For the record, it's English. I was born in Tilbury, Essex, made temporarily 
American citizen?"
How to begin a review of the final film of a series that divides audiences so severely? Those who found the saga nothing other than a tepid romance presented in the style of a teen soap will find nothing in Part Two to change their minds. Those who embraced every second of the idea that a 900 year old vampire could find the love of his life in the shape of a teenager – an idea that still sounds somewhat perverted no matter how romantically the whole thing is presented - will embrace it even further and hate the idea that it’s finally over.
So, let me start with this: If, after all this time, you’re new to the Twilight Saga, this is not the film for you. After an impressive opening credit sequence which couples widescreen landscape shots of
When Jacob mentions that he calls the daughter by the name Nessie, Bella’s rusty-red vampire eyes widen in anger. “Nessie?” she cries. “You’ve nicknamed our daughter after the
From what we’ve already seen of Bella’s new strength, despite the gentle nature of her past, becoming a full-time member of the undead has changed everything. First there’s the temper that needs to be controlled, then there’s the physical power that would presumably snap Jacob’s back in the fraction of a second, and finally there’s the matter of having all of her senses enhanced to an unbelievable level. “I was born to be a vampire,” she declares.
Tension mounts – at last – when Alice (Ashley Greene) is hit with the premonition that the Volturi, those really bad guy vampires of
There is a battle, and for a saga about vampires that possessed neither fangs nor blood, the meeting of the two sides is surprisingly brutal. When certain nasty characters were getting the fate they so richly deserved, audience members at the screening were cheering as each one went down. Finally, after all this time, the saga had bite and our bloodlust for watching these creatures of the night – who for some reason can also walk around during the day – was being sated. And then the rug is yanked from under our feet. The film pulls its punch. Those who have read the book should know of the abrupt twist that follows, but those like myself who have not read the books and have no intention of ever doing so, will feel cheated, underlined by the collective groan of disappointment echoed throughout the preview theatre.
The end credits give a picture salute to every actor who has appeared in the series from the beginning, which is fine and a nice way of reminding us who has come and gone over the last few years while sharing screen time with Bella and the love of her life, and death, but they also remind us that certain characters like Anna Kendrick’s Jessica and Gil Birmingham’s Billy were sadly absent in the final bow, and missed.
Part Two is probably the best of the series, but that’s not saying much considering that the film is already fading from memory. I’m all for horror based stories where the rules are changed somewhat to fit the contrivances of the plot, but vampires without fangs, the undead walking around in daylight – they don’t even bother to sparkle anymore – reflections in mirrors and windows, and worse of all, hardly an ounce of blood ever dropped, these Nosferatus just don’t cut it. Bill and Eric from HBO’s True Blood would have them all for lunch in no time.
