FILM REVIEW The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Back with bite

12A * 123 mins * 9 July 2010
Distributor: Summit Entertainment
Director: David Slade
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Bryce Dallas Howard, Xavier Samuel, Anna Kendrick

Twilight film in “not gut-wrenchingly awful” shocker? No, we haven’t been glamoured; we’re as surprised as you.

The story lends itself to a more cinematic, reluctant-boyfriend-friendly narrative, for a start. Following on from New Moon’s seven-year-sulk, Eclipse picks up on the eve of war, with the testy Edward/Bella/Jacob love triangle unspooling alongside the rise of a new-born vamp army. Rachel (franchise newbie Dallas Howard) – still out for blood after the murder of her partner – is the one leading the charge against the Cullens and Jacob’s Quileute werewolf tribe. They form an uneasy alliance to protect Bella, who faces her own life-changing decisions about any future with Edward.

As Harry Potter has already proven, the right director can make all the difference when it comes to invigorating a stalled franchise, and 30 Days Of Night helmer David Slade infuses this third entry with the kind of visceral set-pieces, knowing humour and more measured melodrama that the saga has been sorely lacking. The script’s still saturated with clunking dialogue and cack-handed self-importance that all but Twi-hards will find laughable; but it helps that Bella is less wet blanket, more damp paper towel this time – infinitely more likeable as she takes the wheel of her own life story. She even smiles at least twice.

Slade’s frequently striking cinematography (taking in snow-covered peaks and an ominous Seattle skyline) and a pacier structure make Eclipse much more palatable than previous entries, but devotees will still lap it up for undead-disco-ball Edward’s bumper screentime, bonus shirtless action and the aching teen-romance wish-fulfilment. Though the latest chapter in the angsty tween saga won’t be enough to win over R-Pattz, K-Stew and, um, Abz-Man haters – anyone prepared to jump off the bandwagon might just find themselves enjoying Eclipse more than they expected.

Jordan Farley