Gives us very few reasons to be excited for the fourth instalment Breaking Dawn

Rating: 4/10 (7 July 2010)

In the small town of Forks a series of strange murders has sparked tensions. It becomes apparent that there is a plot to transform ordinary people into newborn vampires, who are unable to think for themselves. At the hands of this scheme is the vampire Victoria who is forging a small army so that she can destroy the Cullen family. The Cullen's seek to form an uneasy alliance with the werewolves, believing that they can only win the battle with their help. This means that Edward (Robert Pattinson) has to learn to work with Jacob (Taylor Lautner), even though they are caught in an awkward love triangle for Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her affection. Edward isn't willing to change Bella into a vampire until they get married and she is not willing to make this kind of commitment as her true feelings for Jacob remain unresolved.
The third film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's vampire novels gives us very few reasons to be excited for the fourth instalment Breaking Dawn. After the disastrous New Moon, director Chris Weitz has been replaced by David Slade who previously made the thriller Hard Candy. His efforts here as a director do not provide this sequel with the drastic leap in quality that some have spoken of. If anything this film is a step-down from the first instalment, which was filmed by Catherine Hardwicke on a modest budget and at least had a rich romantic atmosphere. Eclipse will mean little to those who have not read the books. This is because the story between each of the films has become increasingly banal. Much of the film is devoted to the love triangle but both the dialogue and the performances fail to spark any reason why we should care. Whereas in the first film characters like Bella and Edward were awkward in the uncertainty on each other, and rather ironically human, here the actors are left with schmaltzy and uninteresting conversations about how much they love each and how they are never going to give up. There are also several flashbacks, detailing the origins of the conflict between the werewolves and the vampires, just in case anyone was actually curious. The material is dreary and further compounded by the monotone performances of Stewart and Lautner. Pattinson has a slightly cooler, more charismatic presence here than the others at least. The boring scenes of dialogue and exposition are interspersed with more lively action scenes that are chaotically handled, with many of the vampires being smashed into pieces as though they are made from blocks of ice. Why this is happening and who is being attacked other than the trio are things that the film is not particularly interested in. These issues will mean little to fans of the books who have probably already seen the film on its opening day and are now preparing for Breaking Dawn. There will be one extra seat vacant for them.