Eclipse
Movie Review
"Eclipse"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: B
Rating: PG-13
Released: Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Directed by:
Cast:
Looks like the third time's the charm with the young-adult fantasy franchises. It wasn't until "Prisoner of Azkaban" that the Harry Potter films really came into their own, and now "Eclipse" brings the "Twilight" series into the big leagues. It still isn't great, and there still isn't much crossover appeal, but it's easily the best of the three films so far, with a well-constructed story, suitable climaxes, and -- at last! -- a main character who occasionally thinks for herself rather than being defined by her monster boyfriends. The men who are coerced into seeing "Eclipse" with their ladyfolk will surely enjoy this one more than the last two.
Our story begins with vampire fetishist Bella Swann (Kristen Stewart) about to finish high school. She hopes her undead boyfriend Edward (Robert Pattinson) will give her immortality as a graduation gift; Edward hopes he can convince Bella to marry him before he vampirizes her, as he is old-fashioned and courtly. Meanwhile, Native American werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner), the poor sap, still hopes Bella will forget the blood-sucker and choose him.
But there are larger issues to deal with. The problems of three little people, or one little person and two monsters, don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. In nearby Seattle, young people are going missing in large numbers, apparently being converted by a rogue vampire named Riley (Xavier Samuel), who's assembling an army of reckless and especially bloodthirsty new recruits. Bella and company still have Victoria to worry about, too. She might have shapeshifted from Rachelle Lefevre into Bryce Dallas Howard (a lateral move at best), but her goal of killing Bella remains intact.
As you know, the vampires and the werewolves don't cotton to each other. They cotton to a lot of things, but each other is not one of them. But when it's discovered that Riley is stalking Bella for an unknown but surely nefarious purpose, the wolfmen and the draculas resolve to join forces to keep her safe. This means a temporary truce between Edward and Jacob and their respective teams.
Oh, and the Volturi, the supreme vampire council: They are also in this movie. One of them is still Dakota Fanning.
Once again adapted by Melissa Rosenberg from Stephenie Meyer's novel, "Eclipse" was directed by David Slade, who made the energetically creepy vampire flick "30 Days of Night" a few years ago, as well as the unsettling "Hard Candy" (which, like "Twilight," is about a teenage girl being stalked by a much-older man). He turns out to have been a good fit for the material. "Eclipse" is a little darker and more violent than its predecessors, and it has quite a bit less brooding and general mushiness (though still enough, I suspect, to satisfy fans of the books). The climactic battles, though brief, are respectably thrilling. For the first time, I'm interested in ancillary characters like Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed), whose pre-vampire backstories we learn here -- and not just for kicks, either, as the new information we get on them figures into the current crisis.
Some of this newfound storytelling sophistication might be in the novel, too (I haven't read it), but it's Slade, Rosenberg, and the actors who make it work on the screen. Bella is still saddled with eye-rolling lines like "There's nothing I'm ever going to want more than Edward," and she still narrates the film only occasionally (a sign of lazy screenwriting) -- but she also has believable conflicts and makes actual decisions, almost like a real grown up would. Stewart, Pattinson, and Lautner are all getting better as they get older, gradually giving their characters more nuance than they started with.
The final book in the series, "Breaking Dawn," will be split into two films, with yet another director, Bill Condon, taking over. I hope he can build on Slade's momentum and continue the franchise's upward progression. If they keep improving like this, the people who automatically hate the films just because they're popular with teenage girls will be forced to reconsider.
Grade: B
Rated PG-13, a little mild sensuality, a lot of strong but bloodless violence
2 hrs., 4 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 18 comments
June 29, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Ok. Where's the Snider Screenplay? :)
June 30, 2010 at 2:37 am
This is directed at one of the commenters on Cinematical, #3 "Anti-Twilight Man."
He said: "Bella and Edward are practically the definition of Mary Sue. Not to mention this series is sexist."
Well, Mayer IS Mormon (was? not sure and I don't care enough to look into her past that much)... personally when I read the books I saw a lot of "if you have good values as a Woman, you will want to get married while still a virgin, then start having kids asap."
Overall, I agree with ATM, there was a ton of "Mary Sue" in the books (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue), which disappoints me. I hate lazy, one-flaw blank slate characters the consumer is meant to project themselves onto.
