The Twilight Saga: Eclipse movie overview

The Twilight films may be as ruthlessly exploitative a franchise as Harry Potter; they may be devoted to a creepy ideological agenda to promote pre-marital chastity; and they may be simply retreading much of the high-school vampire shtick that made Buffy a TV hit more than a decade ago. But in a universe where almost all CGI-laden, blood-spilling tentpole movies are aimed at ensnaring the teenage male, there's something to be said for a series of films aimed squarely – and successfully – at teenage girls.

While the Potter films are the cinematic equivalent of a cold shower, damping down the urges of its adolescent acolytes, the Twilight films, on the other hand, know all the about the vampire-movie obsession for blood, sex, addiction and death, even if it dilutes it for its own ends. At the point Edward Cullen
(Robert Pattinson) presents Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) with the traditional bauble as he proposes marriage, he could almost be a Jonas brother suggesting she join his Silver Ring Thing; significantly, this comes moments after he's knocked back her invitation to go all the way, claiming it's "too dangerous".

This convoluted preparation for carnal union is arguably the high point of this third Twilight movie, which premiered in London last night: it's triggered by the rampaging hormones of a cross-species love triangle, in which human Bella is fought over by vampireEdward and werewolf Jake Black (Taylor Lautner). These two deadly enemies are, however, forced to join together to battle yet another lethal foe – an army of 'newborn' vampires, created and harnessed by maverick vamp Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) to kill off Bella in a convoluted revenge plot against Edward. (Confused? One thing about the modern vampire film is that however elaborate the mythology it invents, no one involved in the story has any trouble understanding or believing it. So neither should you.)

It is the clear-eyed seriousness of its principal actors that gives Twilight its strength: they communicate the urgency and pain of the raw teen emotions unlocked by these supernatural shenanigans. This third instalment, with a new director in the chair, appears to avoided the impulse to do too much explaining and exposition, and has decided to simply focus on the yearning. This, surely, is what its principal audience comes for: a chance to wallow in the midst of a choice selection of sensitive hunks and sassy gal-pals, all emoting like mad, and each with a nicely melodramatic backstory. And just when it looks like things are getting a tad overwrought, some actual laughs are to be had: Edward and Jacob get catty in their squabble over the girl they both love.

It has been pointed out in the past that, without all the vampire superstructure, Twilight would be just a thin-blooded teen romance about kids too scared to do anything really dangerous. But that would be to detract from the operatic, high-voltage kick that its occult stuff supplies. It's not often you find yourself commending a contemporary teen-oriented franchise for sticking to the old values of character and narrative, but Eclipse, in its sulky, lip-biting way, manages it.