It's a marathon but not as we know it... The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn Part 2

Yesterday I spent twelve hours in the cinema, watching a total of five films.

If you have read this blog before you will know I am a Twilight fan and as the last film comes out me and my friend decided a while ago to do the marathon and watch all five films.

It started at 2.50pm , Thursday, and ended at 2.10am, Friday.

In between all the films there were interviews with fans and cast members and music videos.

I forgot how good the films are. Also watching them back to back I realised how much Robert Pattinson has aged where Kristen Stewart practically looks the same.

My favourite film is still Eclipse, in it you have action, the love triangle at its worst and Edward proposing what more could you want.

Then at midnight we were welcomed by Breaking Dawn Part Two, and...it was actually pretty good.

I really didn't like the Breaking Dawn book, especially the ending. However, Part one of the film was really good so I had high hopes for part 2 and I wasn't disappointed.

The shortest of the five films it was great to see Bella strong and kicking some butt, in particular Emmett.

It was interesting to get other vampires involved.

Many fans will know that the ending has been changed, and it is a lot better. Stephanie Meyer wrote it so I really don't know why she couldn't have done that ending in the book in the first place.

With the ending I have never heard an audience reaction so loud and surprised than the one I heard in the cinema last night. The audience clapped, cheered, gasped and laughed over the last fifteen minutes which was just amazing.

The atmosphere in the cinema was brilliant, a load of Twihards looking forward to seeing the final instalment. It felt more like an event then just a cinema outing making it all the more special.

The cast were great Mackenzie Foy spookily looks like she could be Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart's child. Robert Pattinson has the right amount of brooding to make Edward just as irresistible and Kristen makes an easy transition to vampire.

Imprinting in the film has been kind of glazed over a bit so Jacob imprinting on Renesmee is more like a older caring friend then creepy relative. But Taylor Launter does a great job again of Jacob.

I think my favourite character throughout the films has to be Charlie, Bella's dad played by Billy Burke, great comic timing and just fantastic.

If you are a Twilight fan you will love the film, it delivers on all accounts and with director Bill Condon again who did Part one (and also Dream Girls) it is a great end to the franchise.

The only question left on your lips will be how many times to go see it.

Film reviews - Snow White and the Huntsman; Prometheus; Crazy, Stupid, Love

In the last week I have watched three very different films but each in their own way equally brilliant.

Over the Diamond Jubilee I saw Snow White and Huntsman starring Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart and Liam Hemsworth.

Based on the Brother's Grimm fairytale it tells the tale of Snow White, kept as a prisoner after her father the King is killed by his beautiful new bride Ravenna (Theron). She desperately wants to be the fairest of them all, however, when Snow White comes of age it becomes apparent that not only is she the fairest of them all but will be the undoing on the Queen.

To survive the Queen needs Snow White's heart, so she hires the Huntsman to do so but instead he trains her ready for battle to reclaim her throne.

Stewart does a fantastic English accent, but with an English boyfriend I'm not surprised, however, even though she is the title character she doesn't really steal the scenes. I would say the three characters are of equal footing but for me Theron does steal the show as the man-hating slightly mental Queen Ravenna.

It is a great adventure tale and you will find it hard not trying to name the famous faces playing the eight, yes eight, dwarves.
Visually breathtaking and a true fairy tale adventure, without the happy ending, well it ends happily but Snow White does not ride off in the distance with a Prince, which I thought was great. A great strong woman film.

Next on the list and again starring Charlize Theron was Prometheus, the prequel to the Alien films by Ridley Scott.

We watched it in 3D and I think I was expecting a lot from this film and I'm not totally sure it delivered.

 

Set in the future it tells the story of a crew looking for the start of the human race in another universe. IMDB plot line describes it quite well 'A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.'

Visually with the 3D it does look amazing and you feel you are looking into a window of reality. The story on the whole is good but there are some obvious plot holes which leave you a little confused. It makes me wonder if Scott made a three hour film and was told to cut it down.

