Review Time: I'm in the middle about the Eclipse movie

[funkidiva]

I am surprised that I am feeling unsure about this film. I was hoping to love it like I did New Moon, but sadly I left the cinema with mixed opinions and going "Hmm..." to myself.

I did love how the Cullens eyes changed colour over time, especially Edwards. You could tell when he was thirsty. I also loved inside the tent with the 3 of them - favourite scene I would say. However, as others have said it all felt rather rushed and so much happened!

Lots of lines from the book was used, which was good, but a lot of the time the wrong characters were saying them! Jacob doesnt tell Bella in the book about him being Alpha, Bella doesnt chase after Rosalie and speak to her about her past, Bella doesnt see Jacob get hurt in the fight... I could go on.

Also like others have said the great relationship between Alice and Bella doesnt come out, nor does how much effort Edward puts in keeping Bella and Jacob apart. Because of that there is no plotting between Jacob and Bella to see each other. Certain relationships therefore didnt get deep nor involved enough.

It was nice though hearing Jasper talk more in this film as he has hardly said anything in the previous 2 films.

Maybe I need to see the movie again with not so critical eyes. Im hoping that 2nd time round I wont feel so dissapointed and confused.

[funkidiva]

I realise I forget to mention the fighting - since when do vampires turn into and break like stone! That was poor. The fight between Edward and Victoria was too easy and over too quickly too.

[CaughtMyself426]

I've seen it three times now and I'm still undecided about it!
I was disappointed about parts like the kidnapping missing, oh i dunno I did like it but just not straight off like twilight and new moon!

[tufano79]

I am also on the fence with the movie. It seemed rushed and there was no flow between the scenes. There are definitely positives (the proposal scene in the bedroom, the "birds and bees" scene and the tent scene...though I was hoping that they would throw the space heater line in there). There were some negatives (the lack of relationship with Alice, Edward's frustration with Bella regarding her friendship with Jacob and the final fight between Edward and Victoria was 'meh.')

I am hoping that Breaking Dawn will follow the book more closely.

Hugs, Josie

[Jestak]

Count me as another one "in the middle." Here's my take:

Things I liked:

1) In general, I felt that David Slade handled the action sequences well. While the action isn't the biggest point with this film, it was important, and generally well-executed (the whole "vampires break like stone" bit aside). The modifications to the fight with Riley and Victoria were not as bad as I had feared, and the big battle sequence as well as the hunt for Victoria worked very well for me. The fight training sequence was also pretty good.

2) Kristen Stewart continues, I think, to do a good job of portraying her character as written in the script, leaving aside reservations about that writing.

3) The flashback sequences for Rosalie and Jasper were well done, especially Jasper's.

4) The supporting cast continues to be a strength:
-More than anyone, Jackson Rathbone got the chance to shine this time out, and he was outstanding. Love his Texas drawl.
-Ashley Greene was as enchanting as ever, despite the fact that virtually all of Alice's big scenes in the book were written out. Loved her little intimate moment with Jackson, and the Alice/Charlie scene.
-Billy Burke and Anna Kendrick continued their impressive work from the previous films
-Gil Birmingham had a touch of gravitas as Billy that he didn't seem to have in the first film when he was all "down with the kids." Very appropriate, I felt.
-Booboo Stewart got only a cameo as Seth in human form but he was perfectly on key for that moment; that bodes well for the bigger part he'll hopefully play in Breaking Dawn.

5) The tent scene, while suffering from the rushed quality that afflicts much of the movie, comes off pretty well.

What I didn't like

1) My biggest beef remains the same as with the first two films. In order to get the film down to a roughly two hour running length--a decision I put at Summit's door--the story has been pruned so badly that it feels undernourished. What really annoys me is that there is a lot that could have been added in a relatively limited amount of time. For example, the "nice teamwork" moment between Edward and Seth--that would have taken perhaps 15-20 seconds of additional time onscreen.

