Ents and Arts: Screen

Review: Twilight - Eclipse

By Lauren Astbury
Published: 15/07/2010

After two successful film adaptations of the Twilight franchise, the third film in the vampire-romance series manages to overcome previous problems and injects some much needed action into the saga.

With endless coverage of the Twilight films, it seems safe to assume most people know the general gist of the plot and it’s only the specifics we need to get down to.

Now... After enduring a break-up in the last movie, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), has managed to convince her vampire boyfriend, Edward (Robert Pattinson), to turn her into one of ‘them’.

The two main threats to their happiness are old enemy Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her army of followers; and werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) who also claims to love Bella.

Eclipse manages to strike a good balance between these two aspects of the film and at last manages to successfully add decent action sequences into the saga.

The action is no longer laughable and the climatic battle scenes play out organically and actually raised some gasps from the audience.

This is due in part to the CGI at last looking more realistic. It seems money has been well spent in this movie and Jacob and his pack no longer look like stuffed Beanie Baby toys in their transformed state.

The film is also improved by possessing genuinely threatening enemies. The trio of vampires opposing Bella and Edward in the first film came across like pantomime villains but Eclipse has ones with more depth.

Xavier Samuel’s portrayal of Victoria’s henchman, Riley, manages to make the Twilight saga vampires as threatening as they’re supposed to be and hints at a good career for the actor.

Generally, it’s improved performances all round which leads to more likeable, amusing and, hell, even more relatable characters.

Kristen Stewart is best when she doesn’t have to play miserable all the time and - despite romantic turmoil - this film allows her to have a little more fun.

Pattinson is still hampered by the material but he does his best with it; surprisingly when acting against Lautner. Audiences can see both the appeal (besides the abs) of Jacob against Edward and also his immaturity and jealousy that lets ‘Team Jacob’ down.

With the angst o-meter dialled down a few notches, the actors seem to feel more relaxed and as a result their interactions feel much more natural.

But the improved aesthetics do not cover up the weak storyline and character motivations. Despite Pattison and Stewart’s undeniable chemistry, it never makes sense why an 18 year old would choose to sacrifice her entire future for Edward.

This coupled with the odd abstinence message that occurs during the film proves that something looking good cannot overcome a bad storyline.

And so, much like the actors, Eclipse looks pretty but it’s puddle deep stuff.

Three stars.

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