It is slightly jumpy but at a 15 doesn't pack the same punch as Alien and Aliens, both of which were 18 certificates. It has a stellar cast which I feel makes you want more from the film, an unrecognisable Guy Pearce, Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba, Theron, Michael Fassbender and other recognisable faces and Tom Hardy doppelganger Logan Marshall-Green.
If you like sci-fi you will like it and the ending does link with the Alien films but don't expect any big questions being answered as you may be disappointed.

The final film I caught was Crazy, Stupid, Love starring Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell and Emma Stone.
I suppose the best way to describe this film is as a rom-com but I watched it with my boyfriend and he seemed to enjoy it. I feel it is more a drama-com as it doesn't follow the usual boy meets girl, loses girl blah blah blah.

 

Basically the story is Emily (Julianne Moore) and Cal (Steve Carrell) are a married couple, until Emily informs him she has slept with a colleague and wants a divorce. With the help of new friend Jacob (Gosling) he re-discovers his manhood.

It is a greatly funny film with some twists and turns, one of which I didn't see coming but it is light hearted and really good. It does centre a lot on soul mates and your one true love with different story lines on the same theme, however, unlike say the film Valentines Day, there are only a few interlinking characters. Really good funny, easy to watch film.

Three great films my top pick would be Snow White and the Huntsman. I got The Help for my birthday so if I get the time I'll write a review of that having read the book last year.

The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn Part 1

I have said before I am a twi-hard and last night I went to the midnight screening of the latest instalment Breaking Dawn Part 1.

If you haven't seen the film or read the book then please do not read on as there will be spoilers.

You have been warned.

I will admit outright this is not my favourite book, I felt it was really long and bit boring. However, the film.... AMAZING! A little shocking, a little mental but overall director Bill Condon has done a really good job. Although I do think part 2 isn't going to be as good.

Anyway part 1...

The film starts with the wedding, honeymoon, then Bella pregnant and having the baby. It feels like two different films. The first part they are all happy, Edward even smiles! There are funny bits, the speeches at the wedding are just so funny. The honeymoon is a bit of a love in and for any twi-hard will make a smile creep across your face as Edward and Bella are finally Mr and Mrs Cullen and you would think will live happily ever after.

However, Bella gets pregnant with a 'demon child' and this is when the film starts to get a little darker. When Jacob goes to visit Bella to see if she is still human she looks almost grey and gaunt, like a completely different person. The make up and special effects in this part are just phenomenal Kristen Stewart looks completely different from her happy blushing bride at the beginning.

Anyone who has read the books will know that the birth scene is pretty brutal, the film is a 12A but even so it is still pretty bloody and shocking, you don't see a lot it's mainly from Bella's perspective fading in and out but I think you see enough.

Although I would be interested to see what someone who hasn't read the books would say as in the book Edward rips open Bella's stomach with his teeth and gets the baby out, you don't really see this just Edward disappear and then come up with blood over his face and the baby but I think because I know what happens in the book it feels worse.

There was a point as well that I thought Bella was actually going to die...just shows you how good the acting is.

The bit when she changes to a vamp is very good her body goes back to how it was instead of a skeleton frame and it goes through all the other three films, reminding you how young they looked in the first Twilight film. Also Kristen Stewart looks beautiful, like a sleeping beauty.

I think it is a shame in the films though that you don't get to see much of the Cullens, but the bits they are provide moments of laughter and apprehension.

When me and my friend came out we were a little shocked and dumbstruck, the second half just sticks with you and it is a little heavy but Bill Condon does portray it really well, it does make you wonder what the 15 rated version was like though.

One thing though when Jacob 'imprints' on Renesmee it is lame and cheesy but that is the only bit that is.

Overall, I think the film is fantastic and cannot wait to see it again. If you are a twi-hard you will not be disappointed, this film I think does live up to expectations.

On another note though I was driving to my boyfriend's house through a village and walking down the road was a husky! It scared the beegeesus out of me, when you have watched a film about werewolves you don't want to see a lone wolf like dog walking down the street.