Author: Alton Williams

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse ***

Coming to cinemas a mere seven months after the second instalment in the mega successful Twilight film series, the third instalment, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has already been seen by much of its core audience of ravenous fangirls and the boyfriends forcefully dragged along by them thanks to advanced screenings held last week beginning with first showings at the somewhat appropriate time of midnight. And early word of mouth from these screenings has gone some way to suggest that Eclipse just may be the best chapter in the series thus far. And this is in spite of (or maybe because of) numerous changes that occurred during the production of the film, one of the most notable being the recasting of the role of Victoria due to actress Rachelle Lefevre, who played the role in both of the previous films, being unavailable as a result of the film being rushed into production for a summer release and Bryce Dallas Howard taking her place. The other major change is the director, something in keeping with the other parts of the series, with New Moon director Chris Weitz being replaced by David Slade. Slade, whose previous credits include 30 Days of Night (another vampire flick, albeit one very different to this) and Hard Candy, comes from a horror background, signalling another change of direction for the franchise after director Catherine Hardwicke’s teen drama approach on the first film and Weitz’s fantasy approach on the second. The horror approach certainly seems like an apt direction to take the franchise in, especially given some of the more horror-esque elements of this particular story, but does this truly make for the best part of the series as word of mouth this far has suggested the film to be?

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) once again finds herself surrounded by danger as Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings being carried out by the powerful newborn vampire Riley Biers (Xavier Samuel) and the vampire army he is building, and malicious vampire Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) continues her quest for revenge against her. With the forces of The Volturi – Jane (Dakota Fanning), Alec (Cameron Bright), Demetri (Charlie Bewley) and Felix (Daniel Cudmore) – just standing by and watching, it is up to The Cullens – Edward (Robert Pattinson), Alice (Ashley Greene), Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), Esme (Elizabeth Reaser), Emmet (Kellan Lutz) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed) – to protect not only Bella but the whole town of Forks. They can’t do it alone, though, and are forced to form an uneasy alliance with the werewolves. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between vampire Edward and werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) – knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella is confronted with the most important decision of her life…

To date, this critic has been more favourable than most when it comes to the Twilight films but even I must admit that the formula is starting to tire a bit. In this critic’s opinion, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is more like the weakest instalment in the series rather than the best as many have suggested it to be. One of the key reasons for this is the storyline. While the film apparently stays true to its literary inspiration – ensuring that the fans will be satisfied at least – it really seems to be taking a long time to actually get somewhere, the romance feeling rather dragged out as we enter the third chapter in the series. The romance is actually sidelined a lot this time around, although this proves to be something of a good thing as the side story about the formation of a vampire army and Victoria seeking her revenge seems a lot more interesting than Bella’s personal issues this time. The major problem is that this side story seems to build up to something big then goes out with a whimper. The much built up supernatural rumble between the newborn vampires and the Cullen-werewolf coalition is over swiftly and proves to be one big anti-climax, not helped by the fact that the visual effects which seemed pretty good in the last film are considerably less impressive in the bigger scale sequences on display here. Also, Victoria’s attempt at revenge is lukewarm and the resolution to the plot is over just as swiftly as the battle and even less satisfying. On top of this, the dialogue, while being at least competent for the most part, is rarely anything more, often proving obvious and occasionally being cheesy, e.g. Jacob saying to Edward: “I’m hotter than you” – there’s a double entendre for you. Of course, however, these are really problems that stem from the book the film is based on rather than issues with the film itself necessarily. David Slade’s direction is solid and he does a pretty good job with the horror aspect of the film – the Twilight series is following in the footsteps of the Harry Potter films in getting darker with each new instalment, this certainly being the scariest of the three films (not saying much really) – but he proves less adept at the romance side of things. Some attempt is made at fleshing out certain key characters, with flashbacks providing insights into how both Jasper and Rosalie became vampires and how the blood rivalry between the vampires and the werewolves began. Also, the performances are mostly of a good standard. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner are all just as good as in the previous film and their chemistries are just as strong, even though they display little in their performances that they haven’t before. Bryce Dallas Howard is a worthy replacement for Rachelle Lefevre, even though she lacks the fiery passion that she brought to the role. Xavier Samuels is fairly menacing, if woefully underused, antagonist and Dakota Fanning is perfectly sinister but just as little seen as in the last film. The performers in general are good enough to ensure that the film proves to be plenty watchable and there is enough action, romance and humorous moments (mostly related to everyday teenage issues) to ensure that the film proves enjoyable. Additionally, Taylor Lautner has his shirt off for much of the film ensuring that the bloodthirsty teenage girls will be fully satisfied. In fact, the Twilight fanbase are virtually guaranteed to love this film despite all its flaws. However, it is clear that rushing the film into production for a summer release was not a wise move and anyone else will wonder what all the fuss is about as, while being a decent film, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse suggests that there may only be limited life span to the franchise. Clearly, The Twilight Saga is not immortal like the vampires that exist within it.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Predators ****

