The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Director: David Slade

Writers: Melissa Rosenberg

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Thriller

Tagline: It all begins … With a choice

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Review: Firstly, Ive read through a number of reviews for this movie, and suffice it to say, the majority of them are blatantly anti-Twilight. Unreasonable bigotry is the main cause of the one-star reviews here. Theres a difference between distaste for a franchise and a movie itself, so please recognize that.

Eclipse was much funnier than I thought it would be. There was a lot of Team Edward/Team Jacob jokes, like the, “Im hotter,” line that Jake says when the trio is in the tent, before he lays down beside Bella. Small comedic relief was given through primarily Charlie, Bella and Jacob. I laughed more than I thought I would have.

Jacobs script felt a bit repetitive, saying, “I KNOW you love me,” four times or so… Also, did Edward repetitively ask Bella to marry him throughout the book? It felt somewhat annoying, I would get angry if my boyfriend was like, “Marry me? No… Okay. But hey, marry me? Oh, thats fine, its your decision… Heres a giant ring, so marry me?” Edward seemed fairly pushy, but then again, Jacob was far pushier.

Rosalies historys scene seemed cut short. I know they wanted to keep it kid-friendly, but the briefness of Rosalies past made me feel as if people who didn read the books wouldn understand what misery she went through. She was brutally violated and nearly murdered, yet all they showed was a small inkling of yes, they
e drunk men suggesting she take off her clothes. And then she explains she was left for dead… I don know, they didn need any graphic detail, but I think a little more suggestion as to what exactly occurred wouldve helped slightly. Perhaps that is just me.

I was sort of put-off by Jaspers suddenly strawberry-blonde long hair, but he pulled it off okay. I wish they had kept continuity throughout the movies, so you can watch them back-to-back without mourning over their abruptly changing appearances. The cast didn look too bad once they were on the big screen, though, and I didn have any big problems with it. Jasper probably looked truer to the books in Eclipse, but Nikki Reeds (Rosalies) make-up looked far better in New Moon. The directors of New Moon and Eclipse did a half-decent job of making a blonde white woman out of a Hispanic one.

Alices hair seemed butchered, albeit more like the books, due to Alices pre-vampire life of residing in a mental asylum when she was a human. I still preferred the neater wig featured in New Moon. One scene in Eclipse, I couldve sworn, had Esmes hair black? Um… The whole Volturi scenes felt stiff and somewhat emotionless. And did Demetri say anything at all?

Bryce Dallas Howard pulled off Victoria well (in replace of Rachelle Lefevre), and Xavier Samuel made a great Riley. Boo Boo Stewart could have made a better Seth — his short scene felt awkward as well. Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria) was an okay actor, from what I noticed, but I wasn able to focus much on her — Jackson Rathbone (Jasper) utterly stole the spotlight during those scenes.

The added characterization of the minor characters, primarily Jasper, made me feel extremely satisfied. The flashback of Maria and Jasper in the Southern Vamp Wars was decent, though brief. They successfully developed Jasper into a key character in the film, unlike his much smaller roles in the previous two films. Jackson Rathbones (Jaspers) interaction with Ashley Greene (Alice) during the sparring scene left me wanting more. They definitely enhanced the twos characters by showing them interact as a couple.

Over all, YES! Good job, David Slade! Definitely my favorite Twilight movie so far. The fight scenes and deaths were stunning. I believe it was a good choice choosing Slade to direct this, due to the more mature themes. The wolves animation wasn as great as in New Moon, it seemed, but it still looked great. The lighting of the fur was especially flawless.

Great movie, highly recommended to those who can stand the Twilight Saga. If you didn like the previous movies, don watch this one — simple as that. It left me leaving the theater feeling great. Well worth watching.