By now, you’re either invested in the “Twilight” movies or you’re not.
If you’re a reader of Stephenie Meyer’s novels, eager to see her ever-expanding world of ageless vampires, hotheaded werewolves and hormonal teenagers evolve on the big screen, or merely seduced by Robert Pattinson’s smoldering glower and Taylor Lautner’s sculpted physique, you’ve probably been anticipating “Eclipse” since November’s “New Moon.”
The good news: “Eclipse,” for all its laughably clunky dialogue and overwrought melodrama, is easily the most engaging “Twilight” adaptation to date, a deftly paced thriller that feels appreciably leaner than its predecessors.
Here, director David Slade (“30 Days of Night”) and returning screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg have trimmed much of the fat from Meyer’s self-indulgent prose and produced an undercooked but enjoyable romance. It’s as weightless as popcorn, and its fleeting pleasures are no less savory.
At last, it answers the question, posed by “New Moon,” of which suitor Bella (Kristen Stewart) will choose: Edward Cullen (Pattinson), the eternally gloomy vampire with a heart of gold, or Jacob Black (Lautner), his fiercely passionate, perpetually shirtless rival, who happens to moonlight as a wolf.
It took three movies, but Bella’s dilemma finally resonates on a human level.
Picking between two studs is hard enough, but hers is a more thought-provoking conundrum. Should she sacrifice her humanity and youth to join Edward’s family among the undead?
Bella seems to think so, but Edward isn’t so sure. Neither is Rosalie (Nikki Reed), Edward’s adopted sister, whose violent initiation into the Cullen clan, effectively recreated here, dashed her lifelong dream of motherhood.
It’s a jarring sequence, and it lends Rosalie and her family a depth lacking in previous installments.
If the movie’s bizarre love triangle leaves you cold — understandable, considering that Bella, for all her natural beauty, reacts to life as one might a never-ending root canal — the action is surprisingly intense. Slade knows how to stage a fight, and the climactic showdown between Bella’s sworn protectors and a pack of rogue vamps led by the nefarious Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) is delightfully vicious.
None of this makes “Eclipse” anything more than an agreeably far-fetched teen fantasy, something Slade slyly acknowledges.
By punctuating Bella’s hand-wringing histrionics with moments of comic relief, often provided by her world-weary dad (played by a winking Billy Burke) and Lautner, whose six-pack is as much a selling point as a running gag, Slade strikes a pleasing balance that future “Twilight” directors might well find instructive.
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The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Film Critic Rating: 2 1/2 stars
Twi-hard rating: Rating 4 stars
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Bryce Dallas Howard
Playing at: Angrignon, Banque Scotia, Brossard, Cavendish, Cinema Carnaval, Colossus, Cote des Neiges, Deux Montagnes, Kirkland, Lacordaire, LaSalle, Marche Central, Sources, Spheretech, St. Eustache, StarCite and Taschereau cinemas. Parents’ guide: vampire/werewolf violence
Gentlemen, now is a good time to be single.
Twilight: Eclipse opens everywhere today. Those young males currently “between engagements,” or striking out in the dating game may safely ignore its release and get on with the World Cup, Web surfing or, lucky you, a summer McJob. Those in relationships can expect to see the third episode of the successful inter-species love triangle at least once, or endure unwanted celibacy.
When last we saw Robert Pattinson’s vampire gentleman Edward Cullen, he was offering his icy hand in marriage to human teen crush Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). She accepts, in exchange for his solemn vow to let her join the select Cullen clan as one of them, the better to love her man forever.
Edward is loathe to do it. Is it worth losing her mortal soul for an eternity among the undead holed up in the sodden Pacific Northwest? And he is not alone. Bella’s oldest pal, Jacob (Taylor Lautner), who moonlights as a werewolf for his Native American tribe, wonders what she sees in an ashen-skinned shoe-gazer who can’t even keep her warm at night.
Jake’s natural concern for her well-being has now swollen into love at least as powerful as his stomach muscles, which have grown from six-packs to a case of quarts, and prompted squeals of joy from premiere-night fans Monday when his shirt came off early, and stayed that way.
