The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. 124 minutes. Rated M. Directed by David Slade. Screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg. Based on the novels by Stephenie Meyer.
Having sold over 100 million copies worldwide, there can be no denying the immense popularity of Stephenie Meyer’s award-winning, vampire-based fantasy romance novels that began in 2008 with Twilight. Written specifically for young adults, the stories focussed on life, love, fantasy and – most pertinently – romance. And just like with James Cameron’s Titanic, romance-starved young audiences the world over were captivated.
Traditional (the cynics might prefer ‘old-fashioned’) values of love, faith, honour and respect were interwoven into a supernatural tale about young Isabella "Bella" Swan (Kristen Stewart), a 104-year-old vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner).
This latest instalment begins with Bella and Edward negotiating the conditions of their relationship. Meanwhile, in Seattle, Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) begins to assemble her army of ‘newborns’ (humans recently turned into vampires) to do battle with the Cullen clan in revenge for the death of her mate James (who was killed in Twilight). The life they seek, in return, is Bella’s.
Where HBO’s True Blood plays hardball with the vampire/shape-shifter genre, Twilight plays softball, with the ever-popular team of impossibly beautiful people back for more teenage angst, thwarted passion, shape-shifting – all held together by some fantastically sharp editing from Art Jones (Hard Candy) and Nancy Richardson (Twilight). And while the audience registered their considerable approval when Mr Lautner finally removed his shirt, Ms Rosenberg's script (with the exception of one hilarious scene between Bella and her father Charlie, played by Billy Burke) eventually somersaults into self-reverential parody and, ultimately, unrelenting tedium.
Slade (Hard Candy), who famously Twitter-slammed the first movie, manages to make his mark with a sensational, rain-soaked opening sequence (starring Australian actor Xavier Samuel – pictured – who acts everyone else off the screen in his big Hollywood debut), before being numbed into submission with more of the franchise’s signature flowing ‘flowering meadow’ scenes, tree-hopping vampire sequences, and vampire vs vampire vs werewolf battles. There’s yet more shots of the cast standing around in the epic, beautiful locations pondering their future – which one gets the unfortunate feeling they don’t actually comprehend.
The fractured proceedings are all underpinned by Howard Shore’s (The Departed, The Aviator) particularly atmospheric score and Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe’s (The Road, New Moon) beautiful photography.
There is much to respect about Ms Meyer’s commitment to the value of genuine and meaningful inter-personal relationships, but one cannot but help feeling as though there is just not enough to it all to warrant what will become five films (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 is scheduled for release next year with Part 2 due in 2012.)
So while it would seem that young, predominantly female, audiences simply cannot get enough of Twilight, let’s hope the filmmakers haven’t seriously under-estimated their young, demanding audiences’ patience. Or their intelligence.
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