By Dagney Palmer and Lili Samios

Twilight is both loved and despised by teens today. The last book in the saga, Breaking Dawn, was broken into two parts because producers just couldn’t fit all that craziness into one movie.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part I, directed by Bill Condon, was adapted from the fourth novel in Stephanie Meyer’s saga. The special effects and computer animation brought the story to life, and the acting was much better than in the previous movies. Robert Pattinson, playing vampire hottie Edward Cullen, proved he possessed real acting talent underneath that vampire façade. Kristen Stewart, on the other hand, has a talent for acting dead, but not much else. A positive aspect of the movie is it precisely followed the storyline of the novel it was based on, something that doesn’t happen very often. Finally, the dreaded honeymoon scene in the middle of the movie was tastefully done, well within the bounds of the film’s PG-13 rating. The first part of the movie ends with a cliffhanger and leaves viewers rather excited to see how the whole thing ends.
There were a few unpleasant parts of the movie, though, like the last 20 minutes. They were unexpectedly bloody and disturbing and, though viewers don’t actually see a lot of what’s going on, the sound effects leave some nice mental images and possibly nausea. And then, of course, the other negative aspect: it’s a Twilight movie. They’re all, to put it lightly, plot-less, theme-less, message-less hunks of teen angst that have somehow captured the hearts of “tween” girls everywhere.
Overall, for a Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn: Part 1 was pleasantly mediocre. (Plus, what girl doesn’t secretly love Edward just a little?)