THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE (2010)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
This is not supposed to happen. Ordinarily, a series of sequels are not supposed to improve with each subsequent chapter. "Eclipse," the third chapter in the "Twilight" Saga, is the best by far, alternately sleek, adventurous, romantically heightened, dramatic and consistently surprising. I can say that I cannot wait to see how this all ends with "Breaking Dawn," an unusual ringing endorsement on my part.
Bella Swan, when we last saw her, was adamant about living a life with Edward (Robert Pattinson), the century-old vampire stuck in brooding James Dean mode. It seems she chose Edward over Jacob (Taylor Lautner), a werewolf sans T-shirts, yet she loves them both so what is a girl going to do when choosing between a vampire and a werewolf? Well, it turns out that marrying a vampire means she has to die, and living with a werewolf means she can live and breathe as a human. Weighing life and death options of this fantastical nature seems a bit much to carry on the shoulders of an 18-year-old girl.
Record high disappearances of young folk are occurring in Seattle. These youths are bitten by vampires and become undead fang-ready monsters, "newborns," collectively killing other folks in what looks like flash mob killings. These newborns are headed for Forks, the cloudy Washington town where the sun barely flickers and where Bella and the whole gang, who are ready to graduate high-school, reside. Edward's clan, the Cullens, reluctantly join the werewolf pack of shirtless Situations, along with Jacob respectively, to stop the newborns who have a potential leader in, geez, I will not give it away. "Twilight" fans know who I am referring to. Added to all this is the swooning between Bella and Edward, and the jealous Jacob whose love for Bella is strong. It is so strong that she wants her to choose him because he feels there can be no future with people whose skin glitters when the sun is out.
Kristen Stewart once again proves what a fantastic actress she is. As with "Adventureland" and "The Runaways," Stewart dazzles the screen with her minimalist expressions - she is so damn good that we wonder what she is really thinking. She conveys brilliantly the choice and the morality of a grave decision that she is so naive and yet so intelligent in pondering - how can someone so young be so willing to die for someone's love whom she still has not had sex with? Stewart somehow makes Bella appear as if she has lived a long life, just like a vampire, and the upshot is that not even Edward wants her to make this fatal decision. After all, the vampires in these stories didn't choose to become vampires.
Robert Pattinson still has a limited role at best, conveying enough poise as Edward but the character is so intriguing and mysterious that I wanted to learn more. Taylor Lautner has improved greatly as Jacob and I almost want to say I am in the Team Jacob camp. Something tells me his character didn't choose to be a werewolf but I guess we will find out in the future installments.
"Eclipse" is swift, superbly acted and remarkably directed (the scene in the tent in freezing temperatures is hypnotic). I am not always a fan of close-ups but these faces of Bella, Jacob and Edward are unforgettable, wondrous, lovely faces - you do not want to turn away from them. I'd be okay with ten more movies about this forlorn love triangle of such improbable proportions, over the period of, well, the rest of their lives. Some might think I am crazy but "Eclipse" is (wait for it, wait...) one of the most emotional, mature and endearing of all teen love stories I have seen. Call me insane as someone who should be subjected to a mental asylum on Shutter Island for even liking this series, but I didn't want it to end.
Cinematic Vampire Note: From what I have seen, I also like the HBO series, "True Blood" and my favorite vampire films are the 1922 and 1979 versions of "Nosferatu, " just so you know where I am coming from.
