Review: Consistently faithful, 'The Twilight saga; Eclipse'

Film: The Twilight saga: Eclipse
Cast:  Kirsten Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Bryce Dallas Howard,  Billy Burke JaneDirector: David Slade
Rating: * *

A new director, David Slade, a bigger budget and better effects, yet
this one isn’t even close to compelling. Melissa Rosenberg’s adapted screenplay of Stephenie Meyer’s novel ‘Eclipse,’ charts the same route( and to better effects) that the first in the series did, while it also remains consistently faithful to the pulp best-seller.

The central casting and writing credits read the same in all the three installments so far and in the cinematography department Javier Aquirresarobe follows-on from ‘New Moon.’  Bad wigs, terrible make-up and contacts that appear freaky continue to hamper the effect as always. The experience is therefore pretty familiar and unappetising.

There is no new excitement to speak of and the supernatural elements continue to be of the same vein.

A few add-on walk-ins don’t make much of a difference to the central theme of forbidden unholy love between a human, Bella (Kirsten) and a friendly vampire Edward Cullen(Pattinson). Werewolf Jacob Black(Taylor Lautner) is the warm blooded other end of the triangle, providing the animal attraction, a contrast that Bella doesn’t want to see.

Bella is in a hurry to be bitten and converted even while everyone else is trying to dissuade her. The first two films had conviction, this one doesn’t. The contrast between Jacob and Edward is brought out to Edward’s disadvantage.

The parent friendly abstinence message notwithstanding, Ed’s love for Bella appears asexual. Jacob’s for Bella, on the other hand, appears passionate, warm and more human so
Bella’s obsession with Ed is quite unconvincing.

Javier’s aerial photography provides the brief flashes of adrenaline rush, there’s handheld camerawork and quite a few lens changes to provide differing looks to various frames but it isn’t enough to hold your interest throughout. The stars look healthier for sure, their characters seem to have fattened-up on all the blood- but their performances lack energy. They all look listless and act enervated.

This redoubled effort may not be as crude as the first two attempts
were but it’s unable to replicate the  shine, resonance or energy of
the earlier attempts. ‘Twilight’ and ‘New Moon’ had strangely
compelling tones that worked to their advantage whereas ‘Eclipse’ in comparison doesn’t have much of a tone to speak of .

The lack of tension and the overall tedium of the passé fare makes the experience terribly boring.