Image Credit: Kimberley FrenchThe Twilight series is, in many ways, a high school girl’s fantasyland: all the hot boys want you, all the girls want to be your best friend, battles are fought over you, your dad has a mustache. EW critic Owen Gleiberman has expertly noted the different strands of feminism, post-feminism, anti-feminism, and WTFism that run throughout the various audience responses to the series. But according to the L.A. Times, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse snagged an audience that was 35 percent male, a whopping increase from the 20 percent male population that sat through New Moon. And I’m betting more men will see it in the ensuing weeks, because, in a weird way, Eclipse is an old-school action movie, recalling the plotline of Seven Samurai in its narrative economy and slow-burn build-up.
Consider: in Seven Samurai (and its fondly-remembered, actually-meh cowboy remake, The Magnificent Seven), a gang of outsiders help distrustful locals repel an invading force of nomadic bandits. Replace “Samurai” with “Vampires,” “distrustful locals” with “distrustful werewolves,” and “nomadic bandits” with “freaky newborn vampires,” and you’ve got Eclipse. Sure, you could argue that not much happens in the first three-quarters of the Eclipse…but that’s pretty much how old action movies worked, in the pre-Schwarzenegger era. Action movies like The Dirty Dozen are about 85 percent build-up to one big action sequence, not dozens of tiny action sequences sprinkled in between unconvincing character arcs and terrible dialogue. (Hi, Transformers!) And what makes Eclipse even more interesting is that all the action-movie shenanigans are refracted through the eyes of Bella. Most old-school action movies featured a female character, usually a girlfriend or a damsel in distress, and Eclipse almost plays like a Wicked-style re-imagining of an older movie from that damsel’s perspective.
I don’t want to overanalyze Eclipse or make it sound like genuine cinematic masterpiece. (Lest we forget, none of the Seven Samurai were walking around shirtless in the snow). But for a franchise about glittery vampires who love emo music and crying, I thought Eclipse was pretty fricking badass. What do you think of Eclipse as an action movie, PopWatchers? Is the threequel more male-friendly than the other Twilights? Or does the best reason to see Eclipse remain “My girlfriend begged me to take her to see any movie featuring any female characters at all, because she apparently blinked long enough to miss Jessica Biel in The A-Team?”
Oh no. You did not just compare Eclipse to Wicked (musical or book).
And Seven Samurai?!?!? Sweet zombie jesus, you’ve got to me kidding me!
Magnificent Seven meh? No credibility.
Also, the explanation of how old-school action movies works falls apart if you watch, oh, I don’t know, SEVEN SAMURAI. There are multiple action sequences in the film. This is a terrible article.
Terrible article, and way off point. Pretty much everything written in here can be proven wrong. Ughh, find something else to write about
Well that proves this writer is definitely gay.. and eclipse seems to be a gay/girl action fantasy
…and it’s definitely making me feel excited.
Oh Ambient lite, you’re such a troll ^_^
and I’m in love with you. And Twilight.
Okay. Lmfao. This getting ridiculous. I just read a hilarious (realistic) review of Eclipse:
http://laineygossip.com/Twilight_Eclipse_movie_review_05july10.aspx?CatID=0&CelID=0
And I just had to check it out myself, so naturally I found an illegal version online. All the do is TALK the whole film. I ended up fastforwarding through pretty much the whole film. There’s NO action at all! Even the so call action at the end is lame, because the effects are so bad.
how dare someone compare an average book to another average book, wicked.
Wicked, by any means, is not some wonderful masterpiece, unlike the musical, which is a masterpiece, that doesn’t even really follow the book’s plot line BECAUSE THE BOOKS PLOTLINE IS SKETCHY AND ALL OVER THE PLACE, and exceptionally whiny.
I’m not overly praising twilight here, but come on, let’s not put wicked:the book on a pedestal either.
“how dare someone compare an average book to another average book, wicked.”
is sarcastic too….just pointing that out.
A masterpeice? HA! This movie sucked so bad it made me LMAO. Don’t get me wrong, the fight scene with all the wolves and cullen vamps killing the newbreeds was a pretty good fight, only decent part of the movie actually but really, everything else made me LAUGH. “I kissed bella.. and she broke her hand… punching me..” WTF was all the pauses necessary? And wtf kristen stewart, YOU SUCK AT ACTING. Kristen looks lost, high, confused, and like a rabbit through a MAJORITY of the movie with her mouth open and monotone voice. Everything revolves AROUND HER. Sorry, you can’t have the gay glittery pale “vampire” and the smoking hot wolf. Just doesn’t work that way. And for all of you Twilight fanatics who think this is the best movie ever.. Honestly, get a life. Go outside, and BREATHE. Pale guys that have too much body glitter on, ARE NOT HOT. If anything, robert pattensin (I really don’t care how you spell his name) was hot in the Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire movie. Not this. And also, WTH is dakota fanning doing in this? She looks retatrded playing a “higher up” vamp. Honestly people, get a life. Twilight’s not real. EDWARD is a fictional character as are all vamps. Twilight people, just stop.
