'Twilight Eclipse' Review: One for Guys, Too

Finally, a Twilight film that won't make husbands and boyfriends squirm in their theater seats. 

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is a monsters-in-action movie first and a romance second. Which is okay. Really, aren't many films and TV shows in the genre dark romances as well? Think Buffy/Angel, Moonight, Dark Shadows and more.


It helps much that this third installment is helmed by David Slade, an actual horror film director(30 Days of Night) who also also gets teen-centered turmoil with tension (Hard Candy).  Previous directors Catherine Hardwicke on Twilight and Chris Weitz on New Moon each had a different style, the former quite indie yet too self-concious and the latter forced to deal with an unfortunately plodding first half of a story. 




Eclipse picks up where New Moon left off. A "newborn" is created and he becomes the vampire big bad until we learn the power behind the power (like it's hard to figure out). The cliffhanger ending of the prior film is resolved early on - or is it? Of course not. High schooler Bella (Kristen Stewart) is torn between eternally teenage vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) werewolf boy Jacob (Taylor Lautner).  While Jacob showed fire (and his abs, to teen and soccer mom screams) in the last movie, the sullen, emo Edward is now much more the dangerous vampire he'd been saying he was all this time. Yes, he still sparkles in the sun and has no fangs, but that's writer Stephenie Meyer's lore, dopey as it is (to some of us, sorry). 

Sinister new vamp Riley (Xavier Samuels) has raised a army and they don't just want human blood. So it's up to hero blood-suckers, the Cullens, to take them on. But they can't do it alone. Meanwhile, the evil Victoria, dressed from the Janis Joplin boutique, is back and wants revenge for the deaths of lover James and fellow vamp Laurent. Along the way, we also get additional back-stories of some Cullens, Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed), each tale filled with tragedy, plus there's the origin reveal of how Native American shapeshifters became werewolves. This is loads better than Bella journal confessions in voiceover and time spent with her Nik channel high school pals.  Still, the theme of graduation yields a funny line or two and some typical grad moments.


You can be sure that Twihards who've read all the books know how things will turn out.  And Eclipse appears to be a pretty faithful adaption of what's probably the most solid book in the series. While the love triangle is still at the center of the movie, it's the "good" vamps and werewolf alliance against "bad" vamps that drives the film and makes its watchable for guys.  

So, let's put it this way: Think Marvel Comics team-ups. You've got the X-Men of vampires (the Cullen clan, since each with their own extra "gift") joining forces with adversaries, the shapeshifting wolf pack (okay, they're not Magneto's Evil Brotherhood, but you get the idea).  It's the ol' the enemy of my enemy thing, a truce for their greater good against a greater evil. And it works. The action sequences, especially the big battle have more in common with fantasy films then the first two movies, though the Volturi ruling class of Italian vampires were fascinating and didn't get enough screen time in New Moon and thankfully, play a part here, led by Dakota Fanning, creepy with a nasty streak, too. 


What's obvious and wince-inducing?  The dangers of sex, as funneled through Meyer's Twi-world with restrictive Morman perceptions. There's nothing wrong with sticking to one's values, but It's all delivered in such a heavy-handed fashion. On the other hand, the Edward-Jacob rivalry is snipe-filled, with plenty of verbal and visual barbs for those who are one "team" or the other, leaving the rest of us to just be, well, a bit amused. 


Stewart is far more tolerable than her annoying, no-one-understands-me portrayal in the first two movies (but blame the character rather the actress). Pattinson is still brood boy, but gets to ah, sink his non-fang teeth into the role much more.  Lautner also gets greater range here, wearing all emotions on the outside as Jacob as opposed to internal-until-he-bursts Edward.  


There are several standouts in the rest of the cast, though all are quite settled into their respective roles. Billy Burke is especially good as Bella's local cop dad Charlie, who wants her away from Edwward, though still does not know about the vampires or werewolves (one of the flaws in this series as he is cleary no idiot).  Peter Facinelli plays Carlisle Cullen with continuing paternal grace, wisdom and even warmth for a "cold one" and Ashley Greene's Alice is still darn cute. Bryce Dallas Howard (Spider-Man 3) takes over as Victoria from Rachelle Lefevre and does well enough with it, though Lefevre seemed to perhaps have a darker edge in the first film. 



Everything comes to a satisfying conclusion (not quite a happy ending for all, but...) and most plot threads are nicely sewn up. It could all end here as a trilogy but of course, there's one more book, Breaking Dawn and that's being divided into two films (milk that franchise) and could also be titled "The Volturi Confrontation," if you want a "hint" of where things are heading. But again, Twitards already know what's to come. Still, Eclipse is sure to make them happy, heck, giddy and this time, grumbling male companions won't be wishing they were in the theater next door watching something else. 

The X-Men of Sparkly Vampires?