Sunday, June 27, 2010
By Yvonne Villarreal
Los Angeles Times
It’s the franchise that has fans everywhere thirsty for any bloody detail.
The latest installment, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” in theaters Wednesday, sees Seattle plagued by an army of newborn vampires controlled by the vengeful Victoria, who is out to destroy Bella Swan, whom she holds responsible for her lover’s death. To safeguard Bella from the oncoming threat, her boyfriend, Edward, and his family, the Cullens, must band together and join forces with their shape-shifting foes, the wolf pack, who are sworn to defend humans from the blood suckers.
But it’s not all fang baring and claw clenching; there’s also an explosive love triangle this time around. And lots — lots — of shirtless roaming by the muscled members of the wolf pack.
To gear up for the third feature to be adapted from the wildly popular Stephenie Meyer books, here’s a guide for Twi-hards and the uninitiated alike. Learn who’s who, read about their favorite scenes and time travel with their characters into the future.
The love triangle
Kristin stewart
Character: Isabella “Bella” Marie Swan, the object of Edward Cullen’s affection and best friend of Jacob Black.
Back story: The only sticking point in what otherwise appears to be a perfect relationship is that Bella desperately wants to be changed into a vampire so she and Edward can share their love for eternity. Edward, though, is determined to keep her human to save her soul. It’s a dilemma made only worse when the ruling vampire body called the Volturi discovers that the human Bella knows of their existence. They force a vow from the Cullen family to turn Bella within a year or they will kill her. Bella is also being hunted by the vampire Victoria, after the Cullens killed her sadistic mate James.
Favorite “Eclipse” scene: “There were two scenes that just were very important to me and they happen one after the other,” Stewart says. “It’s when Jacob and Bella kiss and then she goes and talks to Edward about it. It was just so different from anything that I’ve played in this series so far. The movie is so very much about ultimate devotion, so to stray from that was just weird and cool and sort of makes the relationship between Edward and Bella a little bit more real because now she’s seen another side and she can actually consider something else for five seconds of her life.”
ROBERT PATTINSON
Character: Edward Cullen, the adopted son of Esme and Carlisle, adoptive brother of Emmett, Alice, Rosalie and Jasper, and Bella Swan’s beau. He has the ability to read minds, with the exception of Bella’s.
Back story: It has taken the brooding Edward generations to fall in love, and now that he has, he feels responsible for Bella’s life and soul, so he resists turning her into a vampire, though outside forces are weighing on him to do so. In “New Moon,” after a brief birthday fiasco put Bella in mortal danger, Edward broke up with her and the Cullens moved away to protect her from further potential harm from their kind. However, he soon finds it difficult to live without her and returns only to find that Bella is in renewed danger and, in his absence, has developed a close relationship with her friend Jacob. Needless to say, Edward and Jacob do not care for each other.
Where is Edward 100 years from now? “Oh, God, I don’t know,” Pattinson says. “I mean, it seems like he’s gone through so many problems, and the series is only over a period of, like, two years or something — or three years, maybe, for the whole thing. I mean, you can’t keep living like that ... it’s just craziness the entire time. [Edward’s] probably been killed or something.”
TAYLOR LAUTNER
Character: Jacob Black is Bella’s best friend. He is a Quileute Native American and a member of the wolf pack.
Back story: Though Bella is still clearly in love with Edward, Jacob’s feelings toward her have grown. He has also discovered that he is one in an ancient line of Quileute werewolves — mortal enemies of the Cullens, though sworn to a long-standing treaty with the family as long as the vampires don’t harm humans. Suspecting Bella’s desire to become a vampire, Jacob reminds Edward of the Quileute-Cullen treaty, implying there could be trouble if she is bitten.
Favorite “Eclipse” scene: “I liked the tent scene a lot,” Lautner says. “I had a lot of fun filming it. But another really fun one occurred right in front of Bella’s house after I kissed her for the first time ... and she punched me. Edward and Jacob get into a huge fight and we’re yelling at each other and he grabs my shoulder and [Bella’s father] Charlie comes storming out and breaks up the fight. It was really a funny scene to film.”
Good vs. evil
PETER FACINELLI
Character: Carlisle Cullen, patriarch of the Cullen family.
Back story: In “Twilight,” we’re introduced to Carlisle, a doctor in Forks, who, over the last century or so, “created” his happy, vegetarian clan of vampires (they feed on animal blood only). Pleased that Edward has finally found love, Carlisle is steadfast in his willingness to protect Bella from all threats and is in favor of turning Bella into a vampire as she has long desired.
Favorite “Eclipse” scene: “I liked all the action stuff. For me, the training sequence and the battle scene were the ultimate,” Facinelli says. “I mean, we did six months of training and we were finally able to take all that and put it to use. It was exciting. I’m sure the wolf pack is jealous; they have all those muscles and abs, but it’s for nothing! They don’t even get to do stunts.”
Where is Carlisle 100 years from now? “Carlisle is still doing doctor work somewhere ... maybe back in Forks.”
DAKOTA FANNING
Character: Jane, a member of the ruling Volturi vampire guard who has the ability to create illusions of intense pain.
Favorite scene to film: “I actually enjoyed the scene where the Volturi is floating through the trees,” Fanning says. “It was so fun. It was like the only stunt that I got to do.”
Where is Jane 100 years from now? “Jane, 100 years from now, is probably still going to be in Italy, still using her power on the next little young girl that comes in. More of the same.”
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD
Character: Victoria, a red-headed blood sucker who, after her mate James is killed by the Cullens, seeks revenge on Edward by killing Bella.
Favorite “Eclipse” scene: “The ending. The battle scene,” Howard says. “There was so much preparation that went into doing that — the choreography of the fight. When you finally get there, it’s kind of an anticipation ... we’ve prepared for this and how is it actually going to turn out? It was such a fun thing to shoot.”
Where is Victoria 100 years from now? “It depends what happens with Edward and Bella. I think she’s so devastated by the loss of James that she would not stop until the Cullens were finished.”
ASHLEY GREENE
Character: Alice Cullen, the adopted daughter of Carlisle and Esme, adoptive sister of Edward, Rosalie and Emmett, and wife of Jasper. She has the ability to see the future, a holdover from her human premonitions.
Back story: With her precognition powers, Alice is able to foresee potential danger and proves invaluable in saving Bella from the vicious vampire James. But her visions can be misleading: She once thought Bella was dead because she couldn’t see the Quileute tribe saving her — the wolf pack is blocked from her special sight. Will she be able to help again as Victoria closes in on Bella?
Favorite “Eclipse” scene: “I very much enjoyed both fight sequences,” Greene says. “I kind of like the training sequence as well because you get to see us really interact with each other and there’s kind of this cat and mouse game. You get to see the Cullens be very playful with one another. It’s really adorable. There are really cute moments between Jasper and Alice ... but then, of course, the end sequence where we really got to show what we had, they pretty much let us do all our own stunts. We worked our tails off.”
ELIZABETH REASER
Character: Esme Cullen, the matriarch of the Cullen clan.
Favorite “Eclipse” scene: “It’d have to be the battle scene, because I was just so terrified of it — of hitting someone or getting hurt,” Reaser says. “It was fun to get to a point where I could just get crazy on camera in a way that I never have and trying to make it believable. It was a huge step forward for me.”
Where is Esme 100 years from now? “I want [Esme and Carlisle] to adopt more babies!”
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