The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Director: David Slade
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
***
If Count Dracula ever got wind of Twilight, we assume he would be turning in his coffin. It's not hard to see why. Having always assumed that the main appeal of vampires lay in their debonair manner, lustful (and potentially fatal) tendencies, and mysterious nature, Stephenie Meyer's new age humanist clan, the Cullens, are more a collection of wet blankets than smouldering anti-heroes.
But it doesn't take a genius to work out why tens of millions of crazed fans (mostly teenagers, but a percentage of whom are people old enough to know better) have bought into the phenomenon. It is the intense love between the two lead characters - Edward Cullen (Pattinson) and his human companion, Bella Swan (Stewart) - that has hypnotised its horde of avid readers. The teenage couple spend the majority of their time sitting in a field reading poetry to one another, listening to Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy, and staring into each other's eyes while waxing on and on about much they can't live without one another.
An average love story though, one might think, until reminded that Edward has been frozen at the age of 17 for more than 100 years - one of the many side effects of being a vampire. Throw in a spectacularly muscular and lovelorn Native American, called Jacob (Lautner), who also doubles as a werewolf, and you have a love triangle of supernatural proportions, which has helped make the Twilight saga one of the most popular series of young adult books in years.
Set in the sleepy town of Forks, Washington (which has seen tourism increase tenfold since the first Twilight novel was released), not much has changed in the third movie of the saga, which follows Bella and Edward as they take their disgustingly sappy relationship to the next level, after deciding to get engaged.
Having battled some nasty vampires (in Twilight) and tried the whole "taking some time apart" thing (in The Twilight Saga: New Moon) the couple have to contend with yet another problem before telling Bella's father, Charlie (Billy Burke) the "good" news - the flame-haired femme fatale, Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard), and her obsessive desire to kill Bella. Understandable perhaps, given that the self-professed loner spends the majority of her time with her face set in an angsty scowl, but surely a good hard slap would suffice.
Nonetheless, Victoria begins to put together an army of "newborns" (newly-created vampires whose strength, the first few months after being turned, is almost unbeatable) with which she intends to take down both her human nemesis and the Cullen family. As a result, both vamps and werewolves are forced to work alongside one another in order to defeat their bigger, angrier, enemy, eventually - and begrudgingly - forming a bond.
With the film just under two hours long, the director David Slade (Hard Candy) handles the convoluted plot as best he can, although there are more than a few points at which the film drags - most of which involve Bella. Sure, she has a very hard decision to make, choosing between a life without Edward and a life as a vampire, but to have it repeatedly restated is tiresome.
Equally troublesome is the entire theme of the saga, especially given how much of an influence it has had on its targeted teenage demographic. We all know how intense life feels at that age; but for Meyer to have Swan completely ignore the advice of almost every other character involved - so intent is she on staying with Edward - seems irresponsible. Nevertheless, Eclipse is passably entertaining, the acting, for one thing, having improved noticeably. Three movies in, it is also interesting to discover the backgrounds of several of the vampires - including Rosalie (Nikki Reed) and Jasper (Jackson Rathbone).
As for the burning question, Team Edward or Team Jacob? Forget it. It's all about Carlisle Cullen (Peter Facinelli) and Charlie Swan (Burke). Trust me.