Oh and ps: yes i know i strongly dislike twilight and that this is a “twilight” forum or w.e. And yes, i did watch the movies, but i sure as heck didn’t PAY to watch them haha!
Also, i do admit that of the three movies this is the better one, but honestly they all suck. Kristen stewart KILLS bellas character in the book. And the body glitter is just… lmao not even words can describe how gay that makes the vamps in this movie seem. I’ve only seen edward “Shimmer” none of the others seem to have “Shimmered.” I think the rest of the cast is smart enough not to want to put tht much body glitter on lol. The only hot vamp even in this movie is the guy that plays Jasper. And the girl that plays Alice is the only pretty character really in the movies. Enough said.
Pss: Was taylor lautner hot in this movie OR WHAT!
All i could say when i saw him shirtless and leaning on his car was DAMN! Talk about a hot bod, he has an 8 pack and he’s NOT PALE lol 
he even admitted that he was hotter than edward so ha! To all of you who think pale glitter guys are hot. Also, you could clearly see the poor attempt at pulling off those contacts for the edward character. Talk about bad contacts
There’s no doubt this is the most male-friendly of the “Twilight” saga, but that’s like Danny DeVito crowing about how he’s taller than Verne Troyer.
I liked that there was more action in this movie than in any other previous installment, which is why it’s not a shocker that the male attendance is up (this is actually the first “Twilight” movie I saw in theatres.)
Still, (though I realize your tongue is at least firmly planted in cheek), the action at the end was a bit of a joke. They build up the newborns to be these bada$$es only they get absolutely annihalited by the Cullens and Co. (Also, who knew vampires were basically ice sculptures?!)
The vampire statue deaths reminded me of Night Watch.
So, you ….kinda liked it? Really? Am I in a Twilight Zone or something? You know, the one that used to be on tv, no pun intended here.
Ha ha ha, I didn’t take away the same sentiment from Ceballos’s review, H2. You are hopelessly positive.
Hahahaha. I said kinda liked, not anything above that. I am hopelessly positive sometimes.
Stewy-
You were right the first time…I kinda liked it. (Don’t act so surprised – I’ve never considered myself a Twi-hater…if anything, I make fun of how overexposed the franchise is.)
As backhanded a compliment as it is, it’s my favorite of the three movies and I had fun, which is the most important thing. (Even if the laughs weren’t always intentional.)
Finally, there are worst things to be than “hopelessly positive.”
I seriously don’t want to be one of those “haters”, but EW, come on, don’t you have something else to write about other than Twilight. Some of us want to read more interesting articles because since I am awared this is not the official Twilight magazine.
Then WHY would you CLICK on an article and actually READ it if you don’t care about Twilight and feel there is too much Twi-content here? I’d be more annoyed with the stupid predictable hater comments on every single EW.com article about Twilight, except that I know your clicks count just as much as my clicks, so THANKS for helping to keep Twilight content high here.
There are plenty of things on this large siote that do not interest me, and my response is to simply not click and move on to the stuff that does capture my interest.
People read Twilight articles. Therefore EW writes Twilight articles. It’s not rocket science.
Please tell me you did not just compare this pile of garbage to THE SEVEN SAMUARI. That’s taking the “Twilight” love too far.
Did you actually see this ‘pile of garbage,’ or are you just assuming because it is a Twilight sequel that it is indeed a piece of garbage? Just curious.
I LOVE TWILIGHT and its not a pile of gar barbage
AND I SAW THE MOIVE
I saw this pile of garbage online and M Weyer is completely correct. It is, in fact, garbage.
For a movie tha was being marketed as an action film the final and only action scene in the film was pretty anticlimatic and cut way too short.
Okay, even I think this article is a bit of a reach. Let’s be honest, even though the movie was really good, that 35% were boyfriends/husbands/friends of fans. Let’s not pretend that any of those guys were moviegoers unfamiliar with the series, just going to check out some action/adventure flick.
Oh, and “a franchise about glittery vampires who love emo music and crying”…just, no. Glittery, yes – crying, NO. I don’t even think they’re able to cry.
I’m pretty sure they went because they wanted to get laid.
Yeah, and I’m pretty sure it worked. heh
Yeah it did!
Come on, you know what they are doing. They are getting the haterade stirred up. “Oh my God, why is EW doing another ridiculous article on Twilight?”
