Dialogue sample #1:
Edward: “I know the consequences of the choice you’re making. I’ve lived through it, and to let you suffer that… You believe I have a soul, and I don’t. But to risk yours, just for the sake of never having to lose you, it's the most selfish thing I’ll ever do.”
Bella: "I thought that you were afraid that I'd be too different. Like I wouldn't be...warm, I wouldn't smell the same."
Edward: "You'll always be my Bella. My Bella, just less fragile."(http://twilightsaga.wikia.com)
Dialogue sample #2:
Inga: "Werewolf!"
Dr. Frankenstein: "Werewolf?"
Igor: "There."
Dr. Frankenstein: "What?"
Igor: "There, wolf. There, castle."
(www.imdb.com)
The first dialogue sample is from the third "Twilight" film, the dramatic "Eclipse". The second is from Mel Brooks' hilarious comedy "Young Frankenstein!" from 1973. Both samples make me smile. The difference is that the latter sample is intentionally funny, while the former is supposed to be profound, where "profound" means "indulgent" and "oh-so-sincere". In the context of the film, these spoken words sound hollow and campy, more so than anything in a cult comedy by Brooks, who would later deliver the sporadically funny "Dracula - Dead and Loving It".
Certainly it's not the dialogue that gets audiences to flock to the cinema. I do not deny that the "Twilight" films speak to a specific younger demographic; the box-office is a good indication of this. Consider, however, that the IMDb scores of the three "Twilight" movies, as ranked by users, are 5.5/10, 4.5/10 and 4.8/10. Clearly, most people seem to understand that something is amiss with the franchise but, much like "Transformers" fans, it may be that they cling to the hope that "the next one will be worth it".
"Eclipse", although better than its predecessors, is not worth it. It's a ho-hum continuation of a tired love story spun against a backdrop of inter-species conflict that "Underworld" portrayed with greater flair and substance. The biggest complaint I have about the whole series is that the producers have spent three films telling a story that could easily fit into a single 140 minute feature film. Film 1: Edward and Bella fall in love, while Jacob is a friend; Victoria swears to avenge her lover's death. Film 2: Edward leaves Bella and Jacob makes his move; Victoria is somewhere. Film 3: Victoria assembles an army of vampires to attack the Cullens and give her the chance to kill Bella; Jacob and Edward fight nicely over who gets Bella. The end. It's the result of greed and bad writing that a simple three act story is split into three separate parts, prolonging not only Bella's suffering but also mine. How much screen time do you need to tell people that abstinence is good?
David Slade, who previously directed the antithesis to "Twilight" in the graphic novel adaptation "30 Days of Night", makes "Eclipse" the best looking of the three movies. In addition, he actually makes the action scenes come alive at times despite the weightless special effects (the werewolves look like they exist in another dimension, not the one in which the action is taking place). In the end though, lackluster story trumps visual style, and you can only shoot a pining Bella and panicking Edward in so many ways. (There are, apparently, many ways to frame a shirtless Jacob. At least the film mocks its own obsession with the Native American's naked torso. Cultural-bodily exploitation reaches a new low here.)
There is a scene where Bella, freezing her bottom lip off in a tent atop a snowy mountain, understands that the lifeless Edward cannot supply her with some body heat to warm her. Luckily Jacob, who is indeed warm even without his fur coat, offers his body heat much to Edward's initial chagrin. Then there's a moment where the two men grab each other's arms in the heat of this discussion, and for a second, just a second, I thought that vampire and werewolf would reconcile in ways Stephanie Meyer had not imagined. I'm sure it's unintentional but it's a welcome ambiguous character moment in a film where there are very few surprises.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that there's character development in this film, or the series, at all. Character development is not falling in love, sighing, moaning, and glittering in the sun. It's an internal process by which characters reach a point of metamorphosis, even apotheosis. When I hear people talk of how Bella and Edward have "grown", my heart grows heavy. At this point, essentially, all the characters are exactly the way they started out. Bella's relationship with Edward has provided her with nothing but pseudo-existential angst and a lack of any ambition except to be Edward's wife. How depressing is that?
