Melodramatic Eclipse a Surprisingly Decent Affair
On the eve of her graduation from High School, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) continues to find herself in the middle of a lovesick triangle between her undead boyfriend Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and werewolf best friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Meanwhile, the vampire Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) begins to assemble a newborn bloodsucking army in Seattle with her will firmly set on revenging herself against those she feels are responsible for the death of her mate so many moons ago.
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse © Summit Entertainment
As far as plots go that’s about it for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, this third chapter in author Stephenie Meyer ‘s freakishly popular series easily its most simplistic and straightforward. In all honesty, there isn’t an awful lot of meat on this carcass’ bones, and if it wasn’t for all the melodramatic rehashing of much of what we’ve already seen (and/or read) this movie wouldn’t merit the 124 minutes it takes to tell. It asks very little and offers up even less, and other than some intriguing bits of back-story involving a few of the supporting players there’s very little that new here worthy of discussion.
Well, there is maybe one thing, and it might be the single most shocking revelation of them all. For the first time in the series, I actually more or less enjoyed my time sitting in the theatre watching this motion picture. Director David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) seems to realizes just how silly and juvenile this whole thing is, and while he still offers up as much ennui and pathos as his predecessors he manages to somehow still lighten up the tone just enough to make all the unbearable angst a bit more palatable.
Better than that, he knows how to create tension, and while the film is easily a good 20 minutes too long there is still a palpable aura of suspense the builds all the way until the surprisingly strong climactic showdown between the Cullens (joined by Jacob’s werewolves in an uneasy truce) and Victoria’s super-strong newborn legions. The last half hour or so has actual weight and meaning, the violent tendencies of these supernatural creatures in full ferocious display for the very first time in any of the three adventures.
But that doesn’t make Meyer’s actual plot any less moronic. A great deal of the running time is spent watching Bella navigate her relationships with the two men in her life in much the same way she did in the previous two pictures. It’s more of the same and really quite tiring, and while tween and teenage women for some reason continue to eat this dreck up the rest of us can only sit there stupefied wondering why.
Additionally, while the Volturi were easily the best element to be found in the otherwise rather dreadful The Twilight Saga: New Moon, this time around their rather pointless annoyances that aren’t slightly scary. There’s no reason for them to be here and when they do make appearances all of them are more or less laughable, and while purists would decry the statement as blasphemy in my opinion the film would have been much better served if all their scenes would have been left on the cutting room floor.
On the plus side, and whether this is Slade’s doing or returning screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg’s I do not know, our heroine finally seems to have grown a backbone and as such for the first time Stewart actually seems interested in playing her. While I still think Bella as a character is a bit of a wet noodle (and an extremely poor role model for young women) at least here she speaks up for herself and shows a little moxie. There’s a great scene between her and Billy Burke (returning as her father, Charlie) that actually made me bust out in an honestly earned grin, while a penultimate moment with Pattinson where she truthfully admits her reasons for wanting to become a vampire somehow ring emotionally true.
Slade also lets some of the supporting players get a moment or two to shine, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone and recent Up in the Air Academy Award nominee Anna Kendrick all having a scene or two that displays their talents to a much greater extent than either of the previous Twilight flicks did. Sure the flashbacks involving two of them probably could have been cut (and are also highly derivative a certain beloved Joss Whedon television series) but that doesn’t mean I enjoyed them any less. They give the film energy and life going places that don’t feel as tired and as maudlin as the Bella-Edward-Jacob triangle does, and as much as I liked the action elements here there is a strong possibility I liked these (especially Reed’s) even more.
Don’t get me wrong. Meyer’s world is not one I particularly care for and even though I’m slightly partial to this one that doesn’t mean I have the slightest inclination to wanting to return to it or any of the others again. But taken on its own merits The Twilight Saga: Eclipse does have its plusses, and while much of the minuses still annoy me to no end Slade and company do just enough right with this sequel I’m almost curious (almost, but not quite) to see how it all ultimately plays itself out in the end.
Film Rating: êê1/2 (out of 4)
Additional Links
