{"id":423,"date":"2010-07-12T17:05:16","date_gmt":"2010-07-13T01:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/MovieM\/?p=423"},"modified":"2021-07-17T21:58:22","modified_gmt":"2021-07-18T04:58:22","slug":"twilight-eclipse-recap-and-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/MovieM\/?p=423","title":{"rendered":"Review: Totally Twilight: Eclipse!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Twilight<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Greetings\u00a0SciFi\/Fantasy\u00a0Movie Fans!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The movies of the Twilight Saga (Twilight<\/em><\/a>, New Moon<\/em><\/a>, and Eclipse<\/em><\/a>) were adapted from the hugely popular series of books by first-time author Stephenie Meyer<\/a>, written and published for young (YA) readers, and which have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide since the first book\u2019s release in 2005.\u00a0 They are the story of Bella Swan, the vampire Edward Cullen, and Bella\u2019s friend and sometime love interest, the werewolf Jacob Black.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jacob,<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you are a Twilight fan, you will love Eclipse<\/em>.\u00a0 If you have not seen the first two movies in the series (Twilight<\/em> and New Moon<\/em>), or read the books, you may still enjoy Eclipse<\/em> although there will undoubtedly be many moments when you are just not sure what is going on.\u00a0 Ultimately, it probably won\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Eclipse<\/em> is a love story and an action movie with a little comedy thrown in.\u00a0 Something for everyone, right?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

First, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to say I am a Twilight fan.\u00a0 As a huge book lover and avid reader, I admit that the books are not the greatest books I have ever read, nor are the Twilight movies what I would think of as \u201cgreat\u201d filmmaking (sorry!).\u00a0 But none of that really matters.\u00a0 I am entertained.\u00a0 I am drawn in.\u00a0 I care about what happens to the characters as their stories unfold.\u00a0 Twilight is a deeply personal experience that you only get to have if you set aside your critical, rational self and step into the story.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Despite my fan status, I am a critical movie viewer.\u00a0 The following recap\/review will point out both what I liked about the movie and what just did not work for me.\u00a0 You may have a different opinion about some of it.\u00a0 I welcome and encourage any and all comments.\u00a0 Maybe you can change my mind about something I didn’t initially like!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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SPOILER ALERT!\u00a0 WHAT FOLLOWS IS A FULL RECAP AND REVIEW OF TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE SO PLEASE DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU PLAN TO SEE THE MOVIE AND DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN ADVANCE.\u00a0 GET OUT THERE AND SEE THE MOVIE, THEN COME RIGHT BACK.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Eclipse is the continued story of Bella (Kristen Stewart<\/a>), Edward (Robert Pattinson<\/a>) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner<\/a>),\u00a0and the menace to Bella posed by bad vampire Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard<\/a>)\u00a0as she seeks vengeance for the death of her mate, James.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The movie opens on a rainy night in Seattle and the attack on Riley Biers that would turn him into a vampire.\u00a0 The scene was beautifully shot, and the handling of Riley\u2019s being turned without being able to see his attacker was great.\u00a0 [The song from the soundtrack CD for\u00a0this scene was “Chop and Change” by <\/strong>The Black Keys<\/strong><\/a>.]<\/strong> Australian actor Xavier Samuel<\/a> gives an outstanding performance as Riley, in this scene and throughout the film.\u00a0 He was beautiful, damaged, vulnerable, cold, and deadly.\u00a0 I wished I had seen the movie before attending the Eclipse convention in June, 2010 so I could have better appreciated seeing Xavier in person, and really hope that he will be a guest at some future Twilight convention in my area.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Riley<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first we see of Bella and Edward, they are in the \u201cmeadow,\u201d and Bella is supposedly studying for an English final.\u00a0 Edward asks her to marry him a couple of times and she turns him down flat.\u00a0 This is one of my least favorite scenes in the movie, for a number of reasons.\u00a0 The meadow does not look any better than it had in previous Twilight movies.\u00a0 It still looks like a patch of grass that has been adorned with artificially random purple flowers.\u00a0 I know that the meadow was an important part of Stephenie Meyer\u2019s inspiration for Twilight, but I personally wish they would quit bringing it back to the movies since it is apparently impossible to make it look like a real place that was created spontaneously in nature.\u00a0 And, at the risk of incurring the wrath of fans around the world, I thought Kristen Stewart’s reading of\u00a0the Robert Frost<\/a> poem, “Fire and Ice,”\u00a0was poor.\u00a0 Kristen seems uncomfortable and, consequently, mumbles her way through it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Edward<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The meadow scene is, thankfully, short.\u00a0 Bella has to get home before curfew.\u00a0 [Song from the soundtrack CD: “Let\u2019s Get Lost” by <\/strong>Bat for Lashes<\/strong><\/a>.]<\/strong> When she gets there, her dad, Charlie (Billy Burke<\/a>) encourages her to see more of Jacob, who he says is having a tough time and could really use a friend.\u00a0 Of course Edward is completely against the idea of Bella spending time with a werewolf and tries to prevent her going to the reservation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bella<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is one of the areas in which the movie and the book diverge, and although Team Edward will be content, Team Jacob and fans of the other wolves may be a little disappointed.\u00a0 Eclipse the novel dedicates quite a bit of time to Bella\u2019s visits with Jacob and her determination to see him despite Edward\u2019s strong objections and his ability to thwart her plans with the help of Alice\u2019s visions.\u00a0 The movie strips most of that out.\u00a0 I do not personally have a Team affiliation, but I had hoped for more Jacob\/Quileute time in the movie.\u00a0 Sadly, the castmembers portraying the wolf pack (Kiowa Gordon<\/a> as Embry Call, Tyson Houseman<\/a> as Quil Ateara, Julia Jones<\/a> as Leah Clearwater, Alex Meraz<\/a> as Paul, Bronson Pelletier<\/a>,\u00a0Chaske Spencer<\/a> and Booboo Stewart<\/a>) had very little screen time since their scenes were nearly always in wolf form.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Wolf<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Having even less screen time than the human-form wolf pack were Bella\u2019s high school classmates played by Anna Kendrick<\/a> (Jessica Stanley), Christian Serratos<\/a> (Angela Weber), Justin Chon<\/a> (Eric Yorkie), and Michael Welch<\/a> (Mike Newton).\u00a0 [Tyler Crowley, played by Gregory Tyree Boyce<\/a>, only appeared in the first film in the series, Twilight<\/em>.]\u00a0 We see them in the school cafeteria talking about graduation and, later in the film, at the graduation ceremony itself.\u00a0 Jessica and Angela are also present very briefly at the post-graduation party.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bella's<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But back to our story: Edward takes Bella to visit her mom in Florida, and when they get back, Jacob shows up at the high school, in part to check that Bella is still human.\u00a0 Against Edward\u2019s wishes, Jacob tells Bella that while she was gone Emmett and Paul had nearly started a Cullen\/wolf war chasing Victoria along the border between their territories.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n