THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE
RYAN: One of the summer’s most anticipated movies, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, is finally in theaters. And ‘tweens everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief.
CAROLINE: This might be the most eagerly awaited movie of the summer, even though the last one came out just six or seven months ago. They’re really cranking these movies out for the fans.
RYAN: This is the third movie of the franchise, and it basically tied up some loose ends from the first and second ones without really advancing the plot.
CAROLINE: Yeah, not a lot happens in this movie until the end. About 45 minutes in, you leaned over and said, “When is the movie gonna start?” I was enjoying it, but it was a lot of set up and not much on plot.
RYAN: And after the movie ends, you’re kind of back where you were at the beginning, with a slight sense of resolution.
CAROLINE: We all know this movie features the big battle that unites the werewolves and vampires of Forks against the newborn vampires, but it takes about 90 minutes to get there. The battle is 10 or 15 minutes and then there’s an ending and that’s it. So it’s a lot of build up for a short scene.
RYAN: The climax is fabulous though. You and I were clutching each other the whole time. It was so exciting! And then people applauded afterward.
CAROLINE: It was pretty awesome. The CGI on the werewolves is amazing, and the whole thing was very tense and well choreographed. I got really into it. If you’re even just a tiny bit of a fan of these characters, you’re sure to be wowed. Overall, this is a much better movie than the last one, and I think the acting has vastly improved. Taylor Lautner didn’t make me cringe for once.
RYAN: I’ve been Team Jacob all along, so I’ve always liked his acting. And I’m happy to report he looks just as good in this movie as he did in New Moon, and we get just as much shirtlessness. My favorite parts of this movie were the love triangle between Jacob, Bella and Edward, which is explored much more deeply, and the addition of Bryce Dallas Howard to the cast.
CAROLINE: She looks phenomenal in this. Even though she’s not in a ton of scenes, the ones she’s in are very impactful. She’s also the only one in the movie who doesn’t have the worst wig I’ve ever seen.
RYAN: Oh. My. God. The Cullens’ wigs are a joke. They looked like nylon Barbie head hair. It’s almost like they made them purposely bad, because no hair person could look at these wigs and think they look good.
CAROLINE: It’s especially bad on Jasper and Rosalie. Alice looks like Cha-Ka the Monkey Boy from Land of the Lost. Even Kristen Stewart is inexplicably wearing a wig this time, which I so don’t get. What’s wrong with her regular hair?
RYAN: I think maybe it was too short for the movie, but they totally could have just added extensions and it would have looked much more natural. She looks really pretty otherwise.
CAROLINE: They do a great makeup job on her. LBH, this is first and foremost a movie for the ‘tweens and teens, but I still liked it. It definitely increased in quality since the last one, and I’m impressed by the director, David Slade. Most of the acting and dialogue was laughable in New Moon, but Eclipse is noticeably better. Also, I’m Team Edward so I was happy to see more of him in this movie.
RYAN: He’s doing his best Luke Perry in 90210 impression throughout the film with that hair and the whispery voice.
CAROLINE: And the sideburns! It felt like 1991 all over again.
RYAN: You’ll be annoyed to hear me say that I might have liked New Moon a little bit better than this, but I still thought this one was really exciting and cool with great effects. There’s high drama but still a little bit of humor. I’m becoming a bigger fan of this franchise as it goes on.
CAROLINE: Dakota Fanning wasn’t looking her best though. Something is up with her jaw and the way she speaks. And she really needs to tweeze.
RYAN: She rocks a very serious bun in this movie. I think she’s just hoping we’ll all take her seriously.
— BOTTOM LINE —
CAROLINE: The movie is silly in that it’s all this torment and angst over this one girl, but if you allow yourself to enjoy it, you will. I would have loved it as a teenager. And hell, I liked it a lot as an adult. The action is great, the teen drama is tense and exciting and the love triangle is in full effect. A vast improvement over the last one.
RYAN: I really liked it too. I know what happens in the next book, but I thought some of it was going to happen in this movie, so I kept waiting for those moments that never came. I was a little disappointed that this movie didn’t further the plot much, but it’s a totally fun summer flick. The fans won’t be disappointed.
— RATING —
