- 7
...the best of the movies...
—Manohla Dargis New York Times
- 7
Calling a movie the best Twilight film to date isn't exactly high praise, and at this point, it isn't likely that newcomers to the series are going to be drawn to theaters. However, should a loved one drag you to the latest adventures of Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and gang, don't panic: There's more to like than you might expect.
—Luke Y. Thompson E!
- 7
It is in many respects the best installment of the franchise as its stars go from sullen kids to sullen young adults, where their expressions look more natural.
—Scott Bowles USA Today
- 6
...there's precious little in Breaking Dawn ? Part 1 that will truly disappoint the initiated ? or attract anyone who doesn't already care.
—Alyssa Wheat People
- 6
...a voluptuous if often inert spectacle that splits the difference between high camp and decadent romance.
—Andrew O'Hehir Salon
- 6
...absorbing, if somewhat slow-paced, and has without doubt the most blood-curdling scene of live childbirth in a PG-13 movie.
—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
- 6
Breaking Dawn is best regarded as the purest-grade example of what the series has always at its heart been: a cracked-out paranormal soap opera. Bring on vampire Bella!
—Allison Willmore Onion AV Club
- 5
For those keeping score, Breaking Dawn is missing the interesting indie edge that director Catherine Hardwicke brought to the first film. It does not flat line as badly as the second, New Moon, which would have died without the werewolves' bite. It loses the brief emotional uptick of No. 3, Eclipse, which saw the cast blossom into actual actors. So in the Twilight pantheon, Breaking Dawn Part 1 is at best a draw.
—Betsy Sharkey Los Angeles Times
- 5
...mawkish and intermittently gory...
—Sara Stewart New York Post
- 4
Drawn from Stephenie Meyer's polarizing, weirdly compelling fourth novel, the film is rich in surface pleasures but lacks any palpable sense of darkness or danger...
—Justin Chang Variety
- 4
Even fans may be let down by the newest Twilight installment.
—Peter Rainer Christian Science Monitor
- 4
Of the Twilight pictures to date, this one works least well as a stand-alone product.
—Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune
- 4
Yes, I know, Twilight fans love The Twilight Saga. But they (you?) deserve something better to love.
—Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly
- 3
...a hopelessly god-awful penultimate installment of the five-film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's heavy-and-dumb-as-a-brick quadrilogy.
—R. Kurt Osenlund Slant Magazine
- 3
Start hating me now, Twihards, but the sexless, bloodless, padded and plodding Breaking Dawn, Part 1 is the worst Twilight movie to date.
—Peter Travers Rolling Stone
- 3
...so dirgelike is the pacing, so banal is the dutiful script on a scene-by-scene, moment-to-moment basis. It truly feels that 40 minutes or so, not two hours, would have been plenty to convey all that's necessary in the material covered.
—Todd McCarthy Hollywood Reporter
- 2
...awful...
—Bill Gibron filmcritic.com
- 2
Breaking Dawn is both overlong and understuffed. I lived a thousand lifetimes watching it, and died a thousand deaths.
—Dan Kois Village Voice
- 2
...a sh*t show...
—Dan Kois LA Weekly