Eclipse Review

I find it... odd...that the first review I'm doing for my new blog happens to be about Eclipse, the new entry in the Twilight "saga". See what I did there? It's in quotes. Because I hardly think that it counts as a saga. Star Wars? A saga. The Arthurian legends? A saga. Twilight? Teen angst at its worst. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start from the beginning.

I am absolutely certain of 3 things. One, Twilight is not a Saga (dammit, there I go again). Two, there is a part of me that is inexplicably drawn to these movies (and not even in a rubber-necking at a crash site sort of way), and three, I have not, nor do I ever intend to, read the books these flicks are based on.

So pretty much, in a roundabout way, I'm telling you that I'm probably one of the best people to give you a critique on the films based on the merit of the films alone. Some people will scoff at that and say that I am not getting the full experience of Twilight. In response I digitally spit on your face. It is my firm belief that any adaptation needs to be able to stand on its own, its creators taking advantage of all facets of the new media and imbuing it with its own distinct sense of identity. If I wanted to read the books, I would read the books. If I want to see a movie based on a book, I want to see a movie and not some weird mutant creature that can't decide if it wants to be a book or a movie. So let's get on with it shall we?

As a general rule, I try not to post any spoilers. Considering that this is the third film in a series, I cannot help but possibly spoil incidents in the first two movies. If you cannot handle that for some ungodly reason, then please click elsewhere. Possibly to www.levelupfilms.com. I hear they do great work there.

The Summary
Eclipse picks up where New Moon left off. Edward and Bella are reunited and Jacob is kind of left to the side. Bella still wants to become a vampire and Edward is all torn up about the morality of it all. "Should I or shouldn't I take her soul?" The lame love triangle set up in the last film continues here with Bella and Edward flaunting their obsessive infatuation with each other and Jacob trying his best to mark his territory on Bella's heart. Meanwhile, mysterious killings are happening in Seattle, a mere hop, skip, and a giant leap away from Forks. True to the clueless idiot she is, Bella, of course, cannot put two and two together to see who is behind the killings. I mean, it's not like mysterious killings didn't just happen TWO FREAKING MOVIES AGO.

In any case, the killings are actually the first stage in a developing War Machine. Hitler started with Austria. Twilight has new vampires. The point of this War Machine? To kill Bella Swan. Why? Well...because revenge is a dish served cold. Cold as ice. 'Cause vampires are dead and don't generate body heat. Whatever.

Quick Aside
At this point you might be getting the impression that I don't like Bella Swan. You would be correct. She's a terrible protagonist. She is weak. She isn't particularly smart. She's completely reactive. And she's nothing more than an object to two boys. Basically, she is the stereotype that women have been trying to destroy for the better half of the last century. I guarantee you that if a man had written the Twilight books, he would have been raked across the coals for writing such a pathetic character. But anyway...

The movie culminates in a giant showdown in a meadow somewhere. The vampires and wolves join forces, facing the common enemy. Bella is protected and finally makes her choice, which wasn't really much of a choice since she ALREADY BLURTS IT OUT IN THE FIRST FEW LINES OF THE FIRST MOVIE.

The Good
1. The Direction - David Slade knows how to make a movie. The cinematography and pacing were all top notch. I've heard complaints that it was a little slow for some people but I liked it. It gave the movie room to breathe which lent more gravitas (if I can even apply that word to this movie) to the drama and the action.
2. Improved CGI - the wolves looked much better this time around as did the transformations. It looked much more natural and didn't stick out as they did in the first two films.
3. Less focus on Bella - after her incessant whining in New Moon, it was very refreshing to get to know a lot of the other characters, such as Jasper and Rosalie, in this film. I also appreciated the scenes between Edward and Jacob, particularly the one in the tent. There was something very honest in that moment and just good character work overall.
4. The Action - the battle scene in the meadow was fantastic. It was really visceral and choreographed well. I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat with a big smile plastered on my mug through the whole scene.

The Bad
1. Taylor Lautner sucks at acting - Well, maybe he doesn't suck, but he's not well suited to the part. I don't know how Jacob is written in the books but from what I see, I think he should be the polar opposite of Edward. Where Edward is kind of withdrawn and distant, I picture Jacob as being very passionate, almost impulsive. I hate to say it, but I feel like we should get the feeling that there's this beast inside him that is always threatening to get out. Lautner is far too soft-spoken for Jacob. When he's telling Bella that he knows she has feelings for him, I just don't believe it. Which is too bad since I think the tension between the fire of Jacob and the coldness of Edward would play off well.
2. Bad wigs - It's not like Twilight is known for good hair but Bella's wig in the movie was almost as bad as Jacob's in New Moon. My wife brought up a good point after the movie. Slade used a lot of close-ups in the movie which wasn't done in the others. I actually appreciated that because it made it feel more intimate. Courtney felt it was too claustrophobic. I think that it's because of this that the crappiness of the wigs are all the more visible. The camera is even closer than normal so you see the flaws.

Another Aside
My friend Casper did a v-log about the idiocy of casting brunettes as blondes and vice versa. I kind of wonder if that was intentional to give the characters a more...otherworldly quality to them. Or maybe I'm just overthinking it.

The Bad - con't
3. The Music - I didn't find the soundtrack of this movie to be a strong as the first film. Or at least it isn't as immediately memorable.
4. The Writing - I can't speak for Stephanie Meyer and her novels, but all the movies are filled with a list of "things not to do" in storytelling with the biggest offender being that the writers spend too much time telling things instead of showing it. Too often people wear their hearts on their sleeves and say exactly what they are thinking and doing, instead of playing in subtext and showing action. Which leads me to...
5. The Love Story - I guess this is kind of unfair that I'm putting this because this really applies to all three movies but I just don't buy the love story. Which is kind of sad because the whole "saga" hinges on this love story. The problem is that Bella always says she's in love with Edward but I don't really see it. I don't see it in her actions (if anything she seems selfish and self-absorbed) nor do I see it in any chemistry with Edward. No. I don't see love there. I see obsession. I see infatuation. I see co-dependency. But I don't see love. I mean, how good can there love be when Stephanie Meyer has to resort to the character having to tell you in the first few lines of the first book that she's in love with Edward rather than showing it develop?

In Conclusion
Believe it or not, this was my favorite of the Twilight movies. Despite my litany of "bad" things, I still enjoyed the hell out of the movie. This was the first of the flicks that I thought felt like an honest-to-God movie. It didn't feel like some feeble attempt at cramming events from the book to appease fans. The other films felt disjointed, like someone had gone through and picked all their favorite scenes from each book and just loosely tied them together. In this one, it felt organic and focused. I still have major problems with the love story and Bella, but I feel that Slade did a good job of trying to add as much subtlety as the material would allow. Again, the scene in the tent between Jacob and Edward was an excellent example. It bristled with tension and oneupmanship. But it also had a healthy dose of compassion and understanding. Now if only they didn't spend the entire scene saying everything they were thinking and feeling, and the scene would have gone from a 7 to a 10. Overall, not the worst film I've ever seen, and certainly not the best one I've seen this summer. But I was entertained for two and a half hours and I feel like I got my matinée money's worth.