Finally, an ending

Her days as a lovestruck schoolgirl long over, Bella Swan finally chose the Sparkly One over the Shirtless One in the previous “Twilight” movie, “Breaking Dawn – Part 1.” Marrying the vampire Edward Cullen was pretty much expected of her. The event went quite smoothly, but the couple had a hell of a honeymoon because of a rapid miracle pregnancy.

Bella had to be turned into a vampire, and is a new undead mother to a CGI-altered baby in the next and final chapter, “Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” the easiest installment of the series of movies to watch, thanks to a lesser focus on the cloying and unnecessarily prolonged romance angle.

While the prior parts only gave bits and pieces of the supernatural societies in the “Twilight” realm, “Breaking Dawn – Part 2” finally gives a bigger, surprisingly intriguing picture. A clearer view of that world’s vampire denizens reveals the variety of powers and personalities, making the mutant-like factions curiously appealing, perhaps for the first time.

As for the climactic action scenes being teased in its trailers, there are magnificently executed battles to be had. But there’s also a twist that may make one feel cheated immediately after. Still, the exciting, no-holds-barred fisticuffs and confrontations are the movie’s most satisfying parts, with super-vamps (a water bender among them!), a werewolf pack, and some undead elders making it an epic melee.

New additions to the cast include Lee Pace (“Pushing Daisies”), Noel Fisher (“Shameless”), and Rami Malek (“24”) among many others, prominently playing vampire allies to the Cullen clan. Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart do significantly less strained emoting here, thankfully. It’s easy to bid adieu to their characters, but at least this last part has less of the cheesy, sappy, lovesick hooey that made its predecessors a chore to watch.

(Thanks to Mae V. and Ayala Cinemas for the invites to the preview screening at Glorietta last Tuesday.)