The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

That’s it?

We’ve been through a lot with Bella, Edward and Jacob. We deserve a big, emotional finale. “Breaking Dawn Part 2” isn’t it.

The un-epic conclusion to “The Twilight Saga” sucks the last life out of the series, and it’s not pretty. Romance has been replaced with sloppy exposition and meaningless showdowns.

When the good vampires and bad vampires finally go head to head, it’s hard to care about the outcome.

It’s a shame, because this had the potential to be the best “Twilight” movie yet.

Returning director Bill Condon injected life into the franchise with the first part of “Breaking Dawn” last year.

The honeymooning Cullens actually felt like a couple, Jacob’s role was fleshed out and gorgeous visuals propelled the action. It was a pretty good Hollywood blockbuster and a great “Twilight” movie.

“Part 2” opens with promising changes: Bella is now a vampire, she and Edward are newlywed parents and Jacob has imprinted on their daughter.

Nothing comes of it. The movie breezes through the emotional conflicts without much fanfare.

Bella takes to her new abilities with ease. Edward and Bella share maybe five minutes of screentime with their daughter. Jacob just glares at anyone who comes too close to his imprintee.

Bella and Edward’s sex gets better, but that’s the only difference becoming a vampire makes to their relationship. There’s no hint that maybe the change has affected her interiority or her feelings for Edward.

Kristen Stewart gets to do a little more as Bella, but her character is still locked in a passive role.

Instead, the movie focuses on a contrived conflict with the ambiguously evil Volturi order of vampires who feel threatened by Edward and Bella’s baby, Renesme.

It’s a good excuse for an army of super-powered vampires to come together, but it doesn’t make for interesting storytelling. Things ascend into high camp for the final battle, which must set a record for decapitations and dismemberments in a PG-13 movie.

“Twilight” movies have never been technical knockouts, but here the shortcomings get distracting.

For the first 30 minutes or so, Renesme is a CGI baby from the depths of the uncanny valley. Voice-over narration pops in and out during the middle third of the film. The vampires’ special abilities look out of place in the “Twilight” universe.

Twihards might read into what little characterization the movie offers, but “Breaking Dawn Part 2” mostly feels like a franchise on autopilot toward an easy conclusion.

By Patrick Beane