Where Every Twilight Sequel Went Wrong

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While none of the Twilight movies were critical darlings, the reception of the series still soured as the sequels wore on—and there were valid reasons for each failure's underperformance. The Twilight movies were loved by ardent followers of author Stephenie Meyers’ bestselling paranormal romance saga. However, despite their success at the box office, the Twilight franchise never managed to win over reviewers who largely found the tween phenomenon to be laughably dour and self-serious, not to mention deeply problematic in its themes and depictions of romance.

Director Catherine Hardwicke’s adaptation of the first novel in the saga stuck close to the source material despite Twilight’s earliest original script draft contradicting a lot of Meyers’ characterizations. This resulted in many critics calling Twilight a gloomy, moody outing that would mostly appeal only to fans of the books. However, 2009’s New Moon soon proved that the franchise could be even more insular, with unimpressed critics saying that even those familiar with the books would fail to find much worth praising in the saga’s sophomore effort.

Related: Why Twilight Only Has One Female Shapeshifter

However, the critical fortunes of the Twilight saga improved somewhat with the release of 2010’s Eclipse. The more action-forward sequel was seen as a step up from New Moon, although director David Slade’s movie had issues of its own behind the scenes. Finally, the two-part Breaking Dawn provided an underwhelming ending to the series, with most critics relieved to be rid of the franchise by the time Breaking Dawn Part II’s infamous fake-out ending concluded. While the original Twilight wasn’t critically beloved, in retrospect, the original movie was among the saga’s