Twilight’s Final Vampire Battle Is Better Than Anything Marvel Has Ever Done

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This piece was initially released on October 25, 2021, during Vulture’s ‘Vampire Week’. If you’ve been curious about where Bella has been hiding, the solution as of May 1 is Netflix. That’s where you can now stream all five Twilight movies.

In what location were you back in 2012 when the movie “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” left you utterly surprised with its unprecedented cinematic trickery? Prior to this film, the series had maintained a relatively close adherence to Stephanie Meyer’s young adult fantasy book series. The movies were recognized for their love triangle involving attractive non-adolescents and an overarching feeling of teenage romantic longing, enhanced by a soundtrack that would appeal to mall goths and a signature blue camera filter. However, director Bill Condon decided to break the mold in 2012.

Initially, let’s establish the context (warning: spoilers for Breaking Dawn – Part 1 involving characters Edward Cullen and Bella Swan): In Breaking Dawn – Part 1, human Bella becomes pregnant by vampire Edward, then is transformed into a vampire to survive childbirth. Their unusual offspring, Renesmée, is half-human, half-vampire, and causing quite a stir. Two unfavorable incidents occur quickly: One, Taylor Lautner’s character develops feelings for her even before she was born. Two, the Volturi, vampire enforcers led by Michael Sheen, view Renesmée as an abomination and seek to end her life.

In a scene reminiscent of an intense anime battle, the Volturi arrive in town with the intention of killing Renesmee, who has rapidly aged to eight months. The Cullens gather a force to protect her, consisting of computer-generated werewolves, new vampires such as Lee Pace and Rami Malek, and Ashley Greene’s character Alice, who possesses foresight. This confrontation results in an extravagant, gory spectacle more imaginative and entertaining than any major battle the Marvel universe has staged.

When Alice attempts to show Michael Sheen a vision of his own destruction, the Volturi retaliate aggressively. Father figure Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) leaps into action, soaring through the air to meet Aro. Upon landing on the snowy ground, Carlisle is missing his head, causing everyone to gasp in shock. This pivotal moment is marked by Michael Sheen holding the decapitated head by its platinum locks as eerie music plays duurrrrr. However, it’s unexpected because Carlisle doesn’t perish in the original book. The scene erupts into pandemonium.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=5ZkdpWNtx58

In this intense battle sequence, vampires and werewolves collide violently, with bodies flying and werewolves biting frenetically. Filming this chaotic scene must have been quite awkward in front of a large green screen before 2012. The seven-minute fight is vast and bizarre, with bones cracking. A character from the series who’s a Confederate sympathizer (Jackson Rathbone) meets a gruesome end, losing his head. Enraged by this, Emmett (Kellan Lutz) lunges at Alec (Cameron Bright), pushes him into the snow playfully, and brutally tears his head off (#LegendsOnly). Dakota Fanning portrays the evil Volturi vampire Jane, using her ability to inflict psychological pain by standing intensely still and appearing as if she’s about to retch. Alice performs a highly realistic backflip. The CGI wolves are preoccupied with their own activities. Believe it or not, there are approximately 20 intertwined storylines unfolding simultaneously.Eventually, Edward breaks the neck of an evil vampire (happy!), but the werewolf Leah sacrifices herself by falling into the molten lava to save Esme Cullen (sad!). Oh yes, there’s now lava present.

In a separate With an unsettling resemblance to Taylor Swift on a treadmill advertisement, Alice makes a clumsy dash forward. She then leaps over Jane, seizes her by the neck, and delivers her to a salivating wolf.

Wrapping up the action, our protagonists Edward and Bella surprisingly behead Michael Sheen themselves. In an intense sequence, Edward whirls Bella around 360 degrees before she delivers a powerful kick to Michael Sheen’s face. This initiates a fast-paced scene filled with punching, pressure on arteries, and forceful mounting (you might wonder, is Bella going to jump from here?). The scene culminates in Edward snapping Aro’s spine and Bella ripping off his head. However, it is then revealed that this entire fight was merely Alice’s vision of the potential consequences had Aro chosen to execute the vampire child.

In a surprising turn of events, the “it was all a dream” plot twist has proven to be the most effective, with only a few exceptions like the Newhart finale. Instead of engaging in confrontation, everyone simply returns home. This ending serves as the ultimate reflection of the awkward charm that defined the Twilight Cinematic Universe (TCU). The narrative, ignited by Bella and Edward’s love, held immense significance yet carried a sense of insignificance at the same time. Just like many teenage romances, the risks seemed perilously high, but in reality, most events unfolded within one character’s imagination.

Beyond just stating it, the climactic scene in this Twilight franchise served as clear evidence that the vampires weren’t merely “sparkly” and docile; they were capable of being both sparkly and ruthless, ready to break necks. Despite the fact that the Twilight series faced considerable ridicule during its run – with reviews like this New York Times piece calling Edward lifeless (not in a good way), Rolling Stone’s review comparing Breaking Dawn Part 2 to the swine flu, and USA Today’s review claiming that humanity (excluding Twilight fans) would remain unaffected by the finale (but look at Twilight’s Twitter account!) – it managed to maintain a sense of humor by incorporating elements reminiscent of fan fiction into its climax. (Indeed, few film franchises can boast a behind-the-scenes legacy as unique as this one.)

The charm of cheesiness endures! The fan service was a success and continues to be so. Who needs muscular heroes in costumes subtly saving the world when you have passionate vampires tearing apart their evil counterparts to preserve their eternal right to love? This is what makes Twilight, as well as other vampire movies and series, timeless – they all capitalize on the audience’s fascination with impossible passion, a theme that keeps us engaged. Over the next week, you can find numerous celebrations of this on vulture dot com.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part Two is available to stream on Netflix.

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2025-05-01 19:54