2) The biggest victim of this "undernourishment" element, big enough that I have to give it special mention, is the almost total failure to develop the relationship between Alice and Bella (again).

3) The writing also continues to be unsatisfying. A lot of it seems to be "by the numbers" writing that may be adequate when it comes to the letter of the story, but doesn't really get the spirit of the books we love. In particular, a number of the big romantic moments lack the power that I would have liked them to have.

[funkidiva]

Good point made re Edward and Seth and "nice teamwork". In the book Seth nudges his nose against Edward's fist after the fight as a well done, nice teamwork gesture but there was none of that in the film. LIke you say Jestak it would have taken only a few extra seconds to have put this in and this start of a great friendship between a vamp and a wolf is a key point and development in the next book.

[AvidDreamer]

I think I've been in the middle with every movie so far in the franchise, but things seem a little different this time around. While I think that Eclipse is a much better movie all around than the other two... mostly because the acting didn't make me cringe this time and David Slade did a magnificent job making the world of Twilight seem much more real and accessible than it has in the past... I was left feeling kind of empty.

It's a feeling I've noticed other people have in their 'middle of the road' reviews and though I'm not exactly sure where it comes from, someone did say in another thread that they think the movie would be much better if key scenes had ten to fifteen seconds added to them, maybe a pivotal line or two. I wholeheartedly agree. One of the things that has bothered me the most about the movies in the Twilight franchise is their running time. I don't understand why Summit seems to believe that all of these movies need to run at just above the two hour mark. If they haven't noticed by now, Twilight fans are not all underage tweens. Many of us are in our late teens, twenties, thirties, etc. and I'm pretty sure I can speak for even the little ones out there when I say that we're all more than willing to sit through a longer movie. I'm not sure if it's money or timing that cuts the films down to such a short running time, but I'm hoping that this trend does not continue with Breaking Dawn. Sure, it's being split up into two films, but that doesn't mean they should only run three hours total.

That being said, I did like the movie. There were many things that worked wonderfully for me, and others that unfortunately fell short. I'll break it down into pros and cons so I don't end up writing a novel of my own instead of a review. ^_^

Pros:

**Acting- I thought that all three leads gave great performances and I was impressed with Jackson Rathbone's and Nikki Reed's flashback sections as well.

**Writing-I always enjoy the tongue in cheek humor that has been a hallmark of the series, but in Twilight and New Moon the rest of the movie was peppered with cringeworthy adaptations of SM's work. I was happy to see that this time (for the most part) the movie was well written.

**Action- The action sequences had some great choreography. The vampires seemed quick, graceful, and deadly and the wolves looked wonderful as well. I especially loved the tense scene where the Cullens are after Victoria and Emmett crosses the 'line'.

**Music- As always I am enamored by the soundtrack.

Cons:

**Wigs- Kristen Stewart's wig was a pretty big distraction and though I don't know if it's a wig or not, I don't like Carlisle's pompadour. His hair looked much better in Twilight.

**Missing Lines/Scenes- I think I covered this when I said I didn't like how short the movie was, but I was really disappointed with some of the lines they took out. Jacob not referring to Edward as an 'eclipse', Edward not telling Bella he wanted her "Right now." etc... There were so many lines I kept waiting to hear that didn't make it in or were changed too much.

**Out of Character Behavior- This one has been covered by many of you already and I want to just reiterate how wrong it was for Bella to just leave Edward standing there in the school parking lot like an idiot. She may not have been my favorite person in Eclipse, but she knew enough not to do that. It's one thing if MR wants to make Bella seem more confident, but making her seem dismissive and resentful of the man she supposedly wants to spend eternity with makes her agreeing to marry him in end seem confusing.

Jacob was also not enough of a little punk and Edward needed to seem like less of a doormat. I mean, we're supposed to want her to end up with him, right?

