Eclipse…a review!

Hi and wecome to Discussions with Annie!

By now Twi fans, the whole planet-well the part that cares anyway-has seen the third installment of The Twilight Saga- Eclipse.

All hopes were pinned once again on the three stars, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner to carry this movie, not to mention Director David Slade, whose musical video expertise we hoped would represent for the first time, the true essence of the books by author Stephenie Meyer.

Did that happen?

Well let’s see.

First of all David Slade was better than Chris Weitz in terms of what was needed action wise. Yeah, he pulled off the action…if your eyes were fast enough to see it. But I got the impression the best sequences were left on the cutting room floor, compared to the romance which should have been left on the cutting room floor.

Mac made a very good comment I think about Eclipse. She said that nobody would have minded the extra half hour of movie if it meant not sacrificing the true ebb and flow of the story. The pace was again disjointed and clipped to hell and back. The fight scenes were great but not enough was put into the build up to these scenes. The wolves looked better but still…I did not feel like I was amongst some terrifying creatures and I could not tell them apart. I almost missed the bit where Emmett and the Paul wolf began to work together and saved each others lives. The CGI needed James Cameron for sure.

And don’t get me started on the acting.

Is it the subject matter? - Is it the fact that the majority viewing demographic is below mid teens? - Or could it be that the actors are just bad at their job.

To be fair…I saw Remember Me with Robert Pattinson and was surprised at the acting skill but then again he was supported by two craftsmen. Chris Cooper is an exceptional actor and Pierce Brosnan can turn his hand to anything.

However it is clear to me that without the kind of Director who can leech, beg and coerce the best performance from the cast, or the actors themselves who pay more attention to their craft instead of their fame I can’t see Breaking Dawn part one and two being any better. The performances of the three stars of The Twilight Saga is sadly not improving.

The constipated attempts by Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner to show emotion made me cringe. It is clear that they may well have no life experience to draw on to fulfill this role. So far I have not seen their best work. They talk the talk all right but they can’t walk the walk.

I thought little Jodelle Ferland who played Bree Tanner was enchanting in her small part.

Now it could be said that if you have yellow ochre or red contacts in, you will not be able to convey much in the way of emotion. The eyes after all are the windows to the soul. So I will excuse all vampires this time.  Most were under used anyway, especially Dakota Fanning who failed to shine in this movie as she had little to do. But everyone else contacts or no, turned in a weak performance at best.

So to recap -

Loved the fight scenes but they were cut to within a millimeter of comprehension at times.

Hated the acting in terms of the emotional scenes. The actors are probably too young to convey this slice of exquisite misery that we laughingly call love.

The CGI wolves were better but still didn’t like them.

The musical score was better in that I didn’t notice it and that’s as it should be. The New Moon score was  a miss mash of ill suited oddities.

It, for me remains to be said - Twilight was and still is the shining beacon, the proud and valiant flagship of The twilight Saga. Everything worked - the music - the actors - the story and the exceptional Director Catherine Hardwicke. While I may watch Eclipse again to give it a fair hearing as it were, but in the years to come, Twilight is the only one I will be watching over and over.

My friend Mac will not agree with most of what I have said and I defend her right to have her opinion. She had a blast this last weekend and you must check out her blog on Eclipse at www.twilightmovies.org

What did you think of Eclipse?

Until next time …take care of yourselves.

Annie