A friend, and fellow Twihard, skipped out of work early yesterday to catch the 3 o'clock showing in hopes of avoiding the majority of the teen rush. We lucked out. The theater was full, but we walked right in and got seated in my happy middle. The same cannot be said for the 5o'clockers when we left. Lobby was p-a-c-k-e-d! Go us!
So like many Twihards I started out as a huge fan of the books. Twilight was my breakthrough for YA reads and even though the movies will never win an Oscar, I LOOOOOOVE them. The first Twilight movie grew on me and since then I have braved the wild rapids of opening day for each movie. Why? Because I'm batshit crazy, that's why. *grin*
Breaking Dawn had oodles of hoopla leading up to the release; will there be the sex scene, will they show the birth, will they show Renesmee, will they, can they.... Oi! I was a little nervous going into the movie because of the expectations from the media craze. I was not disappointed though. Bill Condon did a great job! The wedding was sublime (though some of the speeches were just shy of ridiculous), the dress, the vows (done by a real preacher by the way), ....sigh.... I nearly teared up when they played Flightless Bird in the background. Had to explain to my friend that this was the song Edward and Bella danced to in the first movie at prom. Hello significance!
The honeymoon was great! In the books Bella is totally nervous about the whole deed and Kristen did a good job with it. The headboard....*giggle* Yeah, I sort of laughed at this, but was so glad Condon included this. Then the day after and Bella is stuck in post wedded bliss aftermath...*giggle* Again, loved how Condon did this. I think my fave part of the honeymoon is Bella's attempt at seduction and Edward's resistance. Holy crap I laughed at his blatant "please just stop!" reactions. Awesome.
The tears threatened once again when Edward finally "hears" the baby inside Bella. Bella's lullaby (also from the first movie) was playing in the background here. Had to explain this one to my friend too. Not her fault, don't judge. I'm the freak with the soundtracks on my Zune. *grin*
Speaking of baby bumps... My GAWD did they make Kristen look like hell without the courtesy of being warmed over. The books have Bella really gaunt and deathly frail looking and boy did they ever accomplish it for the film. Oi! They even got in the lanky, lifeless hair!
The 'birth' was awesome! I was nervous how Condon was going to be able to pull this puppy off and keep it PG13, but wow! The whole past flashbacks were a great touch. The frantic camera work was wonderful. Then as Bella starts to slip and Edward plunges her in true Pulp Fiction fashion I got nervous again. Everyone who has read the books knows that Bella's POV has her feeling on fire and screaming inside, but her body does not move. I LOVED how Condon centered on Kristen's 'lifeless' face, while Edward is in a panic, and then the screen flashes to a crazed-out, hair-pulling, head-shaking, frantic-screaming Kristen. Then it flashed back to lifeless Kristen. Awesome.
I even LOVED how they played in the Imprint with Jacob and Renesmee. The books didn't really say outright what happened that moment when Jacob, in full on I'm-gonna-kill-you-now mode, sees Renesmee over Rosalie's shoulder for the first time. It's implied, sure, but Condon took it one step further. Jacob falls to one knee while we are treated to flashes of his voice explaining the whole Imprint process to Bella back in New Moon and we see Renesmee how Jacob sees her growing up. Wonderful....
The end was as I was expecting: Dramatic. We see Bella go through her Makeover: Venom Edition and everything that was broken and frail comes back to life with suppleness and flawlessness. Of course Mr. Condon leaves us salivating for more with the final shot of Bella's suddenly open and very red Vampire eyes.
In a word, squeal! The movies just keep getting better and better and I cannot WAIT for the next installment. Holy crap it's a log way away....