But enough of the endless, ultra-close-up moments of adolescent angst shared between them all in efforts to resolve their emotional conundrum. Both men adore Bella, though from Stewart’s sullen one-note performance here it’s hard to know why. She loves them both, but for reasons surely unrelated to Pattison’s own moribund turn or the gallant werewolf’s stubborn refusal to embrace the primal reproductive instincts so natural to young lovers, she loves Edward more. And this despite the clear majority of audience screams going to Jacob, a facially animated, reasonably articulate hunk of burnin’ big-dog love.
Enough, I said. There’s a rogue gang of vampire newbies assembling in Seattle, organized by flame-tressed Victoria, (Bryce Dallas Howard, replacing our own Rachelle Lefevre, to little effect), the better to kill the woman she blames for the death of her lover.
That woman is Bella. It will take an unholy alliance of sworn enemy vampires and werewolves to save the day and make the sopping coastal woods safe for Episodes 4 and 5 in author Stephenie Meyer’s young-adult literary series.
From the dispassionate, lofty perch of paid film criticism, the third is marginally better than the turgid second, but not a patch on the first, directed with a real connection to roiling teen hormones by Catherine Hardwicke. There is too much repetitive talk in David Slade’s Eclipse, not enough action, and, for this era, pretty cheesy special effects.
So what do aging male movie critics know? Early twentysomething Chateauguay coiffeuses and Twihard beauties Katherine Lusignan and Melissa Roy reprised their roles as guides to the vampire mysteries Monday night.
“I liked it, though there was a lot of sappiness and kissy-kissy,” said the pragmatic Lusignan. “They’ve changed the scenes a little, but it would have dragged otherwise. Overall, the series keeps getting better.”
And here’s Roy with the words Hollywood loves to hear. “I can’t wait for the next one!”
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The Twilight Saga: Eclipse puts the film franchise on the road to redemption. While not a perfect movie, Eclipse is by far the best of the trio, marking a serious turn from an otherwise dull fantasy-romantic series to true blockbuster.
Credit director David Slade, who is new to the Twilight movies but not to vampires, having previously directed 30 Days of Night. Strangely, he’s also the first director to properly handle the complicated and occasionally clumsy romantic triangle in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels. He doesn’t allow Eclipse to become a drippy teen romance that may work well in printed form, but proves to be a bit of a bore onscreen.
Eclipse is one part of a larger Romeo and Juliet-style romance, but it’s in the film’s darker nature that it really shines. The portions of fantasy in literature and film are most often the brightest moments in a series, as fully formed plot and characters come together with a strong sense of doom and insurmountable challenges for the protagonists.
Eclipse is no different, heightening the film’s tension by offering several villains, beginning with a menacing army of newborn vampires that threatens Bella (Kristen Stewart) and the Cullen clan of vampires. The growing army is responsible for a rash of disappearances in Seattle as teenagers are plucked off the streets to serve as new recruits or as food.
The blood-sucking warriors, led by Riley (Xavier Samuel), are part of a revenge plot by the vampire Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) against Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and his family for killing her coven leader and lover, James, at the end of the first film, Twilight.
| ‘TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE’ |
| Critic’s Rating: ***1/2
Directed by David Slade. Screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the novel by Stephenie Meyers.
A Summit Entertainment release, opening Wednesday at Rave Franklin Park 16, Rave Fallen Timbers, Rave Maumee 18, Rave Levis Commons, Fox, and the Sundance Kid Drive-In.
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some sensuality.
Running time: 121 minutes.
***** Outstanding; **** Very Good; *** Good; ** Fair; * Poor |
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Victoria and her army are only one of the Cullens’ problems. A more menacing and dangerous group led by the powerful Jane (Dakota Fanning), who can inflict searing pain through thought, has arrived in Seattle to observe the proceedings as representatives of the royal vampires known as the Volturi.
When the Cullens discover Victoria’s scheme they turn to the Quileute pack of shape-shifting werewolves, including Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), for help in the upcoming battle royal.
The climactic turf war provides the best action in the series yet, but the heart of this film is the romantic triangle of Bella, Edward, and Jacob that happens to be the movie’s biggest weakness.Eclipse struggles with the dull romantic indecision of Bella. Even if you haven’t read the books or sneaked a peek at what’s in store for Bella, Edward, and Jacob, it’s painfully obvious where this romantic trail will lead. For as much talk as there is about Team Edward and Team Jacob, the truth is most everyone who’s truly interested in the movies knows how this plays out, and the films — especially Eclipse — do little to disguise the inevitable.
