Ahh, the life of a newlywed vampire.
MOVIE REVIEW
Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2 glows with excitement | 2½ stars
It has its share of faults, but the final Twilight is a brighter dawn.
November 14
By SHARON HOFFMANN
The Kansas City Star
No need to sleep, eat or use the bathroom. All the time in the world to canoodle with your eternal love in a fairy-tale cottage in the woods.
So youd think Bella (Kristen Stewart) could muster a bit more enthusiasm maybe a broader smile or occasional giggle over her bliss with vampire hubby Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).
Yes, Stewart continues to play her role too low-key, and here and there she narrates in a bland monotone. But overall, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 brings on the over-the-top thrills, especially in a climactic battle scene, glimpsed in the films trailers, thats the rare instance of a movie improving on a book.
And, thank goodness, director Bill Condon wisely jettisoned the silly telepathic talking wolves from Part 1 and simply let them growl and menace. After all, we yearn to believe in author/producer Stephenie Meyers fantasy world.
Condon split Meyers fourth and final Twilight book into two parts. The new film begins right where Part 1 left off last year, when Bella has just opened her bright red eyes into the new world of vampire life.
As in the book, Bella immediately checks out her newfound powers, leaping effortlessly over a waterfall, running through the dense forest at lightning speed, scaling a sheer rock wall like Spider-Man in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest. At least Pattinson manages to look pleased.
As a newborn, Bella is temporarily stronger than the strongest vampire, and Stewart finally shows us the sheer joy of it all when she accepts the challenge to arm wrestle Edwards big brother, Emmett (Kellan Lutz).
Meanwhile, last we saw Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), he was forgetting all about his unrequited love for Bella and doing some seriously surreal bonding with Renesmee, Bella and Edwards honeymoon baby. This imprinting that comes with being one of Meyers werewolves is the most bizarre part of the book, and the author takes great pains to assure us that this love is pure, like a brother-sister thing for now, not just plain wrong.
Lautner, buff as ever, pulls it off, appearing as a doting protector. If nothing else, its uncanny how 12-year-old Mackenzie Foy really looks as if she could be Stewart and Pattinsons daughter, or a kid sister.
Soon, wouldnt you know, theres trouble in paradise. First come worries about Renesmee. Half vampire, half human, she is maturing at an alarming rate. If this keeps up, how long can she live? Will she be an old woman by the time she can drive?
(The special effects crew did an admirable job digitally Benjamin Buttoning the young actresss face onto various bodies as Renesmee grows from little baby to toddler to young girl.)
And then theres the Cullens vampire friend Irina (Maggie Grace, fresh from another kidnapping in Taken 2). She is about to pop in from Alaska for a visit and, viewing Renesmee from a far-off ridge, assumes the worst: that the Cullens sank their teeth into a human child and created an out-of-control immortal brat, verboten among vampires.
Irina rushes off to rat them out to the Volturi, the long arm of vampire law. These black-robed Italian overlords (led by a villainously gleeful Michael Sheen) are only too happy to come administer their punishment: death to all Cullens. And their werewolf friends, too.
Edwards family enlists vampire allies from around the world. The Cullens need all the help they can get against the Volturi guard, especially Jane (Dakota Fanning), who can torture with just a stern look, and Alec (Cameron Bright), who can cut off all senses, leaving his victims helpless in the dark.
The movie takes on an Avengers, assemble! vibe, with superpowered vampires combining their forces: an Alaskan who can supply quite the electric shock, an Amazonian who creates powerful illusions, an Egyptian who can control the elements giant waves, fireballs, that sort of thing.
And, if she can get her act together, Bella the newbie might have some tricks up her sleeve, too.
Not to reveal too much, but lets just say that the books anticlimactic ending gets a violent twist. While the vampires of David Slades Twilight: Eclipse shattered delicately like porcelain dolls when they died, these vampires get their heads ripped off. Thats reportedly the reason the movie was almost slapped with an R rating. At least vampires dont bleed.
The changes make for a visceral, satisfying climax. After the ups and downs of previous Twilight films, its good to have the series quit while its ahead.
To reach Sharon Hoffmann, call 816-234-4457 or send email to shoffmann@kcstar.com.




