Eclipse ** (2 stars)
(My brother and I had two vastly different opinions here and so I have posted his review after my own)
Director – David Slade
Starring – Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
MPAA - Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some sensuality.
I have to say, as a guy getting dragged to the Twilight films, that there is an automatic wall I of defiance I put up saying that I will not like these films. I mock them, I yawn at them, and in this case I refused to go see it until Eclipse hit the discount theaters. I thought why waste money on a movie ticket for a film I’ll hate. My brother took my wife to see the “Eclipse” opening night and the two of them loved it. Then I heard from another buddy that he really liked it, so months later my wife dragged me over to the discount theater so I could see number three in the Twilight saga, “Eclipse”.
This is not the lust-fest I heard it was, though there were enough tanned shirtless werewolf boys and Bella/Edward make out/conversations to wet any 14-year-old’s panties. Which I suppose is the point. The basic message here for the younger crowd is that you should wait to have sex until you are married, but all the spit swapping and Levi loving you want is okay. Again I say “Eclipse” was not a dirty teen sex movie, but there were plenty of onscreen raging hormones. Amazingly all three of the films have managed to keep most of the cast members clothed.
I was not bored by the film … nor was I particularly impressed by anything that happened. This is the third in an unimpressive franchise designed to make teenage girls think their first crush is going to be the orgasmic love of their lives. “Eclipse” manages to encompass all the silliness of high school relationships. We are again faced with the Bella/Jacob/Edward love triangle, made all the more complicated now that there is an army of newborn vampires at large in the Pacific North West. Of course a person would only know what was going on if that person had read all the books and seen all the movies. But these films are mostly made for the fans and not for the idle movie goer anyway.
I am mostly put off by Kristen Stewart. She is just plain bad. I have only seen her in the three Twilight films, but each faltering line mumbled out of her thin frowning lips makes me cringe. She is not a good actress and she is not fun to watch.
On top of her inability to deliver a single line clearly there is the general feeling that all the actors went to Soap Opera school before filming. Everyone’s face has furrowed eyebrows and drooping lips. No one smiles or takes any delight in being a part of one of the most financially successful franchises to date. Instead the cast is far too serious about the seriousness of the situation. I think I saw a smile flit across someone’s lips once while making a witty quip, but I can’t remember who it was or when. The serious stares and brooding dialogue was just too over-powering.
I will give “Eclipse” credit for being vastly more entertaining than the first of the saga. But that is like going from a 1 out of 10 to a 5 out of 10. The cinematography is infinitely superior and the CGI is far more advanced. I was quite entertained in fact by the marbled vampires smashing each other to smithereens. The brutal slow-motion fist fights were exciting, though I was sorely disappointed at the apparent uselessness of the giant wolves whose teeth were supposed to tear through vampire flesh. All they managed to do was look scary and distract the bad guys.
Eclipse is not terrible filmmaking, but there is nothing about this movie that makes it anything more than a 5 out of 10. I think a lot of people will enjoy the action, and a lot of teenagers will enjoy the sexy love story. I am just anxiously awaiting the close of this series, though I hear the last book will be a two part film so there will be a few more years of this nonsense. I did not like Eclipse, I don’t think it is a film worth watching. My wife however loves the books and the movies, and I am sure other fans will feel the same.
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(The following is written by my brother, the one who took my wife to see the movie opening night.)
So arrives the third installment in the Twilight Saga with all its promised fan fulfilling splendor and eye candy, (i.e. shirtless Jacob Black scenes, Vampire/Vampire & Vampire/Werewolf battles, funny one-liners, making out between almost every couple in the franchise, and of course almost an entire hour of close ups of Kristen Stewart’s face, and everyone else in the movie for that matter.)
For Twilight Saga fans, avid readers of the series, or just the movie followers in general, it is simply said that “Eclipse delivers!” Everything in the book, from costumes, character speech patterns, attitudes, dialogue, scenery, basic storyline including details, etc. has been smoothly and finely translated into a movie form that is action packed, hopelessly romantic, and good story telling; without being too choppy, too long, or too poorly acted.
Eclipse has come a long way from its predecessors, Twilight and New Moon, in many aspects. The filming feels heavy with a more than healthy dose of close ups during intimate dialogue scenes but feels balanced out with Vampire fast action sequences. Music in the movie is classic Twlight Saga’esque featuring the regulars such as The Muse and others. The overall acting from the cast has improved greatly since Twilight, with some great line deliveries from (Charlie), Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, and Kristen Stewart to name a few. Robert Pattinson takes the spotlight more than a few times and impresses us with some good powerful and emotional acting.
Though Eclipse certainly doesn’t compare to movies like Beautiful Mind, Remember the Titans, Saving Private Ryan and other classics, what it was made for, (all those Team Edward/Team Jacob shirt wearing, fanatic, cheering, screaming, fans wanting a movie version of their beloved book) it dishes out excellently. In conclusion though people who make fun of, dislike or are just not into Stephanie Meyer’s work may not enjoy this latest release of the Twilight Saga, fans of the Franchise can expect to walk out of the theatre more than satisfied with Eclipse.
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Sex/Nudity – 6 out of 10 - A teenage boy and teenage girl kiss passionately on a bed. They discuss having sex, the boy indicates he wants to wait until they are married. A girl and a shirtless boy kiss passionately. Several shirtless men are seen throughout the film. A man and teenage daughter discuss having protected sex. A woman relates her rape and we see her grabbed by a group of men.
Violence/Gore – 6 out of 10 – There is a lot of fighting and vampire violence. Some people are attacked and their blood is drunk by vampires. Many vampires fight and their bodies are smashed and broken. The film style has made the vampires bodies look like marble statues when they are smashed. There is a lot of fist fighting between vampires; giant wolves also fight with vampires. It is not a gory film, but there is a little blood and some frightening sequences, especially for children.
Profanity – 3 out of 10 - 9 to 10 mild profanities and religious exclamations total.
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