Well the highly anticipated sequel to the Twilight Saga has not left me looking for an excuse to leave the theater. Eclipse, starring Robbert Pattinson and Kirsten Stewart, is a romance story which takes place in the town of Forks, Washington. The film has, unlike the others in the series, included extended action sequences.
The film begins where the last took off. The Cullen family of vampires learns that a series of murders have occured in Seattle, Washington. They suspect that it is caused by a new vampire, who is unable to control their powers and stick to the Cullen’s diet of animals. Afterwards, Bella’s (Kirsten Stewart) need to visit her friend Jacob Black(Taylor Lautner) becomes evident. Though Edward (Robert Pattionson) fears for her safety, as Jacob lives on a homestead full of a pack of werewolves, he allows her to go. During their visit Bella learns that Jacob is in love with her, and a classic love triangle forms between Jacob, Bella, and Edward. Bella revokes by saying that she sees Jacob only as a friend and then leaves after he forcibly kisses her. A few days later Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene) has a vision that Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard), a vampire seeking revenge on Bella, has returned to forks. Afterwards, Edward proposes marriage to Bella, who accepts, answering the cliff hanger left at the end of New Moon. Bella and the Cullens assume now that the murders are being commited by a group of newborn vampires controlled by Victoria. The Cullens join with the werewolves, whom are their natural enemies, to protect Bella in the fight against the newborns. Edward, Jacob, and Bella camp out in the mountains during the fight. Jacob becomes infuriated while overhearing Edward and Bella discussing their engagement. Bella then asks Jacob to kiss her, and finally admits that she loves him. The film delves into the past and origins of some of the vampires.
The acting in this movie was average. While Taylor Lautner (Jacob) mainly used his muscles and shirtless scenes as a crutch for his bad acting, Robert Pattinson (Edward) used passionate kissing scenes to mask his lack of facial expression. On the contrary, Kirsten Stewart (Bella) has significantly improved acting compared to the previous two films. Her habit of biting her lips every scene did get a bit annoying, though I doubt the teen audience this was intended for paid attention to anything other that shirtless men and passionate kissing scenes.
The set design in this movie was bold and effective. The blizzarding mountain top set where Bella, Edward, and Jacob waited out the fight added to the ambience, and helped to convey the tension between the characters of the film. As well, the field, where the action took place in the fight between the newborns and Cullens/werewolves, used open spaces effectively to convey many events at once.
Films like this have three types of viewers. Those who have seen the previous movies, those who have not seen the previous movies and are left confused, and those who have read the series and have come to enjoy the movies. To those who have seen the previous movies; I feel that this is a step up in the series. The film extended its action sequences and did not spend the entire film with Edward and Bella proclaiming their eternal love for each other. I will not state an opinion for those of you who have not seen the previous movies, as you can rent or purchase the previous movies on dvd and then make your opinions. To those of you who have read the book I cannot personally help. I have NOT read the books and am here to review only the movies. I recommend that you ask a mate who has both seen the movie and read the book his/her opinion. The quality of the film was surprisingly acute. It did not follow the craze of rendering movies in 3D, which would have been a HUGE mistake for the series. As well, its special effects were life like and believeable, but what really made this movie was its dialogue. Screenplay writer Melissa Rosenberg really outdid herself, as the film included snappy, efficient, and sophisticated vocabulary which truly demonstrate the characters birth time periods.