Lights. Camera. Action. The movie starts. Acting? Check. Special effects? Check. Fun? Check.  Everything is much better than I had expected.

A group of teenagers sit chattering in the corner of the theater. As I wish for them to be quiet to allow me to pay attention to the movie, I ask myself: “Why am I watching this, and why am I so absorbed in the movie?”

As I watched The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, I had to constantly remind myself that this movie was supposed to be bad. The effects were supposed to be awful and the acting was supposed to be pitiful. At least that was how the previous movies were.

But to be honest, I enjoyed Breaking Dawn Part 1. Sure, the acting isn’t perfect, and neither are the special effects, but they were by far better than I had expected.

What made this movie memorable was the storyline. Having read all the Twilight books in middle school, I already knew the plot, and the movie stayed true to Stephanie Meyer’s original version of the story from the books. So it wasn’t the surprise factor of the storyline that made the movie for me.

I must applaud Bill Condon for directing the captivating Breaking Dawn Part 1, which was notably better than the previous three movies directed by Hardwicke, Weitz and Slade, respectively.  In the other movies, I chuckled every time Jacob transformed into a werewolf as I wondered who would ever believe the unrealistic shape-shifting effect. I laughed when Edward sparkled, and I kept thinking about how silly the actors must have felt when they saw themselves saying those lines on screen, all of which distracted me from paying attention to the movie.

This one, however, is not distracting. Although the voiceovers for the wolf scene are silly, I found myself absorbed in the movie without wondering about the ridiculousness of the scenarios for most of the hour and 48 minutes. I liked Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart’s acting, both of which stay true to the characters. The movie reminds me of the books, and the jokes remind me of the story I haven’t read or thought about for so long. Breaking Dawn Part 1 is funny, cute and entertaining. It made me laugh and smile.

I left the theater happy and I don’t consider those two hours to have been a waste of my time. I enjoyed The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 more than I would like to admit, and I hope you do too.