Film Review: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Rob Pattinson, Taylor Lautner,
Peter Faccinelli, Ashley Greene, Jackson Ratbone,
Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz

Watch the trailer for Twilight Saga Eclipse below:
   

[source: TwiIightSagaEclipse] 

I saw this movie twice! First, on 4th of July, the same day I met one of the Twilight stars, Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen)! Yes, I've met her!!! Quoting a line from one of Mariah Carey's song (Fourth of July from the Butterfly album), "It was Twilight on that 4th of July," indeed (you can read my story about my fun experience meeting AG here! scroll down to reply #18)...The second time I saw this was a few days later, on iMax!!



I thought this was a great movie and a lot better than the last two Twilight films I've seen previously (see my reviews of Twilight and New Moon), in my opinion. It has something for everyone even guys who wouldn't be caught watching the previous two movies will tolerate  and enjoy watching this one especially the action and cool fight scenes. This film had lots of action, cool visual effects, drama, humor, love triangle (though I hate this part of in both books and movies), vampires, and werewolves...especially hot and shirtless ones, lol. This was a fun movie to watch, that I didn't mind watching it more than once. Definitely worth watching more than once. Not too mention, a few of my favorite characters (ie. Alice, Jasper, Carlisle, etc.) got a lil' more screen time too, which was more than welcome, a pleasant surprise, and made me more interested and satisfied in watching this movie. It also stayed pretty close to the book, much more so than the last two...if I remember correctly, lol.

Favorite characters
- Alice Cullen
- Edward
- Bella (when she's not whiny and broody, lol)
- Charlie
- Jacob (esp. when in all his shirtless scenes, hehe)
- The rest of the Cullen clan (Jasper, Carlisle, Esme, Emmet, and Rosalie)
- Jacob's wolf pack/friends esp. young Seth


Least favorite characters
- Victoria
- Riley
- The Newborns (excluding poor Bree Tanner, the only newborn I didn't dislike...)
- Jane and her Volturi gang


[Warning! ... for those who haven't seen this movie and don't want to be spoiled...]

My favorite scenes...
- The training fight scenes with the Cullens as Jacob and his wolf pack watches on...and Alice surprising Jasper with her impressive fighting skills and an unexpected kiss she gave him...I thought that was cute an unexpected. It looks much better on-screen than what I imagined it reading (though I don't remember reading that unexpected "kiss" part in the book...that was why I was as surprise as Jasper was, lol). Great job by Ashley Greene and Jackson Rathbone as Alice and Jasper in that lil' fight training scene they shared and that lil' surprise kiss she gave him...
- Jasper's backstory and him telling Bella about his past made me liked Jasper more in this movie than in the previous two...not too mention, he talks more (and very easy on the eyes to look at) in this movie too and his love for Alice...and the way he was such a gentleman to her and their shared kiss, was just too cute for words even Bella can't help but noticed and smiled. Forget Edward-Bella-Jacob's love triangle...I'm team Jalice (Jasper & Alice), lol.
- Rosalie's backstory, like in the book...you start to like her and understand her character more why she appears cold (or a "bitch"...lol)  on Bella (in the previous two films, much like the previous two books) was because she "envies" her and that she didn't want Bella to be what she had become...the cold one and lonely too...even with Emmet in her life, she still longed for her previous human life, where she was happy and wanted to get married, have a family of her own and grow old with the man she loved, but that didn't turned out the way she expected her life to be...and can't say I blamed her for the way she feels...
- Every scene Alice Cullen was in from the first scene she appeared to the last ( think she appeared more than a dozen scenes, if I counted correctly...much more than I expected to have seen her appeared...even more so than the last two films combine)...yes, can't you tell? I'm Team Alice! lol. Obviously, she was one of my favorite from the Cullens and characters from the Twilight series (books and movies) and to see Ashley Greene more in this movie was as awesome as it was meeting her after seeing this film the first time...making my Eclipse movie, the best Twilight movie viewing experience I've had! it made me loved and enjoyed watching this movie more than the last two. :)
- The Cullens chasing Victoria was pretty cool to watch! Nice visual effects too!
- The brief scenes between Bella and Alice especially when Bella heard Alice speaking to her father Charlie in a "first name base,"and Alice taking her shopping (would've love to see a scene of them shopping though, but it wasn't shown here, unfortunately, perhaps in the deleted scenes?) and the graduation party she hosted at the Cullens home.
- The tent scene between the main three: Edward, Bella, and Jacob. The part when Bella was so cold and shirtless Jacob had to warmed her...love Jacob's funny one-liner in this scene to Edward, "I'm hotter than you," lol. That sounded a lot better on-screen than in the book and when you can actually see shirtless hottie Jacob saying it too, hehe. Taylor Lautner did a great job as Jacob in this movie (as well as in New Moon) much more so than Rob did as Edward, lol. Interestingly, I'm still team Jacob, as in look-and-shirtless-wise here, hehe!
- Edward's funny comment to Jacob, "doesn't he ever wear a shirt?" or something close to that, lol. Good one Edward...though I see jealousy here on Edward's part, haha!!!
- The cool fight scenes towards the end between the Cullens and their allied Werewolves vs. Victoria and Riley and their clueless newborns. Great visual effects and stunts used here. Kudos to the stunt team!
- The Edward vs. Riley and Victoria fight scenes...very cool scenes and Bella's being useful moment, distracting Riley and Victoria with her blood for once in this film, lol.


My least favorite scenes...
- Bella's whiny, broody, and moody attitude (even in the books I didn't like this part of her...even though I know that's part of her traits/personality)...it's like depressing watching her whenever she acts like that, lol.
- Victoria/Riley's scenes esp. Victoria lying to Riley
- the newborns scene with Riley as well as the beginning when Riley was turned into a vampire...
- Bella and Jacob's awkward kiss scene (when he kissed her and she punched him...and she broke her arm punching him, lol)...
- Edward and Jacob fighting over clumsy human Bella, lol.
- the scene where Jane and a few of her volturi possee's meeting with Victoria and Riley
- Jane hurting Bree Tanner with her paralyzing power in front of Bella and the Cullens and her ordering Felix to kill Bree Tanner...poor clueless, newborn girl (I've read the Second Short Life of Bree Tanner...that's why I feel bad for her). The Cullens tried to help, but they couldn't do anything with Jane's strong order.
- Jacob hurt and in pain towards the end. It was excruciating and heartbreaking seeing Jacob in pain, lol.

Overall, I thought Eclipse was great. I loved and enjoyed watching it much more than the last two films.  This film made me look forward to seeing the last two films (split in two) of Breaking Dawn...though I don't know how they're gonna translate that last book to the big screen. There was too much going on and so many unexpected twists and turns...we shall see. Those two films won't be released till next next year (2011) and the year after (2012)...so for now...Eclipse has this longevity to watch more than once than the last two, which I don't mind at all. I highly recommend you see this one, if you haven't yet. It was a lot better than I expected too. Go see this on iMax for a much bigger and better viewing experience!

My Twilight Saga: Eclipse Film Rating: ! (9.5/10; A)