“Fear is reborn” is the claim made by the trailers and posters for Predators, this year’s eagerly anticipated sequel to the original Predator films (ignoring the Alien Vs Predator films) that sees the series return to its roots following the somewhat mediocre reception to the Alien Vs Predator movies that saw the Predators go up against the Xenomorphs from the Alien movies. Coming 23 years (or this critic’s entire life to date) after the original sci-fi classic Predator started it all, this revival is brought about by Robert Rodriguez who conceived the basic plot back in 1994 while working on Desperado but whose script was rejected on the grounds that it would be too expensive to make. Last year, the studio decided to follow through with his script, in the end opting to go with an updated script not written by him but rather first time writers Alex Litvak and Michael Finch. Notably, Rodriguez is also only on producing duties (due to his commitments to this year’s also eagerly anticipated film Machete), directing duties being handled by Nimród Antal who was given the role because Rodriguez enjoyed his earlier films Control and Vacancy. Clearly, the journey to getting onto the big screen has not gone entirely as well as could have been hoped for (Rodriguez having a significant amount of creative control over the project and those who have worked on it but not actually writing or directing it) but does Predators (a title intended as a double-entendre, describing both the alien hunters and the human characters who they are hunting) manage to follow in the footsteps of Aliens in being a superior sequel?

Royce (Adrien Brody) is a cold-blooded mercenary whose only allegiance is to himself and those who pay him. Mysteriously transported to a hostile jungle terrain, he meets a group of others who’ve been taken, including Cuchillo (Danny Trejo), Noland (Laurence Fishburne), Isabelle (Alice Braga), Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov), Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien) and Mombasa (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali). With the notable exception of physician Edwin (Topher Grace), they are all remorseless killers – soldiers, mercenaries, Yakuza, cartel members, convicts, death squad members. Slowly the group realizes that they’ve all been specially chosen for a reason. They are on an alien planet that is a gigantic game reserve – and they are the game. Then the killing begins. As his companions are systematically picked off by invisible killers with advanced weaponry, Royce reluctantly becomes the survivors’ leader, desperately seeking a way to combat these unstoppable alien Predators.

Anyone who has seen the original 1987 Predator film will get a clear sense of familiarity when seeing Predators. After all, the basic scenario is virtually the same as that of the original film, only based around a somewhat more disparic group of characters and set on an alien planet. In many ways in fact, the film is something of a throwback to the action movies of the 1980s (something which seems to be very in this year) but rather than making the film seem tired, stale or unoriginal, returning to the roots of the franchise and a more back to basics approach proves to be quite a smart move and it is clear that this is a film made with fans in mind, with everything that made the original film the classic it was being present and accounted for, including the infrared Predator view shots and a well placed reference to the original film being provided by Alice Braga’s character. Wasting no time in getting started – the film kicks off with the characters literally being dropped onto the planet – director Nimród Antal bides his time before actually introducing the Predators but starts building the tension from the let go, creating a genuine sense of threat before we even get to see the alien hunters themselves. And when they do appear, they do not disappoint, being excellently realized thanks to great make-up and prosthetic effects. The Predators are not the only alien creatures either with others being realized through some solid, if not amazing, visual effects work. Antal also doesn’t shy away from the red stuff, delivering a number of fairly gory scenes but fortunately avoiding the grotesque excesses that many scare flicks embrace nowadays. Viewers with a squeamish temperament should find that the film doesn’t deliver too much to make them squirm and stays well on the right side of the line that shouldn’t be crossed in what is depicted. The action sequences provided by Antal are well executed and shot and effective use is made of the terrain in which the events are taking place. There is certainly much to please the fans here and anyone who has ever wanted to see a man take on a Predator with nothing more than a samurai sword will definitely be satisfied. The alien jungle planet itself, while perhaps seeming a bit too Earth-like at times, is a suitably foreboding backdrop for the action. Plot and character development are fairly minimal here but the film delivers just as much as is necessary – which isn’t all that much really. We know as much about each of the characters as they know about each other and we really do not need to know anything more. They are killers, just like the Predators, and this is all that really matters. There is, however, one somewhat surprising revelation with one of the characters but I won’t spoil it here. On the performances front, Adrien Brody, hardly the obvious choice for a tough guy role or an action (anti)hero, actually proves very convincing in the role and brings a degree of gravitas to proceedings. Sure, he won’t win any awards for his performance but he certainly portrays plenty of machismo. Elsewhere, Alice Braga proves suitably tough with a hint of emotion, Topher Grace surprises (I won’t spoil it), Laurence Fishburne delivers one very cool, if all too brief (it’s really just a cameo), appearance and Robert Rodriguez fans will enjoy the presence of Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo. So, all in all, Predators is a well executed movie that does the original film proud, even it is somewhat unlikely it will ever be regarded in the same class. It isn’t quite the Aliens of the Predator franchise but it is most definitely a film with plenty to offer the fans. Is fear reborn? Not exactly, but it is revived for a whole new generation.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)