“I guess I need to cancel my subscription.”
“When will this garbage end?”
Totally baiting the hate. This angle was just ridiculous though.
I LOVE TWILIGHT AND ITS A AWSOME MOIVE HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN IT? I BET YOU HAVE NOT.IM Im in LOVE with edward/edward is hot and jacob is not
Stay tuned for Darren’s follow-up article, an analysis of the reactions to this article.
Ouch who would ok this article?
Pretty sure EW is just using Madlibs for its Twilight articles at this point.
Win.
I really liked this article…it really is a throwback type of movie. I think people want to hate on the Twilight Saga without reading the books/watching the movies…or doing so only to look for ammunition to fuel their case…meanwhile, literally millions of open minded people gave the books/movies a chance and loved them…Now, I am not saying they are Oscar worthy (special effects aside) but I do think they offer a unique and fun storyline, and they don’t deserve the negative press they get, which only seems to exist to combat the extremely positive reaction others give it. Stop being haters! It’s fine to dislike the series, but don’t act like you’re better than it. All this writer is saying is the type of movie it is flows well with old-school action movies, which it does (hence the one big action scene at the end). Chill out!
Oh please. It’s typical of someone who loves something so dearly to think that anyone who doesn’t like it as well must be exaggerating. The Twilight films are despicable pieces of garbage, and I’m not saying that just to “combat the extremely positive reaction others give it”. I’m not trying to be mean, but people give this franchise FAR too much credit. Comparing it to Seven Samurai, one of my favorite films, is frankly insulting. I’ve read all the books, and seen all the movies. Therefore, I am allowed to say, without hesitation, that Twilight is terrible.
Am gonna throw it back to you. What credit does the Saga actually get? Seriously? Where does it not get made fun of or laughed it or ridiculed? So what “credit” are you speaking of? Because everywhere I go outside of fan sites, Twilight gets blasted from one end to the other. Horrible books, horrible movies, horrible acting, horrible CGI, WTF is a sparkling vampire. Yeah, tell me please.
some people may give it too much credit, but there are also people who give it too much hatred.
It’s just hard to take the comparisons presented in the article as serious. Most of all these movies are as far removed from action movies as possible. It’s really bad and slowly paced soap melodrama. Akira Kurosawa is probably doing several 360s in his grave right now.
No hate on Twilight or anything but this article is embarassing. VERY FEW movies, let alone Twilight or Harry Potter(books which I Love, movies which I tend to really like) compare to the movie. I’m not saying one is better than the other, but no…they don’t compare in the least. Different themes, different meanings, different character types, different everything. One is deep and intricate, one is summer fun. It’s just…wow. This article is actually embarassing for both the writer and EW. It sort of proves how EW really has just become Twilight central and is no longer an entertainment mag but a huge advertisement for the current hot fade. I think I’ll stick with Rolling Stone for now on and just check around here for Ausellio.
LOL at “check around here for Ausiello.” I was in complete agreement until that moment when you pretty much invalidated your entire “embarrassing to journalism” premise.
Haha I don’t check out Ausiello for his journalist intergrity, he’s got scoop and I need scoop. :-p. I’m hardly ready to give him a Walter R. Murrow award.
The real reason to see Eclipse is because former Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy has a cameo!
Seriously?! How did I not know that… and also, WTF?
I actually think Eclipse is more like the Citizen Kane of subversive-female meets secretly bi-curious masochistic-male emo vampire with a h@rd-on for an eventual child-molesting werewolf films.
Haha!! That was great.
Comparing Twilight to Seven Samurai, because they both have slow build-ups? Seriously?
That’s like saying that any film set in the desert is kind of like Lawrence of Arabia. Sir, I salute you – it takes a special kind of bravado to post that in a EW article. It also takes a special kind of silly.
I’m the furthest thing from a Twihard, but this article was hilarious. It almost–ALMOST–makes me want to see Eclipse. “Your dad has a moustache” made me laugh out loud.
I am so confused. I thought The Magnificent Seven was a classic. What the heck, EW?
I don’t know how to say this without offending anyone, but that 35% male attendees was probably 90% gay- 10% my girlfriend made me go. How can I be so sure? My brother is gay and my girlfriend made me go. Still, it was better than having to see Mona Lisa Smile….I still have nightmares from that one.
Hey, TheDude, your math is off. Sounds like 50% GF “made” me go and 50% gay from your astounding scientific survey of the data set.
What no one has commented on is how many tween boys were there. I’ve seen it 4 times, and there are always tween boys who don’t appear gay or forced to be there. I think they’re a whole lot less defensive about a female-centered movie (both character and plot are around feminine interests) than the older guys. Who knew? 12yos can be cooler than 20yos.