Bella Unites the Werewolves and Vampires in Eclipse

“Some say the world will end in fire, / Some say in ice. / From what I've tasted of desire / I hold with those who favor fire. / But if it had to perish twice, / I think I know enough of hate / To say that for destruction ice / Is also great / And would suffice.”

This short Robert Frost poem, Fire and Ice, accompanies our first glimpse of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and her chivalrous boyfriend, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), in Eclipse, the third movie in the Twilight saga. The poem appeared in the book as an epigraph; here, it seems to be part of a homework assignment. The contrast between fire and ice fits the story, as Bella finds herself sandwiched between virile Jacob (Taylor Lautner), a werewolf, and rigid Edward, a vampire.

Undead Edward is icy to the touch, while Jacob is so overheated that he spends all his time shirtless. The destructive edge of the poem fits Bella’s situation too, as we are left to contemplate which has caused her more distress: the apparent chilly indifference of Edward, her one true love, in the second installment, or the fiery passion of Jacob when she sees him as a valued friend who can never be anything more. It sets the tone well for the conflict-laden film to follow, making it an appropriate movie for me to watch during the first weekend of National Poetry Month.

In Eclipse, Edward is back, and Bella is content, though she recoils whenever he mentions marriage, even as she pushes for him to transform her into a vampire. Her protective father Charlie (Billy Burke), who provides most of the film’s funniest moments, doesn’t think much of Edward, since he witnessed the depths of despair to which Bella sank after her dream boy left her. He’d much rather see her pal around with her old chum Jacob.

Bella, who has decided that she will become a vampire immediately after graduation, wants to repair their friendship and spend some time with him before they are parted forever. That’s one nice thing about Bella here. She spends a lot of time thinking about how her disappearance will affect those who care about her, which makes her seem less self-absorbed. There’s also her role as a sort of intermediary between the Cullens and the werewolves. “I’m Switzerland,” she declares, and because of her, these natural enemies are able to work together and strengthen the truce between their two groups.

When I read the books, I liked Eclipse much better than the two that preceded it. In this case, I liked it about as much as the two previous movies, so I guess that means I preferred the movie versions of the first two but not the third. I did generally find it to be a pretty decent adaptation, though parts seem rushed, and some of the side characters show up so briefly that it almost seems silly to have them there.

Werewolves Leah and Seth Clearwater particularly suffer, as do Bella’s school friends. As prominent as her role is in the book, I was disappointed not to see more of Alice (Ashley Greene), Edward’s “sister” and my favorite character in the series. Still, she makes a big impression when she shows up. Jodele Ferland has a small but memorable role as Bree, a sweet young girl who becomes a vampire but never really participates in the violence for which she was transformed. She’s not on screen much and she barely speaks, but she has a great emotional impact, and the conclusion of her arc gives us important information about other characters. I also thought the backstories of Jasper and Rosalie, two of the Cullen siblings, were handled quite well.

Generally, I enjoyed the scenes involving Bella, which constituted most of the movie, and the three leads work well together. Of the three, I think Lautner’s performance was probably the strongest, but Pattinson and Stewart are fine. We also periodically cut to Seattle, where a young vampire named Riley (Xavier Samuel) is busy attempting to control a horde of newborn vampires wreaking havoc on the city. These scenes are disorienting and disturbing, and it takes most of the movie to figure out how it really fits in, at least if you haven’t read the books, which is the case with my parents.

Despite a general lack of blood, this movie is quite violent in its own way as the vampires find uniquely unpleasant ways of destroying each other. The grotesque nature of these moments is enough to encourage me to warn parents with young children to avoid it. On the other hand, there’s no profanity to speak of, and while there is some lip-locking that goes on, the physical intimacy never goes beyond that, and it’s refreshing to hear old-fashioned Edward talk about how important it is to him to remain chaste before marriage.

Two more installments remain in the series. I’m not so sure that Breaking Dawn really merits the two-movie treatment, especially since there are such long stretches of the time in which not much happens. Still, I’ll be very curious to see how it all comes together. If they’re as good as Eclipse, then I won’t mind spending three or four hours watching the Twilight saga come to a close.