In The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has made up her mind: she’s chosen to be on Team Edward (Robert Pattinson). While prepping for her departure from high school, her nemesis Victoria (now Bryce Dallas Howard) schemes to build a vampire army to kill Bella. The Cullen family, ever ready to serve as Bella’s guardians, has to enlist the help of the local werewolf tribe to save her. Since one of the werewolves, Jacob (Taylor Lautner) is madly in love with Bella, this makes for an even more uneasy alliance.
Slowly, this series is starting to improve. Having ditched the broken umbrella look, Alice (Ashley Greene) finally has a human haircut. Rosalie (Nikki Reed) and Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) now appear to have some shred of significance to the story now that their origin tales have surfaced. The dialogue between Bella and (insert any character’s name) is starting to feel almost natural. The CGI effects are getting stronger, though the first film didn’t have fake looking werewolves to contend with. I also don’t recall vampires shattering like glass with a single punch, but to each his own.
It seems that many of the core issues that can be taken with the original, as well as New Moon, are left unaddressed. I was under the impression that Bella should be happier now that Edward is back in her life, but Kristen Stewart retains her angst heavy performance. I’ve never seen a more depressing lead, and the fact that two guys continue to vie for her affection is still beyond my understanding. Given the much-ballyhooed catcalls Jacob receives for insisting on maximum shirtless time, he could thrown a stone in town and find a girl more worthy of his time.
Some of these characters are starting to grow on me. Chiefly, I’m most fascinated by Charlie Swan thanks to the strong performance by Billy Burke. Every minute he’s on screen turns into comedy gold that Adam Sandler, David Spade, Chris Rock, Kevin James, and Rob Schneider couldn’t find in last week’s Grown Ups.
It troubles me that young girls may get the idea that having zero personality will somehow make them the hot ticket in high school, or that boys want to spend all their time talking about feelings. Worse, that it’s normal to have a guy walk out on you only to return when you found someone else and at that point you’re expected to forgive him. Most of this series revolves around openly talking about these subjects then sprinkling in fictional lore to keep a few viewers happy. The benefit of this entry is in finally wrapping up some of the storylines that should have been taken care of in New Moon. If you’re invested in the franchise, Eclipse is the darkest entry yet with action you can sink your teeth into. **½
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