The third film in the quadrilogy (yes Breaking Dawn is splitting in two, but it is really one movie) known as The Twilight Saga, Eclipse is actually good, in fact it is really good, and is a huge step forward for the franchise before the finale.

Now, the film takes no time to try and catch up the outsiders and I won’t try to do so either.  Bella and Edward are busy going back and forth over the vampire’s marriage proposal while Alice sees a vision that will set the film’s plot into motion.  A growing threat in Seattle threatens the supernatural, and human, inhabitants of Forks and while the Cullens try and figure out what is going on up north in Seattle they must also try to keep Victoria and the Volturi from Bella.  The circumstances force the vampires and werewolves of Forks to form a loose alliance for the best of all of them and Jacob makes one last attempt at the heart of Bella whom he loves.

Now, if that paragraph didn’t make sense to you then you shouldn’t be seeing this movie as you should probably check out the first two films first.  And even if you think those two are just average to awful films, I would still implore you to give this film, Eclipse, a shot as it is a solid fantasy adventure that takes advantage of all of the best qualities of the series source novels by Stephenie Meyer.

If you are still unwilling and going to complain about watching a teen romance then there is no hope for you liking these films anyways and while there is still plenty of swooning and attempts to sweep each other off their feet in this film it is made much more realistic and watchable do to tighter writing and better performances.  Stewart and Pattinson have a great chemistry in the film and Taylor Lautner shows signs of growth as an actor, even if he is still the film’s weakest link.  The average romance dialogue is one of the few weak points you will find on this film and maybe a few scenes linger a minute or two too long.  Other than those issues though, I can’t really find a lot to complain about.

The films pacing is mostly solid, always moving forward and never stopping to really spell things out.  David Slade’s direction lays its confidence in its audience that it will be able to follow along and this film never tries to pander too the uninitiated.  And even when the film does slow down a bit, these are some of the best moments of the film as slow spots in Eclipse usually give us more background on the Cullens as we flash back into a couple of the family members early days as a vampire.  The action scenes are also superior to everything else in the series and the final fight is easily a contender for one of the best action beats of the year so far.  The brutality on display is also quite surprising at times as vampires are beheaded and dismembered left in right in the end.

The films look and effects are also the best the series has seen and Slade really shot a very attractive picture here.  The film just looks like it should for the amount of money it has made and it seems that Summit has spared no expense and it really has paid off.  Slade’s “darker” resume helped the picture mature and be much more accessible beyond the target audience and this could have reached a very broad viewer ship if it was an original property and didn’t have the first two films in the series keeping most anyone but fans away.  The first film was a solid origin and base for a series that sadly pandered too much to its target audience.  The second film was a step back from the first, mostly because the most interesting aspects of the series, the vampires, were non-existent.  Here, the Cullens are front and center, the mythology is greatly opened up (and I hope they flash back even more in Breaking Dawn), and the action is really given a fair shake; lets just hope these themes carry over into the finale.

The cast continues to do fine work here, Stewart shows a lot more life and energy in Bella and this is her best turn yet in the role.  Pattinson continues to be the best of the young bunch and doesn’t deter at all here.  Lautner gets better but there is still room to grow and Niki Reed and Jackson Rathbone both take full advantage of their much greater roles in this film.  Lastly, Billy Burke continues to provide a great real world rock for us to connect with and gets that he is supposed to remind us that we are ultimately watching a silly fantasy film.

In the end, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is a gigantic step forward for the series and blows the other two films out of the water.  If this wasn’t a Twilight film it would have a lot of people excited that will never touch this sometimes great entry into the fantasy adventure genre.  Eclipse is a fast, fun, and action filled romance that obviously is never going to appeal to everyone, but I think this film really could if it was ever given the chance by the non-Twilight audience.  Eclipse is about as good as a Twilight film its fans, and non-fans, could hope for and  is a summer blockbuster that does just about everything right.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is a B+ or A-; I can’t decide.

*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.

The Twilight Saga returns with a new director, a new set of monsters, and a New Moon, but the film feels rather rehashed and far to similar to previous film instead this time it is girl meets wolf; compare to girl meets vampire.
Everything starts off alright, in fact it was making me feel quite positive about everything unfolding. Chris Weitz’s direction is far stronger and more confident than Twilight’s Hardwicke, with the camera doing far more interesting things. The focus seems to be solely on Bella, her father, and Edward and the Cullen’s as it should be and pushing all the unnecessary characters to the background. The actors seem to be doing better; everything seems to be going in the right direction and then the Cullen’s leave. The most, and almost only, interesting thing about these films is taken away for the majority of the film and only return in the final few scenes to save the film from being a fairly bad experience.
The story mirrors Bella’s path in the first film with a weird killer in the woods, a budding romance with a boy with a secret, and a secret group of creatures living secretly right under her town’s nose. The new boy is Jacob, Bella’s old friend from her childhood who lives on the local reservation as he is a Native American. A bit younger than Bella, he has always kind of had a thing for Bella, and now with Edward out of the picture, he makes his move. Bella and Jacob slowly bond, but her desire for Edward can’t fade as they become closer friends and his secret is revealed. While the two have chemistry, we have seen this song and dance before in the previous film. Plus, all of the things Bella does to cut her adrenaline going to “see” Edward gets a bit ridiculous and never lets us really buy into the whole love triangle as Bella really shows no signs of leaving Team Edward.
Besides the romance not really working and Bella’s bitching getting a bit to much to bare, the effects work was a real disappointment. The few set pieces in the film were pretty well crafted, it’s just the effects work was only adequate and not awesome A+ stuff. These films make so much money there is no excuse for a shotty effect shot or blue screen work in this picture and there are a number of nasty takes. The wolves look good, could look better though, but I guess the target audience of this film isn’t that worried about that; though every shot of the cliff was border line horrendous. The film also jumps around quite randomly at times and feels like we are missing huge plot points or they get glossed over with a sentence. The first film had this issue as well and as in the first film as well it stays away till the final act which all of a sudden rushes forward and seems a bit too convenient.
But, there were some things that worked in the film. Everything with Edward, vampires, and the Cullen’s was very good and the best part of the film. The dynamic of Bella and Edward arguing over turning her is also a nice little thread, but the most promising element of this film is the introduction of the Volturi family in Italy who are the sort of deciders of the Vampire race. Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning will provide some solid actors for their future plots and they are as interesting and engaging as Edward, Alice, and Carlisle Cullen. Looking forward to more of them and the high point of the series so far is the encounter with the Volturi.
In the end, New Moon is sadly neither a step up or down for the series but continues to serve as a sampling of intriguing ideas and characters that they can’t flesh out into a fully engaging story. I don’t know how the wolf/vampire dynamic will play out in the last two films, as the wolves seem to be almost useless now even with the half assed attempt to keep the threat alive in the final scene. Though, if they can keep the dynamic alive, lets hope they make it interesting and compelling and same for the rest of the story, focus on the Cullen’s and Volturi and this series good eventually become a good franchise instead of an average one.
Twilight Saga: New Moon is a C+