The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – Marriage; Edward wants to marry Bella before turning her into a vampire but Bella doesn’t see the point of marriage, expecting it to end in divorce (just like her own parents). Meanwhile, Victoria and new vamp Riley are creating an army of ‘newborns’; newly created vampires whose aggression and thirst for blood is uncontrollable.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) – Director: David Slade

Rating: 12

Running Length: 124 mins

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner

Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Horror

REVIEW: ‘THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE’

The third instalment of Stephanie Meyer’s ‘Twilight Saga’, ‘Eclipse’ sees Bella and Edward facing a vengeful Victoria, the vampire from the first movie whose mate, James, was killed by the Cullens after he attacked Bella. Having more attention focused on the action and less on the romance between Edward and Bella means that ‘Eclipse’ is a much more enjoyable movie then either of the first two instalments.

Stewart and Pattinson reprise their roles as lead characters Bella and Edward, while Lautner continues his role as Jacob, the third wheel in the love triangle. Thankfully, the tension of impending doom and the reluctant alliance of the Cullens and Jacob’s wolf pack provide a welcome distraction to the rather tortured romance drama. While this movie is packed full of clichés and flaws, the overall plot is handled well and the action sequence at the end of the movie between the newborn army and the Cullen/wolf pack alliance is an entertaining affair for various ages.

CONTENT: IS ‘TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The opening scene shows a young man, Riley, being pursued at night while it is raining. He is clearly terrified of his unseen attacker and when he is knocked to the floor, he cries out in pain, and a deep gash is displayed on his hand. This is quite a sustained and intense scene and is likely to be frightening for younger children.

Another scene shows the history of the wolf pack. After the wolves kill a vampire who has murdered several of their tribe, his cold-blooded mate seeks vengeance by attacking the village ruthlessly and indiscriminately. When the elder of the tribe fights her, his wife mortally stabs herself in order to distract the vampire and therefore give the elder an opportunity to kill her. This is the first graphically violent scene of the film and we feel that if a child can watch this without too much distress, they should be fine with the rest of the movie.

While Bella is determined to become a vampire, Edward’s ‘sister’, Rosalie is against the idea and tells Bella how she met her fate. This scene shows Rosalie walking alone and coming across her drunk boyfriend and several of his friends. Her boyfriend forcibly kisses and her when one of his friends says that he would like to see her naked, he tries to remove her clothes. She tries to get away but is dragged back. Rosalie provides the dialogue, saying that they left her in the gutter for dead and that a vampire came along, attracted to the blood. This is clearly a reference to a brutal gang-rape and it may not be appropriate for children to be exposed to such an adult theme.

There are several other, non-violent, sexual references throughout ‘Eclipse’. For instance, Bella’s dad asks whether she and Edward are ‘taking precautions’ to which Bella responds ‘I’m a virgin’. Later, Bella and Edward are kissing passionately on a bed. Edward is reluctant and soon stops, telling Bella to stop taking her clothes off.

The finale of the movie is violent with antagonist vampires being attacked by the Cullens as well as aggressive, snarling wolves. There are several times when vampires have their necks broken or are decapitated, to which there is an accompanying sound of ice breaking. One of the vampires is a little girl, around the age of 12. When ‘The Volturi’ arrive, she is tortured for a few seconds and is shown to drop to the floor, writhing and screaming in agony. Immediately after this, she is killed by a large vampire who approaches her in a very menacing way, the camera cuts at the appropriate moment but her fearful scream is heard.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE’

‘Twilight: Eclipse’ manages to make the move from teen romance to a more mature and balanced fantasy action movie which understands the less is more when it comes to the romance. Its plot has more depth and is much more gripping than its predecessors. However, due to the violence and sexual references, we would not recommend this movie to under 12s.

• Violence: 3/5 (mostly towards vampires who do not bleed but need to be decapitated and burned to be killed. Several scenes of strong violence towards teenagers, one includes the carnage of 4 vampires kneeling and feeding on a human while there are sounds of panic in the background)
• Emotional Distress: 0/5
• Fear Factor: 3/5 (the character of Victoria is particularly frightening, one scene shows her ‘turning’ a teenage boy and he screams in agony)
• Sexual Content: 3/5 (several references in the dialogue as well as Bella and Edward’s passionate kissing and desire to be intimate)            
• Bad Language: 1/5 (mild cursing and blasphemy)
• Dialogue: 4/5 (references to death, gruesome killings, sexual violence, drinking blood and decapitations)
• Other notes: Deals with themes of love, unrequited love, sacrifice, working with a rival to fight a common foe, protecting those you care about.

Words by Laura Record

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