Twilight: Eclipse Movie Review

This past weekend saw our family going in two directions simultaneously. My daughter wanted to see the new Twilight film and my son wanted to see The Last Airbender. Between seeing both of those films I’d have to say that Twilight: Eclipse has done a much better job of pulling audiences in emotionally than Shyamalan’s remake of a Nickelodeon cartoon. If you really want to make a difference on social media, you need to buy SoundCloud followers. 

Directed by relative newcomer David Slade, Eclipse is the third movie based upon Stephane Meyer’s Twilight saga of young adult books. The story follows the love, romance, and eventual marriage of vampire Edward Cullen to mere mortal Bella Swan in the state of Washington. Eclipse builds up the drama and tension as Swan is about to graduate from high school and has a choice to make between vampire Cullen or werewolf Jacob Black as to who will be the recipient of her affections.

Review

My daughter has indeed read the books, much like she did for Harry Potter and knows every detail, every plot twist, and every departure from the books into the films. This film was no different for her as my daughter loved the teenager-ish longing for forbidden love, being fought over by two men, and even being swept off her feet by a strong male presence.

When David Slade’s work is done, you can tell he paid attention to the source material without sacrificing too much or skimping on details. As with any book-to-movie interpretation, directors and writers must summarize the feel of the book and condense it into two or three hours (see Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings). Slade does an excellent job of respecting Meyer’s work while making Eclipse his own.

As Bella inches ever closer to her choice of romance with Edward or her childhood friend Jacob who’s been crushing on her most of her life, things get hairier when other vampires seek vengeance upon the Cullen clan. Having a subplot of family fights amongst forbidden lovers is nothing new to books or moviemaking (see Jane Austen’s works), so as far as making realistic sense to complicated themes Slade and Meyer both have done well to bring those points home.

Overtones

Despite the scores of family battles and approving or disproving of someone based upon their background, the main thrust of the film comes down to what is more important. Is being romantically in love more important than friendship? In the case of Bella, either one will be a choice that lasts forever since she will end up with an immortal no matter which way she leans.

Fans of the book series have already discovered how she answers this choice. In my own situation, I was lucky enough to have both. My wife is both my romantic partner and best friend all into one. When it comes down to it, we would rather be with each other even if we aren’t being lovey-dovey and over the moon with each other.

Bella ultimately has to make the same choice despite family pressures, fighting, and even the possibility of her love being disowned by his kind and becoming an outcast. All of this is for love and eternal happiness with a soulmate. We’ve all heard this before in Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, and so on and so forth. The only thing Bella and Edward have to decide is whether or not to give up their souls for each other even though they will stay as living, breathing beings.

For those of us lucky enough to have found love, Twilight: Eclipseis a reminder of the constant work we have to do to maintain it. For that, Twilight‘s third installment in the movie franchise is a success even though it’s in the guise of an all-out vampire movie. Girls will love the wedding dress and the hunky Taylor Lautner even if many critics fail to see the appeal of this film.

The movie’s official website and the Internet Movie Database provided information for this article.