THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The Twilight Saga definitely caught viewers off guard in the cliffhanger of New Moon, where Edward Cullen offered his hand in marriage to Isabella Swan. Lucky for them, the wait wasn’t as long as expected.
PLOT
Eclipse takes place in Bella’s senior year. She plans to become a vampire with her boyfriend Edward after graduation, but he only agrees to do it if they get married. She is hesitant with getting married because she feels so young, whereas he doesn't want her to turn because he wants her to enjoy various human experiences she could miss. So she takes the advice of her father Charlie (Billy Burke) to visit her mother Renee Dwyer (Sarah Clarke) in Jacksonville, Florida. She even tries keeping in touch with Jacob Black, who she hasn't heard from since the Cullens returned to Forks, Washington. Edward has always disapproved of the Quileute because he worries that would harm her on accident, due to the fact that they are werewolves. But based on her experience, Bella assures that would never happen. In Seattle, the nomad Victoria turns teen Riley Biers into one and has him create an army on her behalf, in order to kill Bella, avenging her lover James. Alice (Ashley Greene) has a vision of the army but does not see where they originate. Edward theorizes that it could be the doing of the Volturi because he recalls how Aro wanted him and Alice to join him. However, they don't tell Bella that they've been encountering Victoria and keeping her off their territory. Every time they pursue her, she is able to flee by passing through Quileute territory. When she does come back from Jacksonville, Jacob returns as well to reveal that the nomad has been around. Irritated that the Cullens, particularly Edward have kept it from her, she spends the rest of the day with Jacob to spite him. During their time, the teen wolf discusses to her about imprinting, an ability where werewolves are uncontrollably bound to one that is their soulmate. His leader Sam Uley (Chaske Spencer) had imprinted on Emily (Tinsel Korey), despite being in Leah Clearwater (Julia Jones) at the time. Jacob however makes clear to Bella that he hasn't done the same to her to eliminate her worry. When Edward takes her home, he catches the scent of another nomad in her bedroom, that is Riley. Knowing that it will be difficult for the Cullens to watch over her 24/7, she recruits the Quileute to take shifts with them. When the Cullens see news reports of escalating violence, Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) realizes that those are the actions of Riley's newborn army because vampires at their strongest within the first few months of turning. The vampire family intend to stop them personally before the Volturi intervene. When Bella spends a day with Jacob, he confesses that he loves her and makes clear that he would make her change to be with him. He gets carried away when kissing her without consent and when she punches him in retaliation, she breaks her hand. When Edward confronts him about it, Charlie prevents the two from fighting. After Bella gets patched up by Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), she confronts Rosalie (Nikki Reed) for her attitude. The latter admits that it is out of envy since she has a choice to be a vampire unlike she did. She shares her backstory of how she was raped in the early 20th century by someone she thought she loved and left for dead until Carlisle found her. She never thought being turned helped her because the only thing that satisfied her before meeting Emmett (Kellan Lutz) was getting revenge. In Seattle, the Volturi have been watching over Riley's army, unbeknownst to them all and hope to handle this situation before it gets out of hand. This leads to Bella accepting Edward's proposal, with the condition that she experiences intimate pleasure before she turns into a vampire. During her grab party, Alice gets another vision that Riley's army is coming to Forks. This leads to an agreement for the Cullens and Quileute to align in order to protect Bella. Jasper trains his family and the werewolves, based on his experience around newborns. During this time, he shares his backstory to Bella that he was bitten by a female vampire that wanted an army of newborns, hence his experience. Based on hearing this, she quickly deduces that this is indeed Victoria's doing. She and Edward camp at the mountains with Jacob, days in advance before the newborns arrive. During this period of time, Edward admits to Jacob that if Bella were to pick the wolf over him, he would respectively let her go. The morning of the battle, he does find out about their engagement, which disappoints him. Knowing that he wouldn't be focused during conflict, Bella lets him kiss her as an act of motivation. The alliance of Cullens and the Quileute are able to defeat the newborns with ease, whereas Edward and the werewolf Seth (Booboo Stewart) are able to do the same with Victoria and Riley. When they meet up with their families, one hostile remains and injures Jacob before the wolves finish him off. The Volturi arrive just as the battle had ended. One surrendered newborn named Bree Tanner (Jodelle Ferland) remains and despite Carlisle & Esme (Elizabeth Reaser) plead to adopt her as a chance of redemption, but Jane refuses a second chance a commands Felix to finish her, which he does. After Jacob is tended to his injuries, he promises to Bella that he will no longer come between her and Edward. The film ends with the couple finding excitement for their wedding, wondering how to tell Charlie.
