The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 closes the series with a birth, a false accusation and a family that will not be split. Bill Condon directs the fifth and final installment. Melissa Rosenberg wrote the script from the 2008 novel. It runs 115 minutes. Summit Entertainment released it in the United States on November 16, 2012, after a premiere at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on November 12.
Trailer, via The Twilight Saga.
Bella Wakes Up a Vampire
Bella, played by Kristen Stewart, has just given birth and wakes from her human-to-vampire transformation. Edward, played by Robert Pattinson, helps her tame her first thirst for blood. Then he introduces her to their daughter, Renesmee.
The Cullens stay close, and so does Jacob, played by Taylor Lautner.
When Jacob acts possessively toward the baby, Bella learns he has “imprinted” on her — a werewolf bond that makes the two soul-mates.
Charlie Meets Renesmee
Bella’s father, Charlie, played by Billy Burke, keeps calling the Cullens for news about his daughter. Carlisle, the Cullen patriarch and a medical doctor, says the family has to leave Forks, Washington, to protect their identities.
Jacob, desperate not to lose Renesmee, goes to Charlie instead. He tells him Bella is alive, describes her change in vague terms, and shows Charlie his wolf form so the questions stop. Charlie visits the Cullen house, sees Bella and meets Renesmee. He accepts that she is “adopted” and does not learn what actually changed.
Irina’s Mistake
Months pass. Carlisle monitors Renesmee’s rapid growth. Then the vampire Irina spots the child in the forest and assumes she is an “immortal child” — a vampire turned in childhood who cannot be trained and kills humans without control.
The Volturi outlawed such children, and anyone caught with one is executed on the spot. Irina reports the supposed crime. Alice, who sees glimpses of the future, has a vision of the Volturi and Irina.
The Standoff in the Snow
That false allegation drives the last act. The Cullens gather other vampire clans, the werewolves and their allies to stand in front of the Volturi and prove Renesmee is not what Irina claims. The film never shows the Volturi executing anyone over the claim.
The cast is deep and mostly familiar: Peter Facinelli as Carlisle, Elizabeth Reaser as Esme, Ashley Greene as Alice, Jackson Rathbone as Jasper, Kellan Lutz as Emmett, Nikki Reed as Rosalie, Dakota Fanning as Jane and Jamie Campbell Bower as Caius.
A Credits Montage Built on Nostalgia
The end credits run a montage of archival cameos from earlier films. Among the faces returning are Gil Birmingham, Sarah Clarke, Michael Welch, Anna Kendrick, Christian Serratos and Justin Chon, along with Cam Gigandet, Edi Gathegi, Rachelle Lefevre, Kiowa Gordon, Tyson Houseman and Alex Meraz.
Also in the montage: Bronson Pelletier, Graham Greene, Tinsel Korey, Alex Rice, Xavier Samuel, Jodelle Ferland, Bryce Dallas Howard and Carolina Virguez. The sequence plays over a duet version of Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years,” with Steve Kazee adding vocals. It is the film’s cleanest idea: a series saying goodbye to its own faces.
What the Ending Actually Costs
The Volturi confrontation is the part that decides the film, and it is where the movie is least willing to commit. The tagline promises “the epic finale that will live forever.” What the film delivers is a standoff and a lot of standing in a snowy field.
Condon keeps it moving at 115 minutes, and Rosenberg has a lot of book to fold in. The Charlie scene is the best of it — a father accepting a daughter he cannot explain. The imprinting thread is the worst of it, a plot device the film states rather than earns.
The Numbers
- Runtime: 115 minutes
- Release date: November 16, 2012 (US)
- Premiere: November 12, 2012, Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles
- Box office: $868 million
- Metacritic: 52/100
- Golden Raspberry Awards: 11 nominations, 7 wins, including Worst Picture
How the Saga Ends
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| June 10, 2010 | Summit announces two-part adaptation |
| November 1, 2010 | Principal photography begins |
| April 22, 2011 | Photography wraps |
| November 12, 2012 | Los Angeles premiere |
| November 16, 2012 | US theatrical release |
The film grossed $868 million, the highest of the series and the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2012. It also took eleven Golden Raspberry nominations and won seven, including Worst Picture. Both facts belong to the same movie.
That split is the honest read on Breaking Dawn – Part 2. It is a commercial machine that critics rejected and audiences finished. The story ends where it has to, with Bella a vampire and a mother. It just does not find much new to say on the way there. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 is a serviceable finale, not a great film, and 52/100 on Metacritic is about right.
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