The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn- Part 2
Finally, over six months after the final chapter was released in theatres, I have completed my journey through the “Twilight” movies. The question is…can I live with myself afterwards?
Yes, I can. Don’t get me wrong; the franchise is one of the most consistently inept in Hollywood history (making its status as a genuine phenomenon all the more baffling), but there are some interesting, “WTF?” moments and touches that made it slightly better than abysmal. (And I’m not just saying this because my girlfriend is a fan of Stephanie Meyers’s books, and owns the movies. She’s even acknowledged that the films are merely “OK.”)
A lot of those moments and touches can be found in the two-part finale, directed by Bill Condon, an Oscar-winner for writing “Gods and Monsters” (a great genre exploration), and nominee for his script for “Chicago.” Condon is, without question, the boldest filmmaker the series was able to recruit, and he made a pair of films that not only kept me fascinated, if not invested, in where the story was going, but almost kind of mesmerized by the sense of style he brought to the enterprise. Now that he’s made millions for this mega-franchise, I can’t wait to see what the filmmaker, who’s also made “Kinsey” and “Dreamgirls,” has down the pipe. (We’ll get to see sooner than expected; his WikiLeaks film, “The Fifth Estate,” is scheduled for release later this year.)
But back to “Twilight.” When last we saw Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson), Edward was just forced to turn Bella into a vampire after she becomes pregnant on their wedding night. Now, her and Edward “are the same temperature” (like that means anything; their acting in the series has always been lukewarm, at best), and their daughter, Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy), is growing stronger, and bigger, by the day. She was also imprinted on by Jacob (Taylor Lautner), an act that keeps her safe from Jacob’s fellow werewolves, but not from the Volturi, the cabal of vampires from Italy that oversee vamps around the world. (And certainly not from plenty of child bride jokes on the RiffTrax, which helps soften the franchise’s surreal badness.) The Volturi have doubts about the story that Renesmee is natural born, and worry that the Cullens actually turned a child– a no no in vampire world. This leads to plenty of discussion on both sides, and a meeting in a snowy field that…well, let’s just say it takes you by surprise.
In all honesty, the story of the “Twilight” saga; the characters; the relationships; and the ideas, could all be turned into an intriguing universe and franchise in the right hands. And they were, when it was “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and had Joss Whedon and his army of gifted writers and actors bringing it to us week after week for seven seasons. As someone who’s never read the books, I’m not sure if the series was just doomed for artistic failure to begin with, or whether screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg (TV’s “Dexter,” who adapted all four books) lost something in the translation, but truthfully, I don’t know if I care enough to find out. As it has played out on-screen, Bella and Edward’s story is a ridiculous teenage soap opera of hormones and repressed desire that builds to one of the most absurd anti-climaxes in movie history. Seriously, it almost needs to be seen to be believed, and even when it’s seen, you’ll hardly believe your eyes.
If you want to see an off-beat genre love story done right, watch “Warm Bodies,” the zombie romantic comedy Summit Entertainment released this year (based on a young adult novel) as a way of replacing “Twilight.” Of course, few things Summit could release will replace the massive box-office “Twilight” had, but creatively, “Warm Bodies” pointed up everything wrong with the Bella-Edward dynamic, which was all about poor old Bella having to wait for marriage not only to give into her carnal desires with Edward, but also to be turned into a sparkly vampire like he is. In “Warm Bodies,” human Julie and zombie R meet in the middle, with the charming R finding a way of curing himself of his zombification (and starting a revolutions), while Julie comes to accept him for who he is, even if he started out a corpse. This is more believably human a dynamic in relationships than the whiny, passive neediness that peppers Bella and Edward’s little love affair, where both people bring something to the table, and have to take emotional risks to make things work. That movie, which has been one of my favorites of 2013, has staying power. “Twilight,” however, is a flash-in-the-pan phenomenon, whose fanbase will likely mature, and then, after rewatching the films, simply ask themselves, “What the Hell was I thinking?” I know that’s what I’ve been doing as each new movie came out. Still, even though I don’t see what Twi-hards see in this series, I admire the fervor and love they have for it, because that’s what fandom’s about. Besides, I can’t get too high-and-mighty; after all, as a “Star Wars” fan, I have the prequels to try and live down, not to mention the “Star Wars Holiday Special.” Not even the worst aspects of “The Twilight Saga,” let alone its perplexing final chapter, can equal that level of artistic failure.
