The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Tongue-in-cheek enough for the cynics, faithful enough for the fanatics, it looks gorgeous and is wonderfully-paced.
Disclaimer: I watched this film the only way Twilight can be experienced - drunk with a pack of women.
Only eight months after the second installment of the Twilight Saga, comes another stage in the journey of mortal Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her more-difficult-than-necessary relationship with vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson). Whereas Chris Weitz's adaptation of New Moon was two painful hours of mopey Bella staring in awe at Jacob's chest, new director David Slade (30 Days Of Night, Hard Candy) rips this angst apart as good-naturedly as he can.
We open with new character Riley (a menacing Xavier Samuel), an innocent chap who is forcibly turned by the vengeful Victoria and her army of volatile newborn vampires. You may remember her as the flame-haired bloodsucker out for revenge after Edward and his clan destroyed her one true love. Back then she was in the form of a seductive and confident Rachelle Lefevre, one raised eyebrow away from death and destruction. In the hands of her replacement Bryce Dallas Howard, Victoria looks more like a deer caught in headlights. A bland deer, at that.
Remarkably, Taylor Lautner has become the saga's strongest performer. His Jacob is all raging hormones and determination, and is utterly convincing as a credible love rival to swoonworthy Edward (why yes, I am Team Jacob). One of the biggest problems with the Twilight saga is that Stephenie Meyer's entire series of novels could comfortably sit in one film, as character development is irritatingly repetitive. So, as expected, a big part of Eclipse is the ongoing chastity battle between our loved-up high school students, with Edward wanting to wait until marriage, and Bella not wanting to get married so young (even though she's willing to give up being human for a guy). Luckily, Eclipse sits these rageworthy points in good context - the dreaded moment in the book where Edward tampers with Bella's car so she can't see her friend is less repugnant in Pattinson's hands. Talking of friends, it's time for Bella's awesome school chums to take a back seat I'm afraid. The glorious Anna Kendrick, along with Justin Chon, Michael Welch and Christian Serratos, are still in Bella's life, but are relegated to a line or two.
However, Slade thankfully gives time to the previously underused Cullen clan. When Jackson Rathbone finally gets to tell his background as Jasper, as does Nikki Reed's Rosalie, it's knowingly camp as hell, and a hilarious treat. All the warmth and humour - intentional or otherwise - that was present in Twilight is back, but this time in the hands of a director comfortable with both horror convention and grand ambition.
Stewart's deliberately stiff and awkward Bella only becomes endearing when she's bouncing off the chemistry with her beau, and dad Charlie (Billy Burke, as always stealing the biggest laughs with a single line). In fact, you can feel the difference in energy with a new director. Weitz sucked the life out of the cast, who are desperately required to bring the cheesy story to fruition. Pattinson and Lautner do a lot more than exchange moody glances this time, with a tense three-way scene in a tent sizzling with bitchy energy. One of the highlights of the book, the wolf pack and the vampires coming together to battle the newborns is superb in its pre-battle execution, and though the action is fleeting, let's face it, that's not why the core audience arrive in hoards.
Tongue-in-cheek enough for the cynics, faithful enough for the fanatics, it looks gorgeous, is wonderfully-paced and Howard Shore's suitably majestic score (and a consistently exciting soundtrack) makes up for the dialogue. Plenty of fun and not a dull moment to be had, despite the source material. As much as I adored Catherine Hardwicke's well-intentioned and heartfelt introduction, this is easily the best Twilight film.
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