Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 is a camp classic. Oh, the film’s a complete disaster, but blissfully so. A vampire that makes such passionate love he causes pillows to explode on contact? Check. A growing fetus that breaks its mother’s back from within the womb? Check. Vampire giving his pregnant wife a C-section with his teeth? Check. Passionate wolfboy falling in love with a newborn, psychic baby? You bet your ass that’s a big fucking “Check.”
Had they been in any other film, moments like the ones above would easily be the worst part of that film. But it all adds to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -Part 1’s aloof charm. This is brought on in no small part by Baby Renesmee – the fruit of Edward’s loins spawned out of Bella’s decrepit, hateful, sandpaper womb. EW provides us with our first look at Renesmee as a young girl in the upcoming final chapter. And lest you think Renesmee’s tweener stature indicates some sort of time jump from the previous film, my friend, you just don’t know Stephenie Meyer:
She rapidly grows both mentally and physically, is able to speak only seven days after her birth, and by the end of the novel can read, run, hunt, and perform other tasks at advanced levels for her young age. Her intelligence stuns everyone, and she is able to understand what is happening around her when the Volturi arrive.
I intimated in my Breaking Dawn review that CG Renesmee was probably the last film’s finest performance. I know nothing of 11-year-old Mackenzie Foy, but she has some mighty prestigious CG-psychic baby shoes to fill. Here’s hoping she’s up to the task.