What I Like (and Don’t Like) about Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part I

It’s been more than a month since we’ve watched Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part I. I’ve been waiting so long for this movie. Not because I like the movies better than the book version but because this will be the first time I watch a Twilight movie in the big screen. Yes, I didn’t watch the other Twilight movies in theater. Rather, I waited for them to be shown either on cable TV or in a DVD. So I was pretty excited to see the second to the last Twilight movie in a cinema.

First of all, before I go on, let me just say I’ve read the four books in the Twilight series. I’m not a really big fan, I’m not pro – Edward or pro – Jacob or stuff like that. I’m just intrigued with the story of a good not – blood – sucking vampire loving a mortal and getting away with it in the end.

So there I was ready to watch the movie. I know it’s a romantic movie (again), what with the wedding and the honeymoon. I got what I expected. But sadly, it left me feeling a little bit dissatisfied. I was really expecting a lot more. So I decided to write this hub about what I liked and didn’t like from that movie, with some comparisons to the book version.

A note to the readers: I will not go into the acting abilities of the actors / actresses but more on the scenes and what is visual in the movie. These are just my personal opinion and preferences. If you think differently, I will love to hear from you so please leave a comment below. No bashing of other people (most of all the hubber - writer) please.

A bit of action is what I really would like to see in the movies. This is what I felt was lacking in the books and what I really liked in the movie version. I mean, hey, these are all – powerful vampires and werewolves (or shape – shifters who chose to shift to werewolves) - fast, fierce, killing machines - the least the writers / directors / producers can do is to show some proof that these descriptions are true.

I really like Bella’s wedding dress (hey, I’m female, wedding dresses are one of the things I do appreciate). It was simple in the front, demure and pretty straightforward but the back was really sexy and seductive. I really didn’t like the description in the book, it was just too simple but the dress shown in the movie is really beautiful. No wonder a lot of women want to buy a replica of this same wedding dress.

Or where they shot the honeymoon, that is. The beach and the other scenic spots were really beautiful. It’s the ideal place for a honeymoon. But then again, after reading the book, I didn’t expect anything less (and I knew it’s a scenic spot, I saw it on the movie trailer).

A werewolf communicating with his fellow werewolves is an interesting concept because they all can hear and talk to each other at the same time. In the book, this is not really a difficult scene to show, the author can just write one line after another. This is another matter in the movie. I felt that if they don’t do it right, it will get mighty confusing. Well, they did make it right. The voices were there but you can clearly hear and distinguish them. And the best part? That was when Jacob stood up against Sam and showed him who’s the boss.

I mean, what the…? They were roaming around the area in human form, without their werewolf weapons and instincts. How could they cover the whole area around the house if they were just walking around as humans? They should have stuck with the book version and made the three shift more to werewolves during this part.

Edward being able to communicate (or at least hear) the baby inside Bella was one of the key moments in the book (and in the movie). This was where Edward did a turnaround in his attitude towards the baby (he used to call it “it”) because the baby convinced him of her love for her mother. The scene in the movie was really good and the acting was just right for the scene.

Okay, in the movie, Jacob only saw Edward and Bella laughing after Edward ‘heard’ the baby. It would have been better if Jacob was on the scene (like in the book) where he could have shown how he despises the ‘little monster’ and how he felt Edward sort of became a traitor to their common goal (and that is to get rid of the baby before the baby harms Bella).

I really don’t like movies that deviated too far from what was written in the book. I mean they were banking on the book’s popularity to lure the viewers to the movie, just to drop the ball and show the book readers that, hey, this is not like the book at all. With Twilight, there were some deviations and some deleted scenes (which I expected) but a lot (surprisingly!) stayed faithful to what was written in the book. These were scenes like when Jacob became angry because Bella informed him that she and Edward will have a ‘normal’ honeymoon, the part where the werewolves found out that Bella’s pregnant and their subsequent meeting, the part when Jacob broke away from Sam and the rest of the werewolves and the birth scene. Yes, I know a lot of people were grossed out with that bloody birth scene, but hey, even in real life, births can be messy you know. What makes a half – vampire’s birth different?

which enhanced, rather than detracted from the over – all story. These were scenes that were only inferred to in the book like Bella’s conversation with her dad during the time she was pregnant, how they found out that Jacob imprinted on Renesmee and how they found out that the alpha werewolves (Jacob and Sam) can communicate with each other in werewolf form. These scenes added the right background for Part 2 of Breaking Dawn, the movie (and I’m not going to add a spoiler here so that’s that).

And this is my biggest beef against this movie. There were a lot of scenes they removed that I thought could have made the movie better. Like the part when Edward asked for Bella’s dad’s blessing. Instead of just having Jessica gossip about Bella’s pregnancy during the wedding, they could have driven the point more (that they only got married because Bella’s pregnant) with that scene with her father where he asked if she’s pregnant and she categorically said no. Like the part when Edward asked for Jacob’s permission to turn Bella into a vampire. This could have been a powerful scene where we will see how torn apart Jacob is between his duty as a werewolf and his desire to see Bella live (even as a vampire).

let me say this and let me say this fast – the fact that they focused more on the romance and less on the pregnancy and Jacob’s character. You see in the book, for the first time, part of the story was told from Jacob’s perspective. It added depth to the story and gave the readers an insight on what’s going on in the mind of Jacob. Yes, I know that the main draw of the movie is the romance and the love triangle part but hey, you have a wedding and a honeymoon. How romantic can you get? Sure, they added more focus on Jacob in this part but it’s not enough. Being able to hear Jacob’s thoughts in the movie would have been nice (as it was in the book); I hoped they could have done something like this. And about the pregnancy? All I can say is, that’s it?!?!?!?!

Okay, rant’s over. I mean, hub’s over. Over – all, I still like the book better than the movie. After leaving the theater, I had to ask myself – what will they show in Twilight – Breaking Dawn Part 2? No spoilers but let me just say, there’s not a lot of romance scenes there, so how will they draw the viewers in? Let’s wait and see. Until then, thank you for reading my hub.