High School and Werewolves and Vamps, Oh My!

Rating: 5/10 (31 July 2010)

Bella Swan has her work cut out for her. To an outsider, her struggle would seem both fascinating and difficult; choosing between a suave, gentlemanly vampire and an aggressive, handsome werewolf would be hard for any high school student, right? Well, in the case of the "Twilight" series, this potentially compelling decision holds no suspense whatsoever. Bella becomes smitten with teen vamp Edward Cullen's icy complexion and awe-inspiring eyebrows the moment she meets him. While she sometimes gets frustrated with his Victorian ideals and his grand gestures, she always crawls back to him, begging for more.
On the other end, Bella has Jacob Black, her childhood friend, who has recently become a werewolf (just how this happened is beyond me). Jacob grows sick of being Bella's pal, so he throws a series of hissy fits to try and win her affection. The audience, of course, knows that Bella will never choose Jacob (this isn't a spoiler; I have yet to even read the final installment of the series). In fact, it seems to me that Jacob exists in the films for the sole purpose of flexing his muscles, and that seems to be more than good enough cause in the eyes of the primarily female audience that the films command.
I realize that these comments could've just as well been tied to the last Twilight film, "New Moon," but that's kind of the point. Not much happens in this supposed "saga." For the past two films, Bella has simply sat around and tried to make a decision. As far as I'm concerned, she made this decision back in the first film, so there isn't much suspense to watching her ponder over it now. Some would argue that Bella is a type of Hamlet figure, and that her indecision, while frustrating, is intriguing enough to embrace fully. Unfortunately, the stakes of Bella's decision never seem all that high in the films, and not much happens as she ponders. "Eclipse" seems to think it has an epic plot in the form of an approaching ragtag vamp army, but even this excursion offers little aside from more opportunities for Bella, Edward, and Jacob to bicker, and for Dakota Fanning and Bryce Dallas Howard to grab a few minutes of screen time.
Very little happens in "Eclipse," and Bella's indecision seems both unwarranted and uninteresting. That being said, the film succeeds on a technical level. The visuals have a real sense of scale to them, despite the fact that some seem too big for the moments they showcase. The visual effects are also fairly impressive, and the music is terrific as usual. While Kristen Stewart resorts to constantly playing with her hair and Taylor Lautner's voice is grating, most of the performances are solid. On the whole, "Eclipse" makes for a beautiful, yet hollow, shell of a movie. Hopefully, the next installment will fill that empty space.