*sighs* I really wanted to love this movie, but I've only seen it once and I'm hoping that it was my being tired at the midnight showing that prevented me from falling into the 'I loved Eclipse' camp. I guess we'll have to see after I watch it again.

[MiVidaLoca]

A few other things I didn't like.

Her taking off with Jacob leaving Edward there. It wouldn't happen.

When Jacob finds out about the wedding Bella gets angry with Edward. I mean when she yelled at him "don't touch me". I could never see her telling him that. She was angry with herself in the book. The movie made it sound like she was angry with Edward, beyond angry with him.

[funkidiva]

Good point re when Jacob finds out about them getting married. In the book Bella is angry at herself for Jacob finding out the way he did and isnt angry at Edward.

I dont like how easy Bella accepted the idea of getting married in the film either. She agonises over this decision in the book and hates the idea of marriage. In the film she jumped for joy and couldnt wait it seemed which was annoying.

I dont think anyone would mind the films being 15 minutes or so longer if it meant true adaptations of relationships could be properly scripted into the films.

[aussie-twigirl]

It's so good that there's others that feel the same as me! I thought it was just me who felt 'meh' about this but it seems not. I do think that this is better than the other two. But i was expecting so much more with this movie and it just didn't happen. I was thinking that maybe it was just me because I got my hopes up before seeing it and because it's my favourite book in the saga, but it's good to see that others feel the same and have the same problems with it as me. I agree with a lot of what everyone has said here.

I loved all the key scenes: the tent scene, the proposal, the training, the flashbacks, the graduation, bella/jacob's kiss and the meadow scenes. I think the acting was better. It was visually amazing. And the action scenes were well done. I think David Slade did a great job overall. But it seems that Melissa Rosenburg doesn't completely understand the story, particularly the relations Bella has with the other character's (Edward, Jacob, Alice and Rosalie). It felt lilke this in the two other movies and was clear in Eclipse. Edward and Bella still feel a bit like 'teen' love and not 'true' love. Their relationship isn't explained deeply enough, and her love for Jacob too. The Jacob/Bella kiss was good, but their last scene together in his room wasn't long, and definitely not explained, enough. The actors in this scene were great, they used what they were given and i felt their pain with them. But i know that if i hadn't read the book, then i wouldn't of really understood it. I also didn't like that the scene where Bella's crying was missing. Particularly with the bracelet, when she tries to take it off and Edward says something like, "No it part of who you are". That seemed like a very symbolic part of the love triangle, as said on other topics in this forum, and a good explanation of her love for Edward and Jacob.

Alice and Bella's relationship is a BIG part of the saga and to barely have it in the movie, wasn't right. These two only had a few minutes of screen time together in total and all of their key scenes are missing; The kiddnapping/sleepover, the porche in the garage, Alice finding out about the engagement, Bella seeing her dress/asking Alice to be bridesmaid and the graduation outfit/realising all threats are connected. All these scenes were missing, and all are key Bella/Alice relationship moments in the book. Also, Rosalie and Bella's relationship wasn't explored deeply enough. This relationship is important in BD and this scene was supposed to be the turning point for the two, to set up BD: Book 3. It really did feel as though Rosalie still disliked Bella after telling her story and that Bella still didn't understand Rosalie.

I agree that it felt choppy and rushed. Some scenes didn't flow smoothy enough from scene to scene. Key points in the movie were there, but they weren't complete. And there seemed to be some explanations that weren't truly finished. I agree that Summit should have allowed for more time. I really wouldn't mind sitting through a two and a half movie if it meant that explanations were clear and complete, and i'm in my late teens. I understand that Twilight's target audience is in their teens but there are so many adult fans out there, just look around this forum.

So there's my in-the-middle opinion of Eclipse. Overall I liked it and thought it was the best movie of the three, but comparing it to the book, i was disappointed. Maybe this will change when i see it again, but i'm not sure. It doesn't feel the same as the other two, wanting to go see them again straight away. With this one, i can wait for the DVD. Hmm..