THOUGHTS
I was not hopeful for this franchise to pick up steam after New Moon. However, I was surprised to see that it actually did so when checking it out when it was first released. Looking back, I think director David Slade makes the better sequel, but not the better film of the franchise. I feel this way because he still does things that don't work, while doing things that don't. Since this film has a higher budget (the highest goes to Breaking Dawn Part 2), it does bring a bit of authenticity to keep Stephanie Meyer's work interesting to see. With solid visual and practical effects, the fight scenes in the third act are the most entertaining in the franchise overall. What gives this film its shine is is accurately depicting how one must compromise between love and friendship. Having an improvement with her annoying mannerisms, Kristen Stewart definitely gives what is likely her best outing of Bella. Her scenario of deciding between two people who deeply love her is relatable because it is not an easy choice since both offer what one or the other does not. Whether or not you like it her decision, you have to respect it because what matters at this point is that she is happy in the end. Robert Pattinson and Jacob Lautner both present Edward and Jacob pretty stubborn because they cannot stand each other, yet love Bella. It's hard to like either because they spent their time pressuring her to make a choice, risking their chances of winning her heart completely. Jacob appears to come too strong when confessing his love, which is part of not winning Bella in the end. But the true reason she picks Edward overall is because he can protect her more than the other can, since werewolves aren't always capable of controlling their temper. What makes you respect both men is their will to respect not being chosen. Jacob will always be heartbroken, but at least he doesn't crash the wedding. Despite defending the three leads, there were multiple things in the story that hold it back from being better than it intends to be. First off, I appreciated giving Jasper deserving depth with his backstory, but it doesn't work with Rosalie. Hers is interesting, but I think it slowed things down unintentionally and I wish it had better pacing. You know it was kind of weird how only one wolf takes down Emmett who was chasing Victoria, but there wasn't another to take down the latter that stood for a moment to see the altercation. I know she's fast, but these guys have been so strict about their turf that they slipped so big it infuriates me. It makes sense for Bella to be under the loop of Victoria, but why didn't Carlisle try to talk to Sam about teaming up beforehand? Had they done that, they would've stopped her sooner. I can admit that it was a cool backstory of the Quileute's first encounter with vampires, but did the third wife have to stab her stomach? She could've slashed her hand and I'm certain she would've gotten the same result. It is fair for Edward to theorize Aro wanting to make an army, but why didn't he share suspicion around the time the missing person case of Riley come to Forks. And even though it wasn't the case, I don't think it would hurt them if they were to look into it. I did love it when Edward measured up with Jacob about his kiss, but why did he take so long until he dropped her off? If he wanted to get his hands on him, he would've followed the werewolf's scent and we would've gotten another dope fight scene. I want to respect that the protagonists are given a head start to prepare for the battle, but why exactly four days? Based on how fast and strong newborns are supposed to be, I don't buy it that it would take four days to go from Seattle to Forks. What I didn't like about here is how he makes Bella think it's okay to love more than one person at a time. That is so wrong because he is straight up encouraging Bella to think. I get he wants her that bad, but that is so low of him. The one thing that confuses me the most about the werewolves in these movies are how they keep their clothes on every time they turn. The males keep the jeans, and the female Leah keeps her shirt including the jeans. I don't want to come off like a creep and request nudity, but I do request an explanation or at least some kind of consistency. And why exactly did the Volturi miss witnessing the fight? If they knew about them in the first place, then it should've not been difficult to follow them and watch things play out. If Aro asked for them back, then that should've been said. And lastly, why the hell didn't they smell the scent of the werewolves? Every vampire has called it stench and since they had just taken off after Jacob got injured, there is no way they would not miss them. I honestly find it difficult for me to believe that fans can ignore these flaws whenever they choose to re watch this. Going back to the cast, I thought Bryce Dallas Howard was a good replacement as Victoria. In her given time, she was on point on making her as manipulative and sneaky as she was first written, which is exactly what I thought was missing from Rachelle Lefevre. Riley Biers was an interesting addition to the franchise's rogues gallery as Xavier Samuel makes him the most complicated. We remember him being an innocent victim when first attacked, but unexpectedly becomes loyal to his attacker due to feeling lost with the world the longer he became a vampire. And lastly with Aro absent, other members of the Volturi get to shine with their ruthlessness. Particularly, Dakota Fanning frightened me the most as Jane. While Daniel Cudmore makes Felix appear as the powerhouse, Fanning makes clear that she is the most powerful, thanks to being the most soulless. Just one thought and one being will feel inexplicable pain. And the fact that she'll do it for pleasure scared me even more. To wrap up, Eclipse is a decent entry to the series, but its pros are strongly distracted by the cons, becoming almost unbearable to get through. If you still love the franchise at this point, good luck with this one.
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