As movie fans, we’ve all been eagerly anticipating the latest installment in the wildly popular Twilight series, Eclipse. To give you an idea of how much hype this movie has been generating, check out the box office numbers: as of April 21, 2011, the movie has made over $500 million worldwide and it is the 4th highest-grossing film of all time.
Now that the dust has settled, it’s time to assess the true impact of this movie and subsequent trailer. Was it a success? Did it live up to the hype?
To find out, let’s rewind back to the scene where we first laid eyes on Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, and the rest of the gang. You might recall that this was the part where Bella Swan (Taylor Lautner) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) decided to take a walk down the aisle. It was an act of passion that would forever alter their lives and the course of human history as we know it: the werewolf marriage.
Bella and Edward’s wedding was a breathtaking and emotional event. The audience was instantly smitten, and the critical response was overwhelmingly positive. Unfortunately, as you might expect, the wedding wasn’t entirely real. The couple had to put on a show for the media for PR purposes. Even though they had a real marriage ceremony at the end, it was made perfectly clear from the get-go that they were just playing a part. Still, it was a beautiful wedding that had everyone talking.
Well, now that the movie is out, it’s time to rewind back and see how well Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner held up their end of the bargain. In real life, they did decide to walk down the aisle, and it was an extremely emotional moment. Theirs is definitely a love story that will be remembered for all time.
The wedding was so moving that even people who didn’t typically love Twilight were able to let their guard down and enjoy the spectacle. In a testament to their acting abilities, it’s clear that they were able to completely immerse themselves in the role and totally convince the audience that they were indeed getting married.
Unfortunately, while the majority of the film was very realistic, there were a few key moments where the players took it a little too far. The biggest issue was that Bella and Edward spent the majority of the movie apart. This was mainly due to Edward being a werewolf. During certain scenes, he had to wear a muzzle so that he didn’t attack Bella. I’m not going to spoil the big twist in the movie, but I will say that apart from a few choice words here and there, Edward was shockingly tame for a werewolf. In fact, he was so tame that he almost seems like a teddy bear! (Which, of course, he is!)
The point is that while most of the film was very realistic, there were a few choice moments that made me raise an eyebrow. Luckily, these are minor quibbles (at best) and they will in no way detract from the overall brilliance of Eclipse.
For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, I would recommend seeing it in the theater. The 3D presentation was extremely well done and it adds an additional layer of immersive magic to an already amazing film. Plus, you can go home and put your feet up, knowing that you’ve seen a truly groundbreaking movie that will be talked about for years to come.