The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Directed by David Slade

(PG-13)

***

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Stephenie Meyer’s wildly popular vampire saga is starting to feel as “airless as a coffin,” said Rafer Guzman in Newsday. To please the novels’ ravenous fans, the third film in the series must “obey the Twilight covenant”—so expect more teen-soap dialogue, “moody blue” lighting, and PG-13 make-outs that leave you frustrated. Sure, the film’s melodramatic baggage can be hard to take, said David Germain in the Associated Press. But if you’ve seen the first two installments, you won’t want to skip out now that the films are hitting their stride. With Eclipse, screenwriter Melissa Rothenberg delivers her “sharpest adaptation yet,” while director David Slade creates a transfixing mix of action and emotion. Bella (Kristen Stewart) longs to join Edward (Robert Pattinson) forever, as a teenage vampire, but when he refuses to make her immortal, she runs to her friend and part-time werewolf, Jacob (Taylor Lautner). These actors have grown into their roles, and the filmmakers find humor in the story’s campy love triangle, said Ann Hornaday in The Washington Post. Eclipse succeeds “with honor, if not panache,” at broadening the series’ scope.