It may be the third movie, but the fan craze has not abated, if anything the fan base for Twilight continues to grow as The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is released around the world. Tickets for the midnight release of the movie were sold out weeks in advance as fans of all ages readied themselves for the third installment. The movie set a midnight release record of $30 million, and was also the largest grossing Wednesday opening of all time, earning $68.5 million in the first full day. The results for the first week were a total of $187 million domestic and $287 million worldwide.
Fans attended many different midnight screenings around the world, including Loews Waterfront in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where I went to see the film. Going into the movie, many fans were still split between “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob,” while some were still “Team Switzerland” (those who like both). There were different aspects people were looking forward to, but a few seemed to be the most anticipated, such as the fight between the vampires and werewolves as Megan McNerney, 15, was waiting for. The Bella and Edward romance was a big topic, such as with Lauren Hobson, Jenna Lutz, and Joanne Urban. Another thing fans were looking forward to was Edward and Jacob fighting, such as Nina Baker wanted to see; whereas Erica Obato was looking forward to seeing the newborn (newly turned) vampires. Others like Caitlyn McNerney wanted to see how close the movie followed the book. I went in hoping there would be a good deal of material incorporated from Stephenie Meyer’s latest book, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, which takes place during Eclipse.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, based on Meyer’s book of the same name, opens with the character of Riley (played by Xavier Samuel) as he is attacked and bitten by a vampire. It turns out that he is one of the many missing teens that had disappeared. He is helping to create an army of newborn vampires that Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) is sending to kill Bella (Kristen Stewart) and the Cullen family. The group also includes Bree Tanner (Jodelle Ferland), though unfortunately not much else from Meyer’s new book makes it into the movie.
This time the vampires and werewolves must work together to stop Victoria and protect Bella. The Volturi also return again, led by Jane (Dakota Fanning). Another new character in the film is Leah Clearwater (Julia Jones), who is a new member of the wolf pack.
The third movie will finally answer who Bella chooses: Edward (Robert Pattinson) or Jacob (Taylor Lautner), but not before Bella and Jacob share a kiss for the Team Jacob fans. The story this time around, once again adapted by Melissa Rosenberg, is also darker and there is a good deal more action. The story follows the book fairly well, and delves more into the back stories of some of the supporting characters, such as explaining why Rosalie (Nikki Reed) resents Bella and also telling the story of how Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) was turned.
There is more romance and more fighting this time, and most things have improved. The effects and choreography of the fight scenes made them more enjoyable this time, and there was a lot less “sparkling,” which at least to this fan, is a good thing. The makeup, however, still leaves a lot to be desired on certain characters, especially Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) and Rosalie. The hard, stone-like quality of the breaking vampire skin is also an interesting take.
Some of the acting has improved, though Pattinson is still making faces and Stewart is still her passive self, though this may have more to do with the directing and the characters in the book than the acting itself. The standout performances in this edition have to be Taylor Lautner and Dakota Fanning. Lautner makes Jacob both cocky and endearing at the same time, and of course no one can forget those abs. Fanning was once again creepy and sadistic in her role, whose reserved nature helped to make her that much more scary.
The movie had quite a few funny moments as well, even if they were somewhat cheesy and aimed at the fans, almost poking fun at the movie itself. Once again a lot of the great one-liners went to Charlie Swan (Billy Burke), but Edward and Jacob have a witty bantering session as they discuss Bella.
The movie seems to cater to the fans, and is geared towards more of a female teenage audience once again, even though the books seem more for a wider audience. Fans of the books or fans of the movie franchise will love it; however, those who are not Twilight fans will probably not be as impressed. It does seem that most people, whether they loved the show or not, did think it was better than the previous two, which probably has a lot to do with a higher budget. For those less in it for the romance and more for the action, there is a lot of vampire and werewolf ass-kicking as well.
It’s no secret that The Twilight Saga: Eclipse will be the big blockbuster of the summer, and it’s still not over. The franchise will return with the adaptation of Breaking Dawn, which following in the steps of the Harry Potter film series, will be broken into two parts, with part one coming in November of 2011 and the last part premiering some time in 2012.
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