The Twilight Saga is back with a vengeance, tearing into box office records with its midnight launch on Wednesday grossing $30 million at 4,000 theaters.
Our family, which succumbed to Stephenie Myer’s vampire romance thriller series as the literary craze of our kids’ teen years, has screened every “Twilight” movie opening weekend. So it was no surprise our daughter booked “Eclipse” tickets on opening day.
Better measurably than the first two installments, the pace moves a little more languidly than it ought, and the plot is a little thin. Yet the relationship tension feels authentic as high schooler Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) struggles with committing for eternity to her steady undead boyfriend Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) or werewolf suitor Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). The film dutifully hits all of the novel’s high points as vampire Victoria creates an army of newborn vampires to wipe out the Cullen vampire clan, and the Native American werewolf clan joins forces with the Cullens to defend Bella and the town from the bloodthirsty hordes.
While occasionally Stewart and Pattinson’s studiously flat delivery comes across as bloodless (sigh, cursory undead joke), the heat between Jacob and Bella is authentic, and the sparring between the two suitors rings true.
Myer’s witty dialog hits its stride when Jacob and Edward trade barbs during a long stormy night camping on a mountainside before the vampire army attacks. “I’m just hotter than you,” Jacob cracks.
My co-worker Terrence Vaughn voted thumbs up on the flashbacks, which added historical context to how the Cullens came to be forever young, and he said the pacing and characterizations were “much better than in previous films.”
Vaughn’s daughter Mackenzy, 13, had this insight: “ Hands down the books are better than the movie. They give us a new perspective on life, and a second to think about what you are doing with it. Eclipse tries to capture this and is better and more believable as it develops.”
While the story isn’t as rich as the first or final book, the film is sure to delight Twi-hards like Mackenzy.
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