The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

It seems you either hate the Twilight Saga or you love it. I come under the latter category, however I will admit that the films are far from any sort of masterpiece including Eclipse. Yes, maybe the plot development can seem tedious to some but the source material doesn’t really contain much action. The Eclipse novel however, written by Stephenie Meyer, contains the most plot points and action, enabling the movie to run at a steadier pace. New director to the Twilight Saga, David Slade starts to build the tension right from the opening scene and with Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, they have contained a strong amount of threat throughout the film. This vampire film may not be as intense as David Slade’s previous work directing 30 Days of Night, but what Eclipse lacks in blood and gore, it makes up in characterisation and a stronger sense of story.
The film pretty much picks up where we left off at New Moon; Bella played by Kristen Stewart is still human trying to convince her lover, Edward (Robert Pattinson) to change her into a vampire, while Edward is still adamant on marriage. Then there is third wheel Jacob (Taylor Lautner) who is still upset at Bella for choosing a vampire over his werewolf self. The crisis is evident from early on in the film when it comes to knowledge that there are uncontrollable newborn vampires killing freely in Seattle, threatening the safety of the Cullen’s hidden identities. The presence of old foe Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) is still at large, later she is unsurprisingly revealed as the leader of the Seattle newborns. Victoria is still strong on the revenge game, and the safety of Bella is the main task of the film yet again, this time she receives protection from both the Cullen Vampires and the Quileute Tribe Werewolves. However the main question the audience will be asking has nothing to do with Bella’s safety and everything to do with her decision: Love a Vampire or a Werewolf?
There are three flashbacks in this film, giving the audience an insight into the pasts of both the Cullen family and the Quileute Tribe. We learn about the origins of the Quileute tribe as well as the back-story of Jasper and Rosalie Cullen’s human life and how they became vampires. Two of these flashbacks are important to the outer (action) journey of plot and are literally mirrored in the story, while the third flashback and its reasoning is important to the inner journey for protagonist Bella, and gives us a hint of the crisis explored in Breaking Dawn.
The acting throughout the film was generally very good. The three leads were solid as usual and embodied each character perfectly. My favourite performance would perhaps have to be Bella’s Mother, Renee, played by Sarah Clarke, who has such a natural presence on film. There were some genuinely funny moments too, the sex talk being one of the more memorable. The film boasts more action scenes, as well as the most raunchiest scene of the saga yet.
Technically the film was good, the cinematography was great, as David Slade has a nice eye for what composes a shot well. There were however some focus pulls that I feel didn’t really work. The CGI was adequate while the colour of the film really helped to highlight the mood of particular scenes.
Anyone who is a fan of the novels, who also has a realistic view on how the source material changes when adapted to the screen, will definitely have fun with Eclipse. The film embodies the novel, sure the less important parts were left out, but they didn’t change anything, (ie. they didn’t do anything like the burning of The Burrow in Harry Potter 6.) If anything the film helped add to the essence of the story, as it was able to explore the Seattle newborn vampires and the Volturi story lines.
As a film it deserves 3 out of 5, but the fan inside of me has to give it an extra half because it truly embodied the novel.