The new movie’s tendency to harp on the romantic tension, or lack thereof, grows increasingly repetitive and tedious as the film wears on. There’s really not much else to the will she/won’t she romance that the previous Twilight film New Moon didn’t already cover.
At least Slade has coerced the best acting so far from the trio, and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, who has written all three Twilight scripts, gives the actors a hand by mostly ridding the script of the soap operatic dialogue that has plagued the movies. Rosenberg has also discovered more of the humor in the situations as she finally gets comfortable giving life to Meyer’s mostly undead literary creations.
Not to be overlooked is the better computer-generated images. The werewolves finally look more like living, breathing beasts than rubbery toys.
It all adds up to a sense of fun and adventure that has been sorely miss in the first two movies.
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The theater is uncomfortably silent as the audience stares intently at the silver screen.
Jacob Black and Edward Cullen sit restlessly in a tent, high on a mountain top; Bella sleeps between them. The two talk uncomfortably about the girl, awaiting the massive battle that is scheduled to occur the following morning.
It’s one of the most anticipated scenes to come from “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” — the scene all Twi-hards have been waiting for… so what’s the verdict?
Here is what the fans are saying about the newest chapter of The Twilight Saga:
“It was great,” said Samantha Guilford, an avid fan of the series, who attended the movie with friends. “So much better than the last two.”
Guilford said the special effects and action sequences were greatly improved upon — especially the battle scene at the end of the movie. She also said this film was better directed [than the previous two], and had a better story.
A fan myself, it was nice to see Bryce Dallas Howard’s nearly unnoticeable transition into the role of Victoria [previously Rachelle Lefevre]. Unlike Dakota Fanning’s introduction in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” Howard’s performance was not overpowered by aggressive promotion and an a-list name.
And the shorter treatment given to background stories of the main characters — which lasted several chapters in the book — proved to be effective.
Overall, the film seems to be a success; the fans are pleased, and with exception of a few minor details, the script was kept close to the language in the book.
To nobody’s surprise, squeals erupted every time actor Taylor Lautner appeared on screen without his shirt. And to the excitement of many, the sexual tension between Bella and Edward was at an all time high.
But when asked to pick out a favorite scene from the movie, fans could not decide.
“Gosh, there were like ten,” was the common response, as more then one fan made plans to see the movie again..
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The Twilight series roars on with its latest edition, Eclipse. The vampire drama is directed by David Slade, who knows a thing or two about vampires thanks to his previous project 30 Days of Night. Does this edginess and experience translate into a Twilight film that actually works? Find out after the break.
Eclipse picks up soon after the events of New Moon, with Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) still wanting Bella (Kristen Stewart) dead for her part in Victoria’s mate James’ death. Bella wants to be a vampire badly, but Edward (Robert Pattinson) is doing anything he can to change her mind. Bella’s unwillingness to commit to marriage actually helps Edward’s cause, but could this apprehensiveness be due to Bella’s feelings for her best friend and werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner)?
I’ll spare you any more details on the plot, since you’ll only enjoy or even understand this film if you’ve seen the two previous works in the series. In my review of New Moon, I talked about how the first two films are slow and moody, most likely an attempt to seem dark and somber. Fortunately, Eclipse throws a lot of that away to make a film where things actually happen.
There is a lot of the same in Eclipse, which is to be expected with the same screenwriter, Melissa Rosenberg, as Twilight and New Moon. We still have lots of brooding and too many scenes that force character development. However, much is improved this time around, and I think Slade may be a big part of it. The pace is much quicker, and a lot has been packed in.
The basic plot is simple enough, but there is a lot of side stuff to enjoy. The dialogue has been taken up a big notch, with some good humor that helps create a less “emo” atmosphere. Scenes like the one where Edward and Jacob talk on the eve of the fight really brought some much needed humanity to the otherwise stoic franchise. The flashbacks, while too short for my taste, are well executed, and the side story of how much or little the Volturi are involved added some nice meat. The overall drama has been ramped up with the ticking clock that is the big end fight scene, which was really fun to watch.
