Breaking Dawn 2: An Army of Good Memories

I can't believe it's taken me a week to post about Breaking Dawn 2...aka The Last Hurrah.  Actually, I can.  I saw it again last night and it hit me like a ton of bricks:

This is the end.

Sob!  I will try not to get all mushy but DAMN the closure affected me!  I never expected it, either.  I think I cried harder last night than I did the first time I saw it.

OK - let's get down to brass tacks.  First off - wasn't happy with the opening scene.  Where was the rest of the family?  Where was Bella's terrified reaction to being a vampire?  Girlfriend should have been crouched in the corner...but I guess nobody puts Bella in a corner!  Ba dum bum.  Bottom line, it was a short, quick bit of fluff...and if I never have to hear Robert Pattinson mumble "so beautiful" again for the rest of my life, I will dance a jig.  It was just too cheesy to handle.  Let's move on.

"Look dude...I know my dress should
be a mess...but that's not the issue!" 

Bella yelling at Jacob - tremendous!  I was so happy to finally see some emotion out of her!  I dug watching her kick his ass, too.  Although didn't you feel bad for little Boo Boo when she threw Seth across the forest?

And here we see Edward, not taking
charge...yet again.  zzzzz. 

Cottage scene.  Um, zzzzzz.  Total snoozefest.  Not only was I totally sceeved at having to watch a known Hollywood couple get down to bizznazz in such an intimate way...but I was annoyed that we didn't get to see

Edward finally let LOOSE himself and be the seriously hot vampire we all know he can be.  Once again - we just watched some gag-me, naked, close up shoulder shots (NOT that I wanted to see anything else; get your mind out of the gutter!)  I would have rathered if they kept their clothes on and dropped to the floor like they did in the book.  Butttt...we have to pander to the tween crowd now, don't we.  Grrrr.  Don't get me started.

OTHER than that - I will say that the fight scene was TRULY SPECTACULAR...and I - like everyone else in the free world - cried my ASS off when they fake-killed Carlisle and Jasper.  I felt like they were really trying to drive the point home that the series is over...and the rest of us would be left to pick up the pieces.  Thank GOD it was all going on in Alice's wacky head.

"Felix..."

And Aro! LORDDDDDDD Aro!!!  Michael Sheen was AWESOME.  As I told my sister, pre-show..."It's a Michael Sheen Extravaganza!!!"  OH my lord, he's so tremendous.

Just LOOK at that face!

As is Jamie Campbell Bower. I have no CLUE why they don't give Caius more dialogue.  He's more than capable.  Did you not see Camelot?  TREMENDOUS.  And when they were killing Caius in Breaking Dawn 2, I was thinking "Not the face!  Not the face!!!"  It was completely creepy (and fitting), the way they ripped his mouth apart. 

Not to mention JCB in the coming attractions.  DANG - lots of zombie films.  I'm stoked.

Bella aka Kstew looked gorgeous throughout the film.  And I enjoyed her acting this go-round.  I loved when she flipped out on Jacob and she got somewhat badass with Kate.  I just wish she'd have played the whole series a little more...I dunno... enamored of Edward the way Bella's supposed to be.  During the whole thing - especially BD2, I felt like he was so much more in love with her than she was with him.  (Real life peeking through, perhaps?)

Edward aka RPattz - gorgeous - solid acting; I thought he was very Edward-like in this film.  His presence is somewhat non existant in the book...so I was happy he was still such a central figure in the film.

Jacob  aka Taylor Lautner - awesome, as usual.  That kid always puts out a great performance.

All Irish have red hair and
Irish Spring accents, aye?

I'm not going to lie - some of this film was just pure cheese.  The Irish coven made me laugh right out loud because they were so stereotypical.  (I liked the Denali clan though; I have to admit.) I think the Cullens cheesed me out the most this time around.  They were just so Stepford!  Jasper was way over the top with the creep factor...Alice was...well...Alice.  Rosalie - geez, what did she have, a whole 2 days of filming?  Although Emmett...OMG Emmett was a scream.  Loved him in the books - loved him in the films.

I'd have this look on my
face, too, if they made me
wear this ridiculous wig. 

Carlisle...lorddddddddddd the hair.  I still don't get why they couldn't just dye his own hair for a few weeks and dye it back again for Nurse Jackie.  Its horrendousness is so distracting.  He's just too good looking of a guy to sport such a bad wig.

I fear I'm being too negative so I will shut up momentarily...

I just have to say what an amazing, emotional, sometimes upsetting, yet always outstanding ride the Twilight series has been.  I was reminded of that during the poignant montage at the end of the film, when Bella is letting Edward read her mind.  They took us back to the early days...of Edward walking into the cafeteria for the first time...and next thing I knew, I was drowning in a sea of my own memories from the past 3 years.

Twilight is what got me excited about reading again.  Before I read it (back when I was way too good for YA) I was cruising along in my book club...reading books other people wanted to read...and not really enjoying myself.  Twilight changed everything.  Now I only read books I want to read.  I started blogging...which has led me to writing blogs about so many different books, tv series and films.  I got a crazy idea in my head that I could maybe even write my own novel or screenplay (who didn't?)  And in addition to that, I've just plain had a BALL.  I've made friends because of the Twilight series (and am still bummed to have lost one or two as well.)  I've had so many fun experiences that made me realize that being a 40-something stay-at-home mom is not a death sentence when it comes to your sense of self and creativity.

Stephenie Meyer has opened a door for so many of us; I can never repay her for that wonderful gift.  :)