The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Teaser Trailer

Yesterday we posted ten seconds of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third film in the Twilight series. Now we've got the full trailer for the David Slade-directed chapter, which, based on this trailer, brings the love triangle between Bella (Kristen Stweart), Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) much closer together.

One of the classic rules of storytelling is 'show don't tell,' but Eclipse is like the Hulk. Eclipse does not care about your puny rules. So, here we've got it all laid out, easy to understand. Bella wants the vampire Edward, but he doesn't want her to lose her humanity. Jacob wants Bella, and will fight for her. Add in a couple of antagonists and we're done. Subtlety what?

Then again, this teaser takes a different tactic from most. It doesn't hint at setpieces, choosing instead to remind a potential audience that we're just here to see these characters romantically butt heads. As such, the whole of the movie's conflict seems to be set in forests and meadows. Which is fine — it is the Pacific Northwest, after all — but that makes the film look cheap and limited in scope.

This trailer also introduces Bryce Dallas Howard, who replaces Rachelle Lefevre as Victoria. (Looking at the IMDB, I'm also pointed to the fact that Jodelle Ferland, the young actress from Silent Hill and Tideland, is in Eclipse, which I hadn't realized previously.) I really hope that Howard and Taylor Lautner come off looking a lot better in the full film than they do here. All those efforts to build tentpole films around Lautner might end up looking pretty silly in a couple months.

But I get it. These movies are not for me. This one in particular is not for me. If these movies are for you, Yahoo has the teaser in HD, should you want to see every pine needle that figuratively decorates Bella's cold heart.