Minor spoilers ahead!
The movie's story begins with a shot of a young man we never met in either of the first two films and we soon realize that we are not in Forks but in Seattle witnessing part of the creation of Victoria's army of new Vampires. Soon we are relieved to be taken to a much more familiar location and see Edward and Bella in their meadow which has been much more generously stocked with prop flowers and therefore seems much more sunny, happy and well, meadowy. You can almost hear fluffy bunnies hopping and chewing on daisy stems just out of frame.
I don't want this to turn into a movie report instead of a review so I guess I'll stop now with the play by play. (Can't promise 100% but I'll do my best.)
I enjoyed twilight. I thought new moon was better and still do. eclipse blows them both out of the water!
Yes it really truly does. I'm not just saying that because it's the newest one and is freshest in my mind. And if you'll be so kind as to continue reading I'd like to tell you why.
First, more than ever before, we can feel the closeness and dare I say it, the love between Edward and Bella. new moon got it much better than twilight did but in eclipse their relationship really starts to bring the feeling that the book did in that regard. They really feel like a couple who know and love each other.
I hated Jcub in this book and was sincerely dreading the parts where I knew he would be messing with Ed's girl but I'm tempted to say that this is one particular area that the movie did even better than the book. Sure we have to watch him force himself on her and watch him keep her warm through the night in the tent but in the end Bella leaves no doubt about who it is that she loves most and the movie lets her explain why. Although we have to watch her bounce back and forth between them with a frequency and speed that would make a Wimbledon season ticket holder dizzy, the way she confesses her love for Edward in the end is completely believable and totally satisfying. Edward and Jcub also have a good talk and although it is still obvious that Edward would give Bella up if he thought that would make her happy and that Jcub will forever try to steal her away, I ended up loathing Jcub slightly less than I did in the book.
There is a lot of back story included in this movie. We get to know why Rosalie treats Bella the way she does. We are shown the tragic history of Jasper and the closeness he and Alice share. The history of the werewolves is expounded upon as well. We are taken much deeper into the histories of the ones who merely dazzled as they walked by in the cafeteria and those who mostly just caused teen girls to scream whenever they took their shirts off. All the familiar characters just become much more real and we can't help but care about them more.
We, as well as Bella are finally told why Edward is so adamant about getting married first. The moment when Bella finally understands this is one of the best in the movie.
eclipse also has the best action so far. The big fight scene is cool but of course ends with the inevitable death of sweet little Bree. In the book I think she was 15 but the little actress who plays her looks only about 11 or 12 which makes it even more sad. I beg you to read the short second life of bree tanner before you see eclipse. It will make an otherwise possibly forgettable moment one of the most heart rending in the whole movie.
Have I said enough? Have I said anything at all? I thought twilight was good and new moon was better. eclipse is definitely best! (If this trend continues all that will be left for breaking dawn parts 1 and 2 is bestest ever and bestest ever extreme I guess.) The story is entertaining, exciting and romantic. The characters are more interesting and we care about them more than ever before. There is a believable and satisfying resolution to the sticky triangle between Edward, Bella and Jacob.
To sum up. when the credits rolled I heard several sighs from the females around me. They were partly the usual sighs of swooning but I felt they were mostly sighs of relief, resolution and satisfaction, above all satisfaction. Yes, eclipse is a very satisfying movie!
20 comments:
Yes! I can't wait to see it. I'm going on Friday! Thanks for the review. Oh and I also took my kids to Toy Story 3. You were right about the villains being creepy. That baby is going to give ME nightmares!
Hi Luci, how was the big move? I hope you are all settling in well. I was hoping you'd still visit my blog now and then even after you moved away. Thanks for reading and have fun at the movie on Friday. I know you'll love it!
Great review Lorin. I may actually have to go to the Theatre for this one since our little town has no where to rent movies anymore so no use waiting for it to come out on DVD.
I agree...Eclipse is indeed the best of the movies so far. I'm glad I went to see it. I didn't see New Moon until it had been out on DVD for weeks and I had planned on the same sort of scenario for Eclipse. However, a friend of mine wanted to go, so we made a day trip to Lethbridge on opening day no less. I looked like such a Twi-hard! It was worth it though...the movie was just that good! They did a good job with the story line and the relationships seemed so much more real and less forced. Alice & Jasper are adorable. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and {gasp} might even consider going to see it once more before it is out of theaters!
PS Seriously? You hated Jacob in the books?
Jewel - Thanks, you really should go and see this one.
Shauna - If you think you felt like a Twi-hard how do you think I felt. I can almost gaurantee I was the only unaccompanied guy in the theater.
I want to see it again in the theater too. I almost would have stayed and gone right back in for another show if I could have. It's just that kind of movie isn't it.
Jcub, yeah... I suppose he's a good person and I can't blame him for trying with Bella after Edward left in new moon but his persistence after Edward came back and his general disrespect toward the Cullens, his boarderline assault on Bella and his never ending manipulations of her trying to lure her to him are what I dislike most. Unlike Edward, who loves Bella so much that he would instantly give her up if he knew that is what she truly wanted, Jcub is completely selfish because he is trying to break up a perfectly happy couple just because it's what HE wants. I could go on but I think you get the idea. So yeah, definitely not team Jcub here. Also, I hate love triangles in general so...
Well, I'm about the farthest thing from a "twi-hard", I haven't even read any of the books.
I have seen the movies though. I was invited to go with some old friends(the Orr sisters, Susan, Julie and Kelly, and their daughters, in the Waterton theater. This was the first time I've even stepped inside the place. I was there with about 16 other Orr family members, 3 of which came dressed in hooded, black cloak's. I guess you would call them Twi-hards. Anyway, the first comment made was from the 20 year old that noticed Eclipse was "only rated PG", I guess it was rated PG13 in the states. And I agree with that rating, just cause the romantic side of things.
