Culture

Directed by David Slade
Screening at Hoyt's, Rialto
2.5/5
 
The Twilight Saga divides people. Some love it, some hate it. I find myself between the two extremes, and both enjoyed and despised Eclipse. Once again we join human Bella (Kristen Stewart) her werewolf bff Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and her superhuman, super-sparkly vampire bf Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). This time Bella and the Cullen clan are dealing with not only a love triangle but also a scorned and dangerous vampiress Victoria (Bryce Dallas-Howard) and a nameless threat that is terrorising Seattle and moving ever closer to Forks.
For me, the movies are far superior to the books as the actors manage to add dimension to otherwise shallow, 2D characters (especially Robert Pattinson) and the film can avoid the book’s pages and pages of description about how good-looking Edward is. The cast does a good job once again and special mention must go to Dakota Fanning who is quite brilliant and really coming into her own. This said, Kristen Stewart's acting was below par and it really began to bother me over the two hours of the film. Any acting talent Taylor Lautner may have been displaying was overshadowed by the fact that he spent 99.9 percent of the film shirtless (much to the delight of the audience). 
Stylistically, the film was nice to watch and the CG has improved from the earlier films, especially during the quite enjoyable fight scenes. There were also a few exciting flashbacks but we still must deal with all the sap flowing out of Edward and Bella. All in all, worth a watch as it certainly can be enjoyed as long as you're not taking it too seriously (sorry Twihards).