Movie Review: 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' - The best 'Twilight' movie so far

Hungry eyes! Edward and Bella can't wait to get it on in "Eclipse." PHOTO: Summit Entertainment

 Team Edward or Team Jacob? That is the question. To be frank, I couldn't care less.

 I’ve never understood the appeal of Stephanie Meyers insanely popular novels and in all likelihood, I never will but I know a bad movie when I see one. “Twilight” and “New Moon” are textbook examples of bad filmmaking. On the other hand, “Eclipse,” is not a bad film. It's at best, mediocre. While “Eclipse” is still plagued by telenovela-level acting, hammy dialogues, weak CGI and a bloodless storyline, it’s the first film in the series that seems to say, “Look, we’re actually trying this time!”

“Eclipse” carries on where “New Moon” left off with Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) still moping about their future together. Glittery Edward wants whiny Bella to marry him but to his dismay, she’s more interested in becoming a vampire and having pre-marital sex despite the objections of every sane individual around her. Chief among these is shirtless Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), Bella’s best friend, confidant and part-time werewolf/underwear model who continues to harbor a massive crush on her. 

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE

Obviously, this rakes up the (homo-erotic) tension between Edward and Jacob, who in another movie would rip each other apart (like they should) but over here, are reduced to one-upping each other in a nostril-flaring stare contest. Just as the tension between the two begins to thread the boiling point, the trio is interrupted by the Edward’s psychic sister Alice (Ashley Greene) who warns them of an impending attack by red-headed vampire Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her newly-created army of vampire newborns. Fearing for Bella’s safety, Edward and Jacob reluctantly put aside their differences, join forces and prepare for the worst.

The most shocking thing about “Eclipse” is how much of an improvement it is over its predecessors, the flimsy “Twilight” and the laughably bad and idiotic “New Moon,” one of the worst movies of 2009. As I stated earlier, for the first time in the series’ history, the filmmakers (director David Slade and writer Melissa Rosenberg) have attempted to make a good movie. While they don’t succeed in making “Eclipse” a good film (it’s impossible with this source material), I have to credit Slade, the director of the outstanding independent thriller “Hard Candy” and the stylish vampire horror movie “30 Days of Night” for cutting down the number of unintentionally hilarious moments that infested the first two films, for pumping the pace of the movie significantly, for finding a strong balance between the romance and the action, and for injecting the film with grit and the darkness missing in the first two installments. Additionally, cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe continues his strong work on “New Moon” with another beautifully-shot film that does a great job with the grim and overcast locales of the Washington landscape.

Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner in "Eclipse."
PHOTO: Summit Entertainment

It may be the darkest installment but “Eclipse” is also the first one that has legitimately funny moments, some which even subtly poke fun at the series. Pattinson gets a nice jab at Lautner about his clothing choices. Lautner gets to gloat about his attractiveness and an amusing scene set in a tent is probably the best acted and written scene in the series. But perhaps the best thing about “Eclipse” is that it works on broadening the scope of the “Twilight” series by giving more screen-time to its supporting characters. The characters of Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed) are no longer silent caricatures thanks to well-shot flashback sequences that detail their lives as humans and eventual transformations. These flashbacks, along with more screen time do a lot to give these characters the depth they sorely need. Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”) also gets a nice sequence to prove why she’s an Oscar-nominee. I may not have any interest in this series but now, at least I want to know how it all ties up.

As much as “Eclipse” improves on the first two films, it’s still doesn’t pass as a good movie. Like its predecessors, the biggest problem here is the source material and the characters themselves. Bella Swan continues to be one of the whiniest, daftest and dependant heroines to ever grace the silver screen. She defines the worthless damsel-in-distress. Additionally, there is still nothing in this series that gives me a reason to believe why these two guys are falling head-over-heels in love with her. Like its predecessors, the dialogues in “Eclipse” remain hammy and comical. Gems like, “From now on, I’m Switzerland,” “I'm going to fight for you until your heart stops beating,” and “I promise to love you every moment of forever” aren’t going to help convert intelligent moviegoers that these movies are more than supernatural soap operas. While the CGI in “Eclipse” isn’t downright bad as it were in the previous films, it’s still weak considering this was a $70 million production.

The supporting cast of "Eclipse" is significantly stronger than the
leading cast. PHOTO: Summit Entertainment

 As with “Twilight” and “New Moon,” the Achilles heel of “Eclipse” is the unintentionally comical acting. Stewart, who has proved she can act in movies like “Panic Room,” “Adventureland” and “The Runaways,” continues to remain as lifeless as ever, doing her very best to make sure Bella Swan remains as interesting as a fish stick. Pattinson makes more of an impact this time around but that’s solely because he was missing for most of the last film. Lautner, who was perhaps the best performer in “New Moon” is wildly uneven here with his soap opera-level reactions. Nice abs though.

BOTTOM LINE: “Eclipse” will be like the second coming for TwiHards but will be the same-old, same-old for everyone else. Like its predecessors, this third installment is infected with bad dialogues, laughable acting and worthless characters that remain as uninteresting as the day we first met them. To its credit, the film is much better than “Twilight” and “New Moon” thanks to director David Slade who manages to amp the action, strengthen the supporting characters and give the series a much-needed shot of grit.

GRADE:

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE
Directed by: David Slade
Written by: Melissa Rosenberg
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene
Rated: PG-13 (for intense sequences of action and violence, and some sensuality)

 “THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE” is now playing at all movie theaters across South Florida. Click on the NCM Widget below for showtimes.

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