“Breaking Dawn: Part One,” the fourth movie in Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight Saga,” hit theaters Nov. 18 to the delight of countless teenage girls and to the groans of, well, everyone else.

The movie begins with an angry Jacob (Taylor Lautner) storming out of his house, ripping off his shirt and morphing into a werewolf, after he receives an invitation to Bella and Edward’s wedding. As viewers admired his physique, the purpose of the film became clear: the movie, while somewhat corny and mundane, successfully caters to the needs and wants of its audience — to see the story of “Breaking Dawn” come to life.

For those who somehow have evaded the vampire madness for this long, here’s a brief synopsis of the movie’s background: Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), an ordinary high school student, falls in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), who happens to be a vampire. The story follows the drama of their mortal-immortal love affair and Bella’s friendship with werewolf Jacob Black, who fights for Bella’s love and whose species is enemies with the vampires.

In “Breaking Dawn: Part One,” the continuation of this romantic drama, Bella and Edward get married and honeymoon on a beautiful, private island, where they consummate their marriage in a scene obviously designed to avoid an R rating, and Bella becomes pregnant. The catch, of course, is that Bella’s baby is actually a sort of supernatural vampire-human hybrid that is “destroying her from the inside out.” Another catch? Jacob falls in love with, or “imprints,” on that baby. Confused yet?

The first part of the movie was less than captivating, dragging on for just about the first hour of the movie. Although it was loyal to Meyer’s storyline, it frequently contained music that didn’t accurately reflect the moods of the characters, creating a cheesy feel to the movie.

In addition, there were multiple scenes, including flashbacks, revelations and dreams, which lacked dialogue or displayed earlier material that the audience had already seen. These sections added a slower pace to the movie and gave the impression that the director was just looking for ways to fill up time to justify a two-part movie.

But as the movie progressed, so did the quality. The drama of Bella’s developing baby created a strained and suspenseful feeling more typical of the “Twilight” series. The birth scene, for example, was eerily disturbing with the earsplitting cracks of Bella’s bones, the desperation in the faces of Edward and Jacob and just about enough blood to satisfy a vampire for eternity, or at least a couple of months. The music grew more effective at enhancing the scenes, instead of overpowering them or making them seem corny, as it did in the beginning of the film. The acting also seemed to get a little less awkward and a little more believable, though not by any means worthy of anything other than a Razzie.

One commendable aspect was the surprisingly intense ending that definitely left everyone in the audience wanting more and increased anticipation for part two, which comes out next November.

“Breaking Dawn: Part One,” while no masterpiece, did what it was supposed to do by fulfilling the hopes of “Twilight” enthusiasts and leaving them stoked for the final movie. For die-hard fans, you won’t be disappointed. For skeptics who want a good laugh, go if only for the chance to make sarcastic comments about the movie. For everyone else, stick to Harry Potter — in this case, wizards beat vampires.