Does Slade Get It? Yes, He Does

Rating: 9/10 (30 June 2010)

I was apprehensive about seeing The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. I worried that David Slade didn't have much affinity with what is a very female genre piece - a post-feminist meta mythology – plus it appeared as if the producers were actively courting a male audience, dissing (or even spurning) the core demographic. Of course, Eclipse does contain more 'action' and so, in some sense, the narrative demanded a different director to New Moon. Happily, Slade delivered an engrossing – and stunning – film. Slade doesn't have Chris Weitz' poetic sensibility - I especially admired the way he rendered Bella Swan's depression – but, then again, I am not sure Weitz could have directed Eclipse. But what Slade does is balance the different facets of Eclipse - on one side, the rivalry between Jacob Black and Edward Cullen, and Bella's conflicting emotions, and, on the other, the looming menace of the newborns and the ramifications of warfare between the Cullens/Wolves and Victoria's army. It's an awful lot to compress into one movie, but the adaptation didn't feel truncated. I can now appreciate why Riley's role was expanded in the film: Xavier Samuel is a fine actor and his Riley provides a catalyst for much of the drama. Ironically, he eclipsed Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard). As much as I've admired Howard in other films, I am not sure she has the presence required for Victoria - internal politics aside, Rachelle LeFevre manifested her cruelty, hatred and disregard for human values. The diminutive Howard appeared almost meek. Victoria needs to be a vampire Boudica - a flame-haired warrior. Howard didn't exude that. I enjoyed seeing more of the excellent Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Cullen – and, as Bella's pal, Anna Kendrick was given a few extra lines befitting her growing stardom. But the biggest revelation of Eclipse was that, despite their celebrity, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart and the less exposed Taylor Lautner melt into their roles, the characterisation so seamless that you forget who is portraying them. For today's actors, that is an achievement.