).

Since I didn’t want to forget anything my Twihard roomie had to say about the film, I followed her around with a notebook writing down everything she said (I’m creepy like that). Listed below are the tidbits she shared about the film:

  • The part before the wedding where Bella begs Edward for sex is “super cute and just like the scene in the book.” Personally, I thought that part of the book was pathetic, but the roomie loved it in the book and really loved that they added it into the film.
  • The much talked about wedding dress is beautiful. It’s conservative but sexy at the same time. Very sleek and gorgeous, but not princessy and poofy. My roomie predicts there will be MANY wedding copycats this year, loads of fans wearing this same dress on their big day.
  • Stephenie Meyer has a very obvious cameo as a wedding guest.
  • The honeymoon scenes were super adorable and realistic. The nervous freaking out moments right before their first time were hilarious a sweet at the same time. As for the actual sex scene, well, according to the roomie, “if you blinked, you missed it.” It was tastefully done for the PG-13 rating. However, the scene before the sex where the newlyweds are swimming is “super-hot and MUCH sexier than the actual sex scene.” I guess you can see a whole lot of Bella’s curves while they play in the water.
  • Now for the dark parts, the whole vampire baby thing. My roomie says that pregnancy and birth were so dark, bloody and gruesome that she is surprised the movie got a PG-13 rating and not an R rating. The birthing scene was cringe-worthy, everyone is covered in blood and the entire moment is disgusting. But the scenes before the birth are the worse; the scenes where they actually show the baby moving inside Bella and causing Bella’s body to horrifically distort and break are awful, you can hear Bella’s bones breaking. But in spite of the nastiness, my roommate gave major props to the make-up and CGI crews. She was amazed at how horrible and death-like Kristen Stewart actually looked and how they pulled it all off so flawlessly.
  • The imprinting scene between Jacob and Rensemee is “super cheesy.” I guess the CGI baby smiling at him is ridiculous.
  • The film ends with Bella lying on the table, slowly transforming into a vampire. Roomie said that this scene is AMAZING to watch. The slow transformation is incredible.
  • There is a bonus scene after the credits!!! So, if you watch the movie, DO NOT leave the theater when the credits begin! There is a big scene featuring the Volturi after the credits role.

Overall, my roommate loved Breaking Dawn: Part 1. She found the film well-made and highly impressive. Breaking Dawn: Part 1 gets the stamp of approval from a true Twilight fan.

Have you seen it, did you like it as much as my roomie? Let me know in a comment below.

– Moonlight

By Moonlight

Moonlight (aka Amanda) loves to write about, read about and learn about everything pertaining to vampires. You will most likely find her huddled over a book of vampire folklore with coffee in hand. Touch her coffee and she may bite you (and not in the fun way).

9 comments

  1. A lot of people have claimed that making Breaking Dawn into two films is a cash grab, but it’s clear from watching BD 1 that the book had to be divided between two movies.

    More than New Moon and Eclipse BD 1 calls back to the first film, especially Carter Burwell’s score but also other things. (Stephenie Meyer wrote Forever Dawn, the precursor to Breaking Dawn, right after Twilight.)

    Lots of stuff for the fans, including in-jokes.

    Even haters will have to admit that emaciated Bella is a very impressive CG effect.

    Observation: Twilight gets bashed a lot by, among others, upholders of what I call ‘vampire machismo’ who demand splatter in their stories. But do these haters’ favorite authors and filmmakers have the brass to focus on the body horror of carrying and birthing a lethal half-vampire fetus? No, that required the imagination of a Mormon housewife who doesn’t even watch R-rated movies. (So stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Rodriguez & Tarantino, Steve Niles, Stephen King et al.) In addition, in BD 1 even a brief dream sequence provides imagery as badass as anything in a lot of Twilight hater-approved vampire movies.

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  3. So they didn’t show the scene of Edward biting the pillow during sex and filling the room with feathers? Gee and I thought that was an integral part of the plot.

    I have mixed feelings about Twilight? Really hate Bella with a passion and hated the books for the very reason that I was stuck inside her head for such a long time. But I have enjoyed the movies and am definitely Team Jacob (until he imprints on a baby and then it’s kind of a bit yuck).

    Will definitely go see the movie but I’m no die-hard fan.

    1. I sorta feel the same way. I also hate Bella, people can defend her all they want, but she’s a terrible character IMO. I didn’t like the books either, however I don’t mind the movies as much. So yeah, I feel the same way. I will probably see this movie eventually, even though I hated the book so much I couldn’t finish it. But from what I hear, the movie isn’t bad.

      And according to my roommate, they don’t show him biting the pillow, but they do show feathers all over the bed the next morning.

  4. i didn’t even stayed ofter the credits has the credits began i walked out so pissed cant believed there was a bonus scene…..anyways the movie was grate loved that they had joke love the part were Bella begged Edward to have sex with her so sweet loved that she tempted him when she wore those laundry to bed,when she slowly transformed into a vampire they couldn’t have found a better way to transform her n loved that Edward was looking sexier than ever ……so has u can see i loved it,it was awesome

  5. i havent seen the movie yet bc im not a twihard but im glad to hear its a good movie bc it was my favourite book in the whole series. idk if i’ll see it in theatres but i will eventually see the movie (seen all the others anyways) but glad to know about the bonus scene. [and once again i hate how we have to wait a whole year to see the next part, the last part of the book is my fav]

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