Latest 'Twilight' flick is twisted but well-made

As vampire-human weddings go, Bella's is a success.
First off, none of the guests is eaten, so that's a plus.
Sure, there's some tension between the werewolves and the bloodsuckers, but what wedding doesn't have that?

Like most brides-to-be, Bella has some jitters. The night before the big event, she has a nightmare about mutilated corpses piled before the altar. Par for the course.

Well, par for the course for a "Twilight" movie. The whole vampire thing has been around so long now this stuff is starting to seem normal.

There are a few reasons "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1" is probably the best of the "Twilight" films. First off, something happens, and that helps.

The first two films in the series moved like sludge, just like the source material. The last, "Eclipse," picked up the pace. This one does as well. It's not just a lot of mooning and swooning about with vamps and dog-people and unrequited love.

Love gets requited this time. And then things get pretty grimly unquiet.
Another reason "Part 1" works is that prestige director Bill Condon ("Dreamgirls," "Kinsey," "Gods and Monsters") has been brought in to finish off the series. Condon isn't a horror guy, or a 'tween guy, or even a romance guy.

He's a movie guy, and he streamlines and sanitizes the first half of Stephanie Meyer's final vamp novel to good effect. This film may be the most gruesome of the series, but it could have been a lot worse.

We start off with the wedding of Bella (Kristen Stewart) to Edward (Robert Pattinson) and it's to Condon's great credit that he doesn't drag this flowery occasion on too long.

There's a big cake, some new vampire cousins get introduced (see you next movie), and Bella's teen friends get to cameo (you can almost see the relief on "Up in the Air" Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick's face as she near fulfills her contract in a minor role).

Then it's off to a romantic honeymoon. On a private island off the coast of Rio, of course. Vampires spare no expense.

It is here that the deed alluded to, worried over, whispered about and teased at for three movies (that have earned more than $1.5 billion) is finally done, albeit with much breaking of furniture.

And even though there are approximately 500 gazillion copies of "Breaking Dawn" in print, that is where this plot summary must conclude. Suffice to say that Bella pays a price for daring to engage in carnal pleasure. Remember that, 'tweensters: Romance good, sex bad.

That somewhat twisted perspective made "Breaking Dawn" the most controversial of the "Twilight" books. It's a bit hard and somewhat scary to try to figure out what Meyer was trying to say with all this. And the pointedly creepy turn here may keep "Breaking Dawn" from breaking quite as big commercially.

It must be stated that all of this is a lot incongruous nonsense. What happens to the clothes werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) keeps bursting out of, and how does he find new clothes so easily? How come there are all these super-strong vampire-werewolf rumbles but nobody ever gets hurt? And don't vampires ever change hairstyles?

None of that matters. It's a "Twilight" movie. Romance, blood, battles and demons obviously trump common sense any day. Fans, enjoy. Newbies, beware.