Is this the best Twilight film so far? Definitely. Is this a great film? No. That ticking clock seems to take forever for what ends up being a relatively short, though impressive, climax. Also, Bella’s personal dilemmas seem unimportant given her physical predicament, but a lot of time is spent on the former. The series still tailors towards the Twihards, but as long as you know the backstories, you can still enjoy it. Maybe I’m a sucker for a third film improving on the first two, but that’s a big deal.
The Twilight series roars on with its latest edition, Eclipse. The vampire drama is directed by David Slade, who knows a thing or two about vampires thanks to his previous project 30 Days of Night. Does this edginess and experience translate into a Twilight film that actually works? Find out after the break.
Eclipse picks up soon after the events of New Moon, with Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) still wanting Bella (Kristen Stewart) dead for her part in Victoria’s mate James’ death. Bella wants to be a vampire badly, but Edward (Robert Pattinson) is doing anything he can to change her mind. Bella’s unwillingness to commit to marriage actually helps Edward’s cause, but could this apprehensiveness be due to Bella’s feelings for her best friend and werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner)?
I’ll spare you any more details on the plot, since you’ll only enjoy or even understand this film if you’ve seen the two previous works in the series. In my review of New Moon, I talked about how the first two films are slow and moody, most likely an attempt to seem dark and somber. Fortunately, Eclipse throws a lot of that away to make a film where things actually happen.
There is a lot of the same in Eclipse, which is to be expected with the same screenwriter, Melissa Rosenberg, as Twilight and New Moon. We still have lots of brooding and too many scenes that force character development. However, much is improved this time around, and I think Slade may be a big part of it. The pace is much quicker, and a lot has been packed in.
The basic plot is simple enough, but there is a lot of side stuff to enjoy. The dialogue has been taken up a big notch, with some good humor that helps create a less “emo” atmosphere. Scenes like the one where Edward and Jacob talk on the eve of the fight really brought some much needed humanity to the otherwise stoic franchise. The flashbacks, while too short for my taste, are well executed, and the side story of how much or little the Volturi are involved added some nice meat. The overall drama has been ramped up with the ticking clock that is the big end fight scene, which was really fun to watch.
Is this the best Twilight film so far? Definitely. Is this a great film? No. That ticking clock seems to take forever for what ends up being a relatively short, though impressive, climax. Also, Bella’s personal dilemmas seem unimportant given her physical predicament, but a lot of time is spent on the former. The series still tailors towards the Twihards, but as long as you know the backstories, you can still enjoy it. Maybe I’m a sucker for a third film improving on the first two, but that’s a big deal.
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And he was not so positive….
“Eclipse” might be as good as the “Twilight” films are going to get. The main actors have settled comfortably into their roles in this third installment of the franchise. Jackson Rathbone, Nikki Reed and Ashley Greene, the more interesting of the home-team vampires, have a welcome new prominence, and Robert Pattinson even has a scene in which he displays a twinge of character-development. The movie also has some actual action, as everyone must know by now — a big vampires-versus-vampires-versus-werewolves battle sequence at the end of the picture.
To read his entire review, click here!
It’s been 222 days since the November 20 release of “New Moon.” Over 5,300 hours. Some 319,000 minutes. Not that you’ve been counting or anything. Now here comes “Eclipse” on Wednesday (June 30) to sate your vampire thirst. What’s happened in the time since the “Twilight” franchise has been absent from the multiplex?That’s a question we’re here to answer with a jam-packed edition of MTV News’ cheat sheet. We’ve pulled together almost everything — every interview, video clip, photo and news update — that we have to offer on this third installment in the series. Read on, and trust us when we say that, afterward, you’ll know everything there is to know about what it took to bring “Eclipse” to the big screen.The Solar System Aligns
