so I heard about this little vampire movie…

I enjoyed the penultimate Twilight movie. “Breaking Dawn, Part 1” was well done, with more laughs than I expected and a nice maturing of the series and the actors.

SPOILERS BELOW

As I’ve said here before, I haven’t read the books, so I can’t speak to how well the movies follow along. However, I do rely on my daughter for that info. She was perplexed as to how this movie could be made with anything less than an R rating. They did it, but just barely.

My bottom line on this one: It was a lot of fun. It is not for the littles. While not an R-rated film, this one is more in the neighborhood of a PG-15. I don’t think 13-year-old kids are ready for this content. Moms, by all means, enjoy.

My hail of bullets:

• I hope Bella’s stunning, modest, elegant wedding dress sets a new trend. Wow, oh wow, it was glorious.
• Kristen Stewart really came into her own with this movie. She had a nuanced performance that I didn’t expect. Robert Pattinson also rose to new heights here, in my opinion. Taylor Lautner (forever known as Shark Boy at my house) took his shirt off approximately 3.2 seconds into the movie, making me laugh out loud. Unlike the last installment, however, I didn’t hear any open weeping once the abs appeared on screen.
• Parent, ESPECIALLY parents who haven’t read the books, you need to know that this is a darker story than in movies past. And my praise for Stephanie Meyer’s “abstinence until marriage” insistence continues. Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving young people something that shows this is not only possible, but honoring for both people. However, they get married in this one and thus, the pay off comes for the angsty couple. The honeymoon scene shows no overt nudity, but this is no “kiss and cut to black” scene. It is prolonged and way over the top for kids. Don’t expect vampire honeymoon sex to be anything less than torrid (in a PG-15 sort of way).
• The CGI wolves still make me think, “Oh! CGI wolves!” There were a few cuts in this movie that pulled me away from a compelling moment with the happy couple into CGI-ville, breaking the lovely stride Stewart and Pattinson shared here. Ack. How can you do that aspect of the story without CGI? I guess it’s the best answer.
• Stay through the credits! This is important. Do it!!
• There is a real goodness to this series. I am looking forward to the final chapter. Love, family, commitment, chivalry – all have prominent places here. That’s something we can all celebrate.