To The Movies: Breaking Dawn Part 1

When a storyline from a book is turned into a movie, the movie becomes its own text. The basic storyline may be the same, but when changes are made in order to fit the movie within a time limit or to highlight an element or theme that the people involved in the movie feels is important—they make the story their own. I will focus these features on movies made based on books I have read—I want to look beyond whether I think the movie is better or worse than the book. I want to appreciate and review the movie as a companion to the book.
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Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Drama, Adventure
Actors: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner
Director: Bill Condon
Scriptwriter: Melissa Rosenberg
Date Released: November 18, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Movie Info: IMDB | Website
Rating: 2 Stars
Purchased ticket.

In A Nutshell:
There is action.  There is romance.  And there are answers to the biggest question I had--how exactly did Edward break the headboard on the honeymoon.  But overall, I felt the movie was lacking in something.  I was not drawn into the story nearly as much as in previous movies.

Review:
I cannot define what exactly was missing, but something was.  Maybe part of the trouble for me was that this part of the story was not the part of the book I liked the most--I personally preferred the book after Bella's transformation so I expect I will like Breaking Dawn Part 2 better.

The wedding scene was beautiful and as over the top as I expected after reading the books.  Alice missed her calling as a wedding planner.  The wedding toasts seemed so cheesy and obnoxious--I just kept thinking would people really say that.  And would Alice have just sit by and let it continue?  I just felt awkward while watching it.  

Breaking Dawn Part 1 is not an easy movie to watch--the changes in Bella's body as the baby grows are startling and a little mortifying--and I gagged a little when Bella started drinking the human blood and said that it tasted good.  The blood on her dried cracked lips--ick!  


I also think that people who have not read the books and have only been watching the movies will have lost a lot because the backstory on the immortal children is not really discussed in the movie.  What they are?  How they were created?  Why they were banned?  How Bella and Edward's daughter is different from them?  I think understanding that will be important to understanding Breaking Dawn Part 2 and the justification for the battle at the end. 


The scene that really struck me though was when Jacob imprinted on the baby.  The look, the pictures that flooded his mind through her eyes, that really stuck with me. 


And then the red eyes that open just before the credits start--I loved those eyes.  But I was also a little heartbroken because it was just getting to the part of the book I really enjoyed and now I know I have to wait to see it. 


Have you seen the movie?  What did you think?

The Book Addict Reviews: Brightwing by Sullivan Lee

Genre: Fiction, Romance, Adventure & Thrillers
Order Online: Amazon.com
Author Info:  Website | Goodreads
Rating: 3 stars
Book provided by author for an honest review.

In A Nutshell:

This book took me by surprise.  It took me through a lot of emotions as the action progressed.  I cannot say that the characters were not likeable, but they are intriguing.  While reading this book, I started to see myself in an unexpected ethical dilemma.  Do I want to see the criminals get out of this situation to live their life of love and isolation or do I want the police to find them and punish them?    

Review:

The Product Description calls Brightwing “A Criminal Love Story.”  I do not think this book could be described in any other more accurate terms.  Edgar Battle is a convicted thief, Mallory Battle is a psychopathic murder, and Lucy Brightwing just pulled off a heist worth millions.  When they end up together it is a recipe for disaster.  At least that was my expectation, but Sullivan Lee delivered a story that I could not stop reading, but also a story that was not easy to read.

The characters are complicated; it is hard to label anyone as either good or bad.  Edgar Battle is smart and dedicated.  Even after his brother has messed up every good plan Edgar has put together, he cannot go back on the promise he made their mother to always protect his brother.  But Edgar is a thief who worked for organized criminal elements in New York.  Lucy Brightwing is dedicated to preserving a cultural history that only she can lay claim to.  However, she has no qualms about breaking the law to secure the funding she needs to reach her goals.  She also has no qualms about calling in favors, particularly when those favors come from agreements made by her tribe over a century ago.  I found that I did not like what the characters did, but their actions and their motivations intrigued me.  I found that part of me was rooting for Edgar and Lucy.  I felt they brought out more of the good in each other.  They were better together than they had been apart. 

The character I could never get behind, could never support was Mallory Battle.  Mallory has a pathological impulse control problem.  He cannot stop himself from lashing out, brutalizing, and killing anyone who is around him who catches his interest.  Every step of the way, Mallory seemed to make the problems worse.  There were many times when I wanted to throw the book because I was so frustrated with Mallory.  They would have a plan, an easy way to escape their situation, until Mallory pulled out his gun and started shooting people.  Now rather than a quick escape, they have more notoriety, more deaths attributed to them, and more people wanting to stop them.  It felt like Mallory literally could not control himself.  He had no capacity to think through his decision.  He had an idea—he moved on the idea.  No thinking.  However, I admit that my frustration with Mallory was a sign of how much I cared about the story.  I did not want to see Mallory screw things up for Edgar and Lucy.

One pleasant surprise for me was how well Sullivan Lee wove in the legends and stories of Lucy’s tribe.  As a child, I love to read the legends passed down by the Native American communities that lived in my area.  I loved to hear why the snakes had no legs or dogs could no longer speak in human languages.  I had not expected legends to be part of this story but was so delighted when I saw that.  I was more delighted when I saw that the legends that Lucy shared with Edgar became part of their story—how they communicated with each other. 

Recommendations:
Until Sullivan Lee releases more books, I am going to continue to follow her blog and read more of her books under the name Laura L. Sullivan. 


Sullivan Lee will be my guest blogger on Saturday.  Come back and read a little bit more information about Lucy Brightwing.

The Book Addict Reviews: Hollowland by Amanda Hocking

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Zombies, Adventure & Thrillers
Order Online: Amazon.com
Author Info: Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Rating: 4 stars
Bought this book after a friend told me about it.

In A Nutshell:
I loved this book, which surprised me because I do not usually like zombie books.  However, it ranks as one of the best zombie books I have ever read.  From the moment I started it, I couldn’t put it down.  I read it voraciously.  At the end, I wanted to go back and read it again, this time to savor it. 

Review:
Zombies have overtaken the United States.  The government cannot stop them.  Instead, the government has set up quarantines in the hopes that the remaining uninfected people will be able to outlive the zombies.  When the zombies all die out then the people can retake the country. 

Remy and her brother, Max, are separated when group of zombies organizes and overtakes the quarantine where they are waiting out the zombie epidemic.  Remy has sworn to take care of her brother, so she sets out to find him.  Along the way, Remy is joined by more people who are also trying to avoid being inflected by the zombies.  Together, the group escapes an over-zealous cult leader, violent marauders, and lots and lots of zombies. 

Amanda Hocking did a wonderful job of creating a story that sucks the reader in.  It has something for everyone: action, romance, humor, family, and friends.  The characters are intriguing and likeable.  I was rooting for Remy to find her brother, for Lazlo to have the courage to tell Remy how he feels, for Blue to find a place where he can help people, for the zombies to die out so everyone can be safe and happy again.

I cannot wait to for the next book to come out, so I can see what happens next. 

Recommendations:
I am waiting in anticipation for the next installment of this series.  It is scheduled to come out this year, and I cannot wait.  However, in the meantime I want to read some of Amanda Hocking's other series that are currently available.