The movie history of “Eclipse” goes back to November 2008 — before “Twilight” even opened — when Summit Entertainment optioned the movie rights to “New Moon,” “Eclipse” and “Breaking Dawn.” Studio execs probably felt pretty smart when, one week later, “Twilight” opened to $69.6 million in box-office receipts. The phenomenon was under way, and soon, “Eclipse” had a release date. What it didn’t yet have was a director. Rumored names included Drew Barrymore and Juan Antonio Bayona, but the job ultimately went to “30 Days of Night” helmer David Slade.By spring 2009, casting for new roles was under way and the shoot schedule had been revealed, with photography slated to run from August 17 through October 31. By August, of course, the newcomers had signed on: Xavier Samuel as the vampire Riley; Jodelle Ferland as the vampire Bree; Jack Huston as a Depression-era playboy named Royce King; Catalina Sandino Moreno as the vampire Maria; Julia Jones as Leah Clearwater; Tinsel Korey as Emily; and BooBoo Stewart as Seth Clearwater. But the biggest casting move came in July, when Bryce Dallas Howard controversially replaced Rachelle Lefevre in the role of Victoria.The Stars Give Us Sneak Peeks
As the start of production neared, we began to hear the cast dish dirt on the upcoming film. Taylor Lautner revealed his excitement about working with Slade. Jackson Rathbone and Kellan Lutz spoke about their intense preparation for some fight sequences. And Kristen Stewart got excited about the movie’s proposal scene, one of her favorite “Eclipse” scenes”Well, to decide you’re gonna marry someone at 18 is a pretty hefty decision,” she told MTV News. “And I didn’t want to look stupid. I didn’t want it to look like kids getting married. You know what I mean?”Gazing at “Eclipse”
Filming had barely begun when we got our first look at the cast in action: Howard and Samuel locking lips. Slade also posted pictures on his Twitter account, including a stunning one of Lautner flipping through the air. The first official still arrived in October: Robert Pattinson and Stewart together in a field of wildflowers.Then in March, the first trailer hit the Web, giving us Pattinson and Stewart together in bed, Lautner without his shirt on and even some acrobatic vampire action. “It’s badass,” Lutz told MTV News about the footage. “The action really drew me in, and I think the guys are really going to like this movie.”A second trailer arrived the next month, courtesy of Oprah Winfrey’s show. If the first trailer was all about Edward, Bella and Jacob’s love triangle, then this one focused squarely on violent action. And in June, Stewart, Pattinson and Lautner took the stage at the MTV Movie Awards to present an exclusive clip from the film. More clips followed: Rosalie’s advice to Bella; Edward’s warning to Jacob; and the Volturi’s observation of the newborn vampire army.The Stars Welcome Us Back
By the summer, the “Eclipse” stars were in full PR mode. We chatted with Elizabeth Reaser, Rathbone, Alex Meraz, Peter Facinelli and many more. We also sat down for extensive conversations with Pattinson, Stewart and Lautner.”It’s my favorite, because it’s the most guy-friendly by far,” Lautner said of “Eclipse.” “It’s dangerous. There’s a lot of action. The romance is still there, but the action level is stepped up way more. It’s great.”Last Wednesday marked the film’s glittering red-carpet premiere in Los Angeles, which MTV News streamed live. Stewart chatted about her “passion” for the franchise, and Pattinson likened the end of the series to “divorcing someone.”
But just one premiere ain’t enough for the “Eclipse” kids. On Monday night, Stewart and Lautner stopped by a secret screening in New York, and, of course, MTV News was on hand to chat with the stars once again. After months of shooting and publicity rounds, with the film’s release just hours away, the talk turned to lighter topics. Stewart revealed that she’s actually an accomplished chef, while Lautner said you will never see him join up for a role in a big-screen musical.”No,” he laughed. “I mean, people actually tell me that I can [sing], but I think they’re just being nice — because I definitely can’t! No ‘Hairspray 2′!”Check out everything we’ve got on “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.”
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With each Twilight film, the hype and fan excitement continues to grow. And even though critics — and even a few Twi-hards — were disappointed with last year’s New Moon, the franchise is about to redeem itself.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has been pegged as the best movie so far, and we have to agree. Full disclosure? It’s still not going to please critics. And you won’t see it nominated for an Oscar anytime soon. (An MTV award? Well, that’s another story!) But as far as Twilight fans are concerned, it’s bound to be a crowd pleaser.
Anyone who’s read Stephenie Meyer’s books or enjoyed Twilight or New Moon – even a little — will be entertained by this guilty pleasure addition. Read on for the reasons why it won us over:
It’s actually scary.
Twi-hards are often depicted as screaming tweens who use Robert Pattinson posters as wallpaper. But even for an adult, this film was, at times, pretty frightening. Right off the bat, I was captivated by the opening scene when Riley Biers (Xavier Samuel) gets attacked in Seattle and turned into a vampire. The film showed its dark side, and with the help of new special effects it had some seriously chilling moments.
It’s intentionally funny.
