Review: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

For some strange reason I’ve enjoyed the Twilight series of films. Sure, they’re mediocre movies at best and are full of bad acting and writing, but there is something about them that draws me in, holds my interest, and keeps me watching. Halfway into Twilight: Eclipse, the third film in the saga, I realized it’s because the series is the equivalent of a television show with each sequel playing out like a new season. Looking at it that way, this is the season that should have delivered more than it did but ended up being quite pointless (think The O.C.). The characters didn’t grow, the story didn’t move, and I probably would never watch the reruns. I’m still hooked though and will tune in again next time because I need to know the fate of our beloved Bella (Kristen Stewart), Edward (Robert Pattinson), and Jacob (Taylor Lautner).

The film opens with a bang and starts off much darker than the previous entries with someone or something chasing a young man down a shadowy alleyway in Seattle. We learn the young man is Riley (Xavier Samuel) and he is about to become a bloodsucker with the mission of taking out the Cullen family. If that tone stayed throughout the movie it would be in an entire new category and not “just another Twilight film.” Unfortunately, before long it’s back to the love triangle of teenage angst-ridden Bella, vampire Edward, and werewolf Jacob, with the same scenerios playing out over and over again: Bella wants to be a vampire, Edward doesn’t want her to be one, neither does Jacob but he still blames Edward, and so on.

Directed by David Slade, who did a great job adapting the vampire graphic novel 30 Days of Night (not to mention the indie thriller Hard Candy), I had high hopes for his vision with the story. I understand he has a demographic of teenage girls to appeal to but if he only kept more of that vibe from the opening this could have been so much better, and would have won over an entirely new audience. The biggest draw for me from the last film, Twilight: New Moon, was the werewolves, yet here they are hardly around until the end.

If we’re comparing the three films then Twilight: Eclipse is better than the first but doesn’t come close to Twilight: New Moon. It’s still going to make fans giddy and there are a few great scenes (the vampire battle near the end was pretty cool). And my hopes for the next two films is still high, which is a good thing.

*** out of 5 stars

Rated PG
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Directed by: David Slade
Official Site IMDb

brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com

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Top image: A scene from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Courtesy E1 Entertainment.