We proceeded to watch the movie, only to have the reel brake just as they were receiving their graduation diplomas. 10 minutes later it was back on, only to brake again when Charlie was trying to give Bella the 'big talk'. The movie came back on but with out sound so of course, off it went again until finally they got it back together as it should be for the rest of the movie. This was probably why I walked out at the end thinking it wasn't my favorite of the three.
I think I will have to drag Dennis with me and see it again, without any interruption.
I do agree with Lorin that it was entertaining, exciting and romantic, but I would put those in a different order. I would say Romantic, exciting and entertaining. There were a few points in the movie that I wanted to reach in front of me and cover the eyes of the 12 or 13 year old sitting in front of me.
My favorite part, or line of the movie, was the one Jacob says when he and Edward are talking in the tent. I won't spoil it for anyone, you will just have to go see it to hear it.
So here is my novella response to yours Lorin...
I guess the reason I like Jacob is that he made Bella realize she had a choice. While reading, I always felt like she was given no choice in the loving Edward department. Edward is too perfect in her eyes and so she can't do anything but love him and want to be with him forever; she has no choice, in her mind, but to give up everything and everyone for her. I liked that with the impulsive and lovesick character of Jacob always pestering her, she had to wake up and really think about it. It wasn't just something she thought she wanted; she was able to see it was truly who she was. (If that makes sense.) I guess it felt like Bella "imprinted" so to speak on Edward and without Jacob and the love triangle, I would have hated the idea of her and Edward just riding off into the proverbial sunset without anyone trying to stop them. (I really wasn't anti-Edward...I hated the idea of the imprinting for the wolves too. Imprinting in my opinion means lack of choice and that just seems wrong.)
In terms of his character, I think he behaved just like any 16/17 year old boy who was hopelessly in love with his best friend and watching her make, what is in his mind, a huge and irreversible mistake. Edward had 100+ years of "life" experience to not only work on being patient and in control of his emotions but also to come to grips with the changes in his life. Jacob was still in the middle of dealing with the life changes as well as dealing with his strong adolescent emotions. Edward may look 17 (except in the movie!) but he wasn't. I don't think it would be realistic for a young and strongly emotional man to "back off" from letting someone he loved go off with his people's enemy. As a wolf, he only knows the changes happened because vampires were near. The vampires in the tribes' history were always their enemy. That he and the others could overcome their hatred enough to work together and that Dr Cullen could come onto tribe land to help was huge. I think Jacob was necessary for that "peace" however small to occur. If he had given up, his broken heart and pride may have caused him to hurt Bella in other ways such as not honoring the treaty with the Cullens.
Anyway, that's the way I looked at Jacob. I didn't realistically expect that the outcome would change, but I'm glad Stephanie Meyer wrote him in to make Bella really look at her life before making decisions. I really liked Bella and Edward but I think they needed a Jacob to make sure their love was not only real...but enough.
Sorry about those extra ones...blogger told me my response was too long to publish so I broke it down into 2 parts and published them, only to find blogger lied the first time!
Leisel - Sorry to hear about your theater experience. Nothing worse than that happening. You should give it another try. I really think it is by far the best of the three movies.
Shauna - Thanks for your thoughtful explanation. I don’t suppose we’ll ever completely agree on Jacob but I do agree with your point about there needing to be some opposition to Edward and Bella for their relationship to be more satisfying in the end. If that was Jacob’s purpose then I suppose I can cut him a bit more slack. I just think that love can be tested without being tempted or assaulted. His being instrumental in creating the alliance is another good point but…
The point of no return for me with Jacob was the “if you don’t kiss me I’ll kill myself” mega-manipulation which was conveniently left out of the movie by the obviously team Jacob screenplay writer Melissa Rosenberg. Her pro Jacob stance has created a much more likeable character in the three movies than the Jacob who actually lives in the books. Even now as I recall reading the real story a strong dislike for Jacob returns. I mean, even near the end of the Breaking Dawn when the kid with the weird name is born and they are all one big happy family Jacob’s selfishness returns and he runs off to kill Bella’s own baby and is only stopped by conveniently imprinting on her. I just don’t see how people can think he is so wonderful and worse, that he is a better choice for Bella than Edward who from the beginning always did the unselfish thing and thought only of Bella’s happiness.
I know you never said that you wanted Bella and Jacob to end up together but I just wanted to explain why I can’t even really like him. Sorry to be contrary but I hope you can understand my point of view as I do understand yours.
Here is a funny clip for you: http://www.hulu.com/watch/114945/saturday-night-live-lab-partners#s-p1-st-i1
It looks like that video won't play outside the US Ray. I think all of hulu is like that.
Of course I can understand your point of view...I too love Bella & Edward together. I wasn't anti-Edward...I just think Jacob played a greater role than a lot of Jacob-haters give him credit for. And I must say, it was great to "debate" with an anti-Jacob who didn't start the argument with "But Edward is so much hotter than Jacob!" :)
I enjoy your reviews (books and movies) - keep 'em coming. I hope you don't mind me butting heads with you once in awhile.
Thanks Shauna. It is fun to have a discussion. I'm glad you enjoy reading my reviews and I do hope you will continue to. I'm sure we'll agree much more often than not.
Try this one: http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/lab-partners/1184713/
The video on the NBC site would just go black after the peacock logo but I did find it on YouTube. That's pretty funny. Thanks Ray.
That was my favorite one out of the 3 so far. Thanks for the book on Bree Lorin, it was short and sweet and gave a little more insite on that side of the story. For sure good to read before watching the movie.
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