The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

The cinema was packed, the popcorn bought, the atmosphere frankly electric. It was the third Twilight movie and we were getting to see it six days early! Now, I must clarify that I am not a huge Twilight fan and so I wasn't so terribly excited myself (had it been the latest Harry Potter movie it would have been a different story) but it was easy to be carried along by the enthusiasm of the crowd.

In contrast to previous Twilight Saga installments, Eclipse begins in fairly dramatic fashion, with a violent altercation on a rainy Seattle street taking place before we even get to see our lovers relaxing in a meadow and reciting Robert Frost to one another. This sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Like a lot of penultimate installments, Eclipse had a lot of information to impart before the denoument of Breaking Dawn (due in two parts in 2011 and 2012), and it goes hell bent for leather to fit it all in, with action following romance following angst following exposition, and round and round again.

The action scenes were fairly intense, with vampires fighting werewolves fighting vampires in mountainous Canada (standing in for the US state of Washington). The series' canon allows both these creatures to walk in daylight, so the fights are actually very well lit and staged, which makes the action refreshingly clear and followable - useful for younger fans. It's true that the CGI wolves are not the smoothest pieces of animation ever rendered, but they work well enough for the purpose. Romance-wise the movie does well to stay at a 12A rating, dealing with Bella's sexual advances and Edward's old-fashioned mores in a light but sensitive fashion. Certainly Bella (Kristin Stewart) is not condemned for having these feelings, which is great to see in a movie aimed at teen girls, even if she does have them for a grimly serious, controlling older man.

This, frankly, was my main problem with the film. The male leads are just not likeable people. Taylor Lautner does his best to inject a little humour and rogueish charm into Jacob, but given that the script calls on him to harangue Bella about her feelings for him for the whole movie, it's hard to really get behind him. Of course for Team Jacob (screaming and cheering regularly from the back of the cinema) this is mitigated by his frequent shirtlessness. Edward (Robert Pattinson) is little better with his dour looks and grim pronouncements. Team Edward seem to love it, however, judging by the giggles and squeaks from all around me.

As far as teen fantasy movies go, Eclipse is pretty good. A solid plot, good script, decent acting, beautiful locations and well-managed action scenes mostly make up for some dodgy relationships, sappy moments that slow down the plot and the occasional Mormon weirdness peeking through.