New Moon garnered a few laughs, though I somehow got the feeling most people were laughing at the movie and its seriously cheesy moments. But this time around the creators seem to be in on the joke. They realize the franchise has exploded into this huge — somewhat silly — phenomenon, and they’re not afraid to poke fun at themselves. The gratuitous, slow-motion shots of Jacob Black‘s (Taylor Lautner) abs are drawn out in a comical way. And they drive home the joke when Edward Cullen (Pattinson) asks, “Geez, doesn’t that guy ever wear a shirt?” (Luckily for female fans, the answer is no!) And when Charlie Swan (Billy Burke) attempts to have a sex talk with his daughter Bella (Kristen Stewart), you can’t help but laugh at the realistic awkwardness of the conversation.
It has cool flashbacks scenes.
A new layer to the plot is added with all the flashbacks and story-telling. It’s fun to see the characters at different points in their lives, and viewers finally get to see what Cullen members Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed) looked like in their human forms — without all that white makeup!
It’s super steamy.
Okay, so it’s not exactly True Blood, but it’s about as hot as you can get for a love triangle of teenagers — none of whom are actually having sex. When Bella and Edward find themselves alone in the Cullen house she tries take their relationship to the next level. And even though Edward resists, opting to wait until marriage, the sexual tension is pretty darn hot. And when Bella and Jake lock lips before the battle, it turns into a hair-pulling, waist-grabbing makeout sesh.
Twilight haters may argue that the films are over-the-top and corny, but Eclipse certainly serve its purpose: Giving viewers a fun and easy break from reality — with just enough shirtless eye-candy to last us until Breaking Dawn.
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Kristen Stewart (2010′s “The Runaways”), Robert Pattinson (2010′s “Remember Me”), and Taylor Lautner (2010′s “Valentine’s Day”) are by now fully comfortable with their roles as Bella, Edward, and Jacob. With less howlers to recite, there are fewer chances to embarrass themselves. Meanwhile, Bella pleads her case for why she should become a vampire, Edward’s white face make-up doesn’t appear as overpowering, and Jacob pulls off myriad poses with his shirt off and abs rippling. In supporting turns, Nikki Reed (2003′s “Thirteen”) comes into her own as Rosalie, finally more than just a face in the background, and Billy Burke (2007′s “Feast of Love”) has some tender moments with Bella as her father, unaware that he is about to lose his girl forever. Meanwhile, Bryce Dallas Howard (2009′s “Terminator Salvation”), taking over the part of Victoria from Rachelle LaFevre, is sorely underutilized, and so is Dakota Fanning (2009′s “Push”) as Volturi member Jane.
The tension between Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), an intense triangle is the basis of the history of the Twilight Saga. “The rivalry and jealousy, the most basic human emotions of love and loss all. Basically, it’s all very primal, and reaches a critical point in ‘Eclipse’” reveals the writer Melissa Rosenberg has worked side by side with series creator Crepúscylo, author Stephanie Meyer.And is that ‘Eclipse’ explores different aspects of love: true love, love me, and shared love or the possibility of falling in love with two people at once. And they said Stephanie Meyer, author of Twilight: Bella (Kristen Stewart) falls in love really Jacob (Taylor Lautner) in ‘New Moon’ without realizing it, because the only love I’ve had in your life is a kind of love me: crazy in love, the most incredible person in the world (Robert Pattinson) suddenly chooses you, not even you can not believe how lucky you are and everything is wonderful and perfect. Then Jacob falls in love with a real form , as usual, which is your best friend and want to spend as much time as possible with him. But he did not realize what it is, because only love has been understood from a different perspective. ”
‘Eclipse’ Bella mean to accept those feelings and make a decision. “I wanted Bella to have to look very well in choosing what was and what he was resigning and fully weighed both options before deciding,” says Meyer.
Also directly ‘Eclipse’, David Slade, believes that Edward is a pure ideal of true love that exists in the world, while Jacob is a love humans, with flaws and imperfections but also sincere. “What Stephenie has done very cleverly is to create a major conflict, but not at the expense of true love, which is one reason why I think that these movies and these books are so popular and have reached a universal success.”
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By now, the actors are relaxing into their roles. As Bella, Kristen Stewart seems less mopey and fidgety (and this time the script tweaks things to make her more independent). Robert Pattinson’s Edward is more forceful, and back from exile to take center stage.
