Being a Twi-hard is an absolute commitment to Twilight, so this film would have had to have done something terrible to deter fans from their fascination with the 3-year running franchise.  It’s portrayal of Stephenie Meyer’s novel is so close to the written story, that if you’ve read the book and enjoyed it, you’re not going to leave the cinema disappointed.

Before I start, let me just clarify I am not a Twilight hater by any means. I’ve seen all the films, I’ve read all the books, I even went to see this at the first midnight showing, however, this film just doesn’t seem to reach the quality standard of its predecessors in the saga. The only one I can blame is new director Bill Condon, who seems to be internally mocking the story in which he’s creating by having silly montages, over-acting and dragged-out scenes.

The vampires are as beautiful as ever and the werewolves are as rugged in the fourth instalment, which opens by following Edward Cullen’s assertive ‘Marry me, Bella’ in the third movie, Eclipse, as we see family and friends of the couple reacting in different ways to their wedding invitations. Bella’s mother is happy, Bella’s father (Billy Burke) is nervous and they waste no time in allowing wolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) to rip his shirt off whilst running into the pouring rain, “metaphoring” his anguish over the marriage of his love and the enemy, a bloodsucker. The ceremony quickly ensues, with the rest of the story focussing on post-marital bliss and stresses, between an 18 year old woman and her immortal husband, including a pregnancy and birth that will put you off having a child for life.

If you’re not a Twilight lover by now, this chapter is very unlikely to change your mind, as it doesn’t really differ in style to the previous 3. But throughout, there seem to be many plot-points touched upon but not explored,  leaving the audience members who have not read the novel somewhat in the dark. Screen writer Melissa Rosenberg appears to just assume that all the viewers have read the book, and therefore don’t need the details explained to them every now and then.

The only flaw that Twilight- fans may really have a problem with in this movie is the lack of presence for the ominous Volturi coven, who play a central role in the final novel but seem to make little appearance in the film (unless you stick around until after all the credits have rolled). Their dangerous undertones and way of living, unlike the Cullen’s, the Volturi enjoy an innocent human snack every now and again, really added to the tension in Eclipse, something that Breaking Dawn just does not match. The attention is most certainly on the Cullen’s throughout as there is not much werewolf development in this movie either, apart from a laughable scene where the CGI wolves are using their telepathy to communicate but unfortunately their growly, raspy voices sound more like Transformers than wolves.

As much as it does remain faithful to the book, it’s questionable whether this novel should ever have been made into a movie or if it’s just one of those stories that should remain written and not made visual. As a lot of the scenes leave the audience feeling physically sick rather than sickly romantic, which the other “Twilight’s” leave you feeling. The fantasy-fiction does seem to go beyond the point of far-fetched in Breaking Dawn and there’s no doubt that it takes away the seriousness that Meyer obviously intended with the Edward-Bella-Jacob love triangle. It seems to be making a joke out of itself in places, which ultimately is a shame, because if it was taken seriously it could have been a dark and interesting love story, but instead we’re left with an absurd sci-fi/fantasy mix-up.