I haven't seen any of the movies, and I don't plan to, mostly because I strongly disliked the books and I even more strongly dislike all of the actors/actresses in these movies except for Dakota Fanning and Ashley Greene.
June 30, 2010 at 2:43 am
And on the subject of the story itself (the whole saga), it's repetitive, drawn out, and could easily have been a single book, not 4.
It's *filled* with terribly written "romance" and self-pity, but it constantly hinting that it could turn into something decent, with lots of action, tough choices, and a very interesting "world."
Then it U-turns back into Mary Sue pining for Mr. Perfect or a Dues Ex Machina shows up to save Mayer from having to write a logical conclusion to X conflict.
The 2nd and 3rd ones were criminally drawn out, but the 4th was the worst about Dues Ex Machina-ing it up.
I really wish I hadn't taken the time to read them all, but I'm a prolific reader and I was drawn in by the premise (the Vampires/Werewolves). I was extremely disappointed by the end, so much more could have happened with the world of Twilight if it wasn't written for delusional teenage girls.
June 30, 2010 at 3:19 am
I'm with Annie on this. We are anxiously awaiting a 3rd installment of your version of a condensed Twilight movie. Don't let us down!
June 30, 2010 at 3:49 am
I'm just here for the snider screen play
June 30, 2010 at 9:03 am
I'm actually kind of sad that this got such a high review from you. I'm also sad to hear that there is a vampire with my name.
June 30, 2010 at 11:41 am
I fourth the rejected screen play. What gives, Eric?
June 30, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Such a good review of the movie that symbolizes everything I hate about society made me die a little bit on the inside. Wait, no, a lotta bit. :(
June 30, 2010 at 12:16 pm
"Twilight" released: 11/21/08.
"Twilight" parody script posted: 11/24/08.
"New Moon" released: 11/20/09.
"New Moon" parody script posted: 11/23/09.
June 30, 2010 at 12:43 pm
So, you're going to make us wait until 11/22/10 for the parody script. Cruel.
June 30, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Levin, you forgot to subtract the release date from the post date! I think Eric just hinted at wonderful things to shortly come!
June 30, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Woo hoo! Only 2 more days until the best part of Twilight... the Snider Parody Script
June 30, 2010 at 10:28 pm
@ Jim H. I'm pretty confident Levin knew that and was making a joke. It was pretty clever and funny!
July 1, 2010 at 11:31 am
I'll forgive you for this review once I've read the rejected screenplay.
I do plan to see the movie, but only as a heckler.
July 1, 2010 at 11:06 pm
I saw this tonight and thought Eric's review was right on the money. Still not a great movie, sure, but it's the first of the series that actually works as a movie. I hated Twilight and couldn't sit through New Moon, but actually enjoyed this quite a bit. The pacing, while still flawed, was MUCH improved, and I didn't suffer from the constant eyerolling and cringing I expected after the last couple. Some of the characters actually felt somewhat developed, and Bella was less despicable to me than she is in the other movies.
July 1, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Thanks for an actual review, and not a "look at me!" bag-fest. It's heartening to see they're at least trying to make a film this time.
July 2, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Just checking to see if that Snider Script has arrived...
July 5, 2010 at 6:05 pm
First off, let me just say that the comments on this side of the review are FAR less antagonistic and hostile than some (okay, most) on Cinematical. Phew. I felt my own fear/indignation/rage rise as I read, and that was just because I agreed (to myself) with some of the opinions expressed.
Anywho, I find it endlessly fascinating that the majority of the aforementioned comments come from those who are *way* outside the intended Twilight demographic. Now, this isn't a criticism; I'm just making an intrigued observation. In this regard, I agree with Russ: the franchise speaks directly to the wildly (and woefully) impressionable teen/tween girl who longs for her own fairy-tale Edward (disturbing character and vampire traits aside), and Bella's utter lack of characterization and Meyer's use of the 'I' pronoun further invite identification and, by extension, wish fulfilment.
That being said, I have read (and reread) the books. There are elements that I like - but the alarming implications of everything else give me pause. The whole business has no doubt become a cash grab (and a poorly executed one at that), but I think this element only makes everything worse.
Does anyone else miss the ass-kicking, wise-cracking, strong-but-with-endearingly-human-failings Buffy the Vampire Slayer?? God knows I do.