Special-effects laden battle fails to lift film

THE concluding chapter of the outlandish fang-tasy series based on Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling books delivers a master class in constructing CGI mountains out of molehills. The Twilight Saga: Treading Water would be more apt, considering how scriptwriter Melissa Rosenberg manages to expand 30 minutes of plot into two hours of anticipation and dread. A climactic battle royale between the diabolical Volturi and the Cullens is certainly spectacular and director Bill Condon, who was also at the helm of Part 1, orchestrates this special effects-heavy mayhem with verve. Airborne vampires and snarling werewolves tumble acrobatically across the screen while locked in mortal combat. Were these brave warriors anything but otherworldly creatures, which miraculously don’t bleed when injured, the relentless on-screen carnage would merit a 15 certificate. Before all of the slavering jaws and severed limbs, the fifth instalment in the series doesn’t justify the decision by filmmakers to cleave Meyer’s final book in two a la Harry Potter. Substance is woefully lacking and there are only so many slow-motion smooches that can paper over the cracks before the most ardent fans start to look nervously at their watches. Part 2 begins with Bella (Stewart) re-awakening as a vampire and contentedly falling back into the arms of lover Edward (Pattinson). Soon after, best friend Jacob (Lautner) arrives and is taken aback by Bella’s rejuvenation. “I didn’t expect you to seem so... ’you’... except for the creepy eyes,” he grins. Jacob confesses to Bella that he has imprinted on their halfmortal, half-vampire offspring Renesmee (Foy). Once the young mother recovers from the shock and accepts Jacob as her daughter’s protector, Bella and Edward settle into domestic bliss with the rest of the Cullen clan: Dr Carlisle (Facinelli), Esme (Reaser), Alice (Greene), Rosalie (Reed), Emmett (Lutz) and Jasper (Rathbone). Alas, their joy is short-lived when Edward’s cousin Irina (Grace) mistakenly