Patience pays off

Rating: Null/10 (1 July 2010)

The first two episodes of the Twilight series (particularly the second) required a considerable amount of patience from the audience (swooning over Robert Pittinson and Taylor Lautner notwithstanding) as they tantamount to two establishing scenes (ultra-long ones in this case) that usually appear in the beginning of a movie. The patience of the audience finally pays off in this third instalment where, armed with the familiarity with the characters and background, they finally get full enjoyment of the movie as events unfold.
The main thrust of the story has to be the eternal triangle. The tantalized sentiments of the three protagonists are rather well drawn out by the movie makers. After giving each of the two gentleman consecutively centre stage in one of the first two episodes, the movie makers now engineer a good balance between them, pleading the case of each, alternatively. Lautner attempts to repeat Clark Gable's feat of singlehandedly destroy the shirt industry ("It happened one night", 1934) while Pattinson exhibits a gentlemanly trait reminiscent of Leslie Howard's character Ashley ("Gone with the wind", 1939). Kristen Stewart, almost minimalistic in her close-up-abundant portrayal of the no-nonsense contemporary young lady, is convincing as their irresistible object of undying devotion.
Almost as important is of course the matter of life and death (two layers, in this particular movie), played out by no less than 4 power groups - three of vampires (one old, one new and the Cullen) and one of werewolves. The build- up is good and the convoluted web of conflicts, alliances and ultra motives rival that of the modern international political intrigue. The finale is a tad anticlimactic but this you would tend to forgive, being aware that something will have to be left for the final episode "Breaking dawn".
Another attraction of this movie is the rich pageantry of interesting characters, of which only a few will be mentioned here as examples, as there are so many. We get three intriguing side stories. Jasper (a very cool Jackson Rathbone) tells how he became an expert in fighting these "Newbies". Rosaline softens towards Bella's approach and explains her apparent hostility with her tragic past. The werewolves reveal the origin of their conflict with the vampires. Each of these stories has also a bearing to a later scene in the movie. As expected, we see the conclusion of Victoria, this time played by an actor with good credentials, Bryce Dallas Howard who was hailed as future bright star in "The village" (2004) (but unfortunately has not yet realized her full potentials to-date). Dakota Fanning's Jane of the Volturi vampire clan that we had only a glimpse of last time ("Full moon") now makes her presence more strongly felt. Among many others, the one that is worth mentioning is the ever-present Anna Kendrick (playing Jessica) whose face you will not forget if you have seen her in Tom Hank's "Up in the air" (2009).