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Old 12-03-2010, 11:17 PM
masterofmystery masterofmystery is offline
 
Default Review: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse DVD



The third installment of the Twilight saga, Eclipse, focuses a great deal on the now somewhat-tedious love triangle between the three leads, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), and Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black). At the end of its predecessor, New Moon, Jacob made his feelings clear for Bella, who had been left astray by her supposed true love Edward, after his family left town. Edward got one misheard message, thought Bella to be dead, and considered killing himself as a result. At the end of the film - and book - the pair realise that the other is still alive and kicking, unfortunately leaving room for more movies.

Eclipse basically follows Bella as she mentally anguishes over which one she wants to be with, and it's baffling that this is even a consideration given that she's so obsessively in love with Edward that she'll become a vampire just to be with him. Become an immortal undead just to be with your boyfriend clearly is definite proof of how somewhat insane she is, and her obvious choice in a romantic counterpart. If anything, when it comes to Jacob it feels like Bella just enjoys the attention, and does like him, but definitely not in a romantic way. Jacob himself is a pathetic character, and Lautner can only throw so many trite lines about how she should stay away from Edward, and how much he would protect and love her without it becoming completely unbearable to watch. Lautner gives it his best, but given the overall nature of the character, there's not really all that much he can do there. Bella, as always, is shown to be unrelatable, irrational, and irresponsible, but that's supposed to be a teenage girl, right, Stephenie Meyer?

The third installment thankfully has a bit more going on in it besides the angst-ridden issues between three alleged teenagers, where Victoria, previously seen in the first movie, comes back to seek vengeance on Edward for killing her beau, James. Victoria, recast to be portrayed by Bryce Dallas Howard, who has nowhere near as much sass and malevolence as her predecessor, Rachelle Lefèvre, brings together an army of newborn vampires, just turned immortal, and unleashes their bloodthirsty need on the poor folks of Forks, especially Bella. What better way to get Edward back than to kill his true love?

There's a whole big and boring battle at the end, on a mountainside, where Edward, who had teamed up with Jacob somewhere during their two families' temporary allegiance, protects Bella and try to take down Victoria. During their intimate tent scene, Bella's feelings finally come out, and it's obvious that, as predicted from the beginning of the first film, she loves Edward, and nothing more.

The movie itself ends at a 'cliffhanger', of some sorts, where Edward, as old-fashioned as can be, asks Bella to marry him, as a means to finally consummate the relationship without being in the wrong. Can't wait to see how that conspires in the two-part finale of Breaking Dawn.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse 2-disc DVD set is available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
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