When I speak of my love of the vampire genre I always throw out references to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Underworld, 30 Days of Night, True Blood…the list goes on and on.  However, unless directly asked I would never admit to having read all of the Twilight novels in a week or owning one of the two prior films.  Maybe it is the mushy soap opera nature, or maybe it is how much the fanatical Twihards creep me out; but no matter the case, I was embarrassed to admit that I find some level of enjoyment from these stories.  But after watching The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, I can now say with no shame that I am a fan of the Twilight series.

This entry into the series sees a lot of established storylines built into the previous films coming to a head as Bella moves closer to graduating high school.  As far as the love triangle is concerned, Bella has yet to answer Edward’s proposal of marriage and Jacob is still stubbornly persisting in his hopes of convincing her that he is the right supernatural being for her.  Also, Victoria has yet to give up her grudge over the Cullen family making a bonfire out of her life-after-death mate at the end of the first film, constantly trespassing into their territory. Though she is a common enemy for both the Cullens and werewolves, the proximity of the two groups is still causing some tension.  However, when a nearby spree of violence in Seattle starts to grow out of hand, the two groups are forced to form a truce to defend their home of Forks and the secrecy of their existence.

In the first Twilight film the love story between Bella and Edward was as awkward as it was cute, but when Edward left Bella in New Moon things spiraled out of control.  It was an emotional rollercoaster for Bella, and in all honesty the extent of the melodramatic nature of her breakdown was far too uncomfortable for me to enjoy playing witness to.  But now I am happy to say that third time is a charm, as Eclipse has been able to find a bearable representation of this heightened love story.  Don’t get me wrong, it is still as mushy as it ever was, but now instead of rolling my eyes at it I am back to giggling like the teenage girl these films usually cause me to revert back to.

Though this is a dangerous situation for the characters, it is not as dire and depressed as the previous film, with a lot of lighter moments that make it far easier to connect to the characters and enjoy the performances of the actors.  Not to bash on her previous performances in any way because I have never had a problem with Kristen Stewart’s acting, but she is best off with this change.  She seems to be fully comfortable in the role, mirroring Bella’s growth as a character as she gets more comfortable in her own skin.  And let’s face it, it’s far easier to connect to her character this time around because she is no longer an emotional wreck defined by the loss of her boyfriend.  Robert Pattinson gets the same boost to his character by being allowed to relax his face from an agonized brood with scenes between the two in which they are allowed to act like a happy couple. And to round out the love triangle, it is fun to watch both he and Taylor Lautner play off each other as they butt heads over their mutual love interest.

Something that I have always been happy about is the inclusion of the smaller characters in these films, and Eclipse is no exception.  Stewart gets to show even more depth in some heartfelt and fun scenes with Sarah Clarke and Billy Burke as her parents, with Burke continuing his part as one of my favorite characters of the films.  The high schooler friends are back briefly, and they take full advantage of having Anna Kendrick by giving Jessica a speech at their graduation.  As for the Cullen family, special mention must go out to Jackson Rathbone and Nikki Reed who both take advantage of their brief moment in the spotlight thanks to flashback sequences for their respective characters, and though Jasper’s seems much more relevant in the context and flow of the film, Reed provides my favorite comedic bit in Rosalie’s flashback.  My only complaint is that there is far too little Alice in the films, who is easily my favorite character of the books.  Here’s hoping Ashley Greene gets her moment as Rathbone and Reed did here.

The trailers definitely over-exaggerate the amount of action in Eclipse, but what little is included is quite amazing to watch.  In addition to this, the CGI werewolves look pretty good and as realistic as I expect from computer generated creatures.  Their addition into the culminating battle alongside the Cullens adds a great change of pace from usual fights scenes, as well as another level of viciousness.  The violence is more than I expected, with vampires’ bodies being audibly shattered as they are torn limb from limb, and it is quite the sight to see.

With the fan base and history that these films have already had, there is no doubt in my mind that Eclipse will do really well in theaters.  However, this entry into the series is stronger in every way that the previous films, making it far more deserving of the success.

Final Grade: B+

Movies:

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Trailer – It’s another week of not a whole lot exciting on my radar movie wise, so I am forced to sink to these depths by including the new Eclipse Trailer.  And as much as I make fun of the melodrama of these films, I know I am going to see it at some point.  Why?  Because Dakota Fanning is BA and because I want to see Jacob get punched in the face (they better put this in the movie or else the best part of the book is lost).  Check out the trailer here.

The Last Airbender Trailer 3 – The newest trailer released brings about some more footage, including a quick peek at Appa.  Yay flying bison!  Check it out here.

TV:

America: The History of Us – If you want to learn about the US without reading really lame textbooks that apparently haven’t taught me the really interesting facts, then you should check this out.  There are plenty of higher quality “this is a reenactment with actors” stuff, as well as interviews with both the people you would expect and complete randos like Michael Douglas.  Anyway…  It’s a multiple night event (that I think are sticking to Sunday nights because the air dates are being rather elusive) on the History Channel, so go watch and learn stuff!

Happy Town Season Premiere – So I got to watch the full first episode of this new series and I have to say, it is going to be rather interesting.  This murder mystery show throws you head first into the story with a lot of backstory being hinted at and a lot of questions needing to be answered.  I will write a longer review for the show after the premiere this week, but I thought I would mention it here to give you the heads up for the airing of the premiere.  Check it out on Wednesday at 10/9c on ABC, and check out a preview if you are still unsure here.

SCRIPTEASE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1 – If you have ever wanted a quick recap of the first season of BtVS then read this.  The fans will find it hilarious, the rest of you will probably just think, “well, isn’t that special…” and go about your business (which should be watching the 1^st season of the show so that you too can find this hilarious in the future.  And then watch the rest of the series).  Check it out here!

Gaming:

Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 News – (360/PS3/PC) – We still have a while to go before the sequel to the amazing Arkham Asylum is finished, but there have been some recent updates involving characters.  As far as villains go, a couple characters making appearances this time around are Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, and Talia al Ghul (though her status as a villain is debatable).  To balance out the evil with the good, Robin is going to be incorporated as well.  Now I have no idea what exactly this entails, because for all we know this could simply mean that he is going to be shouting “Holy escaped convicts, Batman!” into Batman’s earpiece, but here’s hoping this is a change for the good, like co-op or his own playable levels within the campaign.  Check out the little blurbs about the upcoming game and characters here and here.  And if you want to read a really intriguing and well thought out blog entry about the possible places the inspiration for the game is coming from, then check it out here.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Debut Trailer – (360/PS3/Wii/PSP/DS) – Don’t ask me why I still haven’t played the first game yet.  I even own it, so we will just call this a fail on my part.  But this trailer has given me all the more reason to crack open that case.  Check it out here.

*Spoiler alert*

I’m personally a fan of the books, and I have high hopes for this film. This trailer however, is crappy just as I expected it to be. They decide to focus on the love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob instead of anything else. There were no shots of Victoria’s new vampire mate, her vampire army, or the wolf pack. And did anyone notice the cast change for the role of Victoria? Despite her fake red hair, I thought Rachelle Lefevre was perfect for the role of Victoria. Now they’ve replaced her with someone I find far too ugly to be a vampire.

There can only be one reason why they focused on the love triangle in the trailer, more viewers. Personally, I think it’s a very stupid marketing strategy. People who are already Twilight fans will see this movie no matter what. They should spin Eclipse as an vampire action movie to broaden the audience spectrum. Anyone with any common sense should know Bella is going to end up with Edward. Twilight is a book series about vampires, NOT werewolves. I guess we’ll have to wait until June 30 to find out how good this movie turns out.