As Jacob, the pinup wolf-boy, Taylor Lautner, unfortunately, still has more pecs appeal than personality (“Doesn’t he own a shirt,” Edward gripes, in one of the film’s few stabs at humor). And in another kind of movie, Jacob’s dogged pursuit of Bella — no matter how many times she pushes him away — would come off as stalking.
But that didn’t keep the Team Jacob fans at a recent screening from sighing whenever he appeared — or nearly swooning when he, and not the ever-cautious Edward, got the big romantic clinch of the film.
Others will be less moved, particularly by the effects. At one point, Edward’s undead pallor is so overdone he looks like a mime. And in a film full of mythical creatures — and a final, uneasy, Jacob/Edward alliance against the hungry “newborns” — nothing tempts disbelief more than the weirdly dyed hair of some of the characters.
To read the entire review, click here!
Oh, how I swooned when Edward pulled out the ring and asked Bella to be his lawful undead-ed wife!
And how I marveled, in the drippiest of the three “Twilight” pictures so far, at how Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson have begun to murmur in precisely the same cadences, which is to say, with no cadence at all!
Warning: You surely cannot trust this review of “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.” I am unreliable, unrepresentative and unrepentant regarding the first two “Twilight”s — both of which I liked, especially compared to the other abstinence-only vampire/werewolf/teen romance franchises out there.
Already, “Eclipse” has garnered notices praising it as the best and most action-packed of the three. Which I don’t understand. For me it’s the most ponderous and most sloppily directed, and by far the most deadening when the dramatic necessity known as “talking” must be confronted, in between battles.
Director David Slade composes every shot for maximum readability on a BlackBerry. HUGE, woozy, hand-held close-ups. Some moviegoers get dizzy watching a “Bourne” film; I get dizzy watching Slade’s technique, which isn’t technique at all: It’s just any old shot at all, sometimes “verite” (i.e., shaky-cam), sometimes not.
“Eclipse” finds the human Bella (Stewart) inching closer to her decision to marry Sir Fwoopy Hair (Pattinson) and become a vampire, thus breaking the werewolf heart of Jacob ( Taylor Lautner), the most famous resident of Camp Shirtless. The wolves and the vamps must broker their differences to take on the bloodthirsty vampiric “newborns,” slowly making their way from Seattle down to the town of Fork, where Bella’s police chief father ( Billy Burke) is taking, like, forever to solve the unsolved murders.
More happens in “Eclipse” than in the previous “Twilight” zone, “New Moon,” and yet it’s duller. The people will come no matter what, make no mistake. Even if nobody made a third “Twilight” film a collective imagining of the thing, involving the most rabid five percent of the worldwide fan base, would still gross $500 million. (The first “Twilight,” directed by Catherine Hardwicke,” made $408 million; the second, directed by Chris Weitz, made $709 million.)
Slade may throw lots at the camera, but he paces everything like molasses running uphill. (His earlier films include “Hard Candy,” well-acted garbage in a confined space, and “30 Days of Night,” which proved that he can a make a movie with vampires in it, if not a good vampire movie.) Lots of folks barely got through “New Moon” alive, with all its molto elegiaco brooding. However self-serious, like the first “Twilight” it offered a sustained mood and some considered filmmaking.
Here, less. The characters have grown more naïve and stilted and sluggish. The music does not help. The first two outings were scored by Carter Burwell and Alexandre Desplat, respectively — two of the most atmospherically persuasive composers in the business. The new score, by the ordinarily talented Howard Shore, is gunk.
Now and then a performer or two grabs your interest. Batting first for the Volturi, Dakota Fanning makes most of the other young pups on screen look pretty unimposing. The violence carries more blunt impact than it did in the earlier films. But you cannot tell me this is a livelier film than the first two. It merely has more characters, more competing interests, more necks snapped. The fourth and fifth “Twilight” features are to be directed by Bill Condon, who has done everything from “Gods and Monsters” to “Kinsey” to “Dreamgirls.” That sounds more like it. “Eclipse” gets the job done, the job being the on-screen delivery of adapter Melissa Rosenberg’s compressed verison of the Stephenie Meyer novel. But that’s all it does.
2 stars
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COSMOPOLIS
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN (PART TWO)
BEL AMI
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN (PART ONE)
