Jo Reviews

The Twilight Saga continues with the latest installment. Eclipse will heat up the box office this weekend and rightfully so. Picking up where New Moon left off we are back in Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edwards (Robert Pattinson) world where both are trying to compromise on changing Bella into a vampire at the volturi’s command. Bella sets the date for after graduation and begins to learn what she can expect once she is changed. Edward still hesitant about it insists the only way he will turn her is if she agrees to marry him beforehand. Eventually a compromise is made, but not before a battle ensues.

As a string of mysterious killings in Seattle is grabbing the attention of Forks residents the Cullen clan begin to become concerned as Alice (Ashley Greene) has a premonition of what or who they are after. It becomes clear rather quickly that the army of “newborn” vampires has Bella as their target and is on their way to Forks in the hunt. Knowing that the newborns, recently turned vampires who are hungry for blood and more powerful, may be more than the Cullen’s can handle they turn to the wolf packs.

Asking Jacob (Taylor Lautner) if he thinks the pack would help them in the battle and call a truce to work together in the hopes of saving Bella. Of course Jacob is ready to do anything to protect Bella and the vampires and wolves begin training together in the hopes of defeating the army.  The army will not be the only opponent as Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) returns. We learn she is behind the army as the leader in the shadows and has convinced Riley (Xavier Samuel) to be the front man to kill Bella and the Cullen’s.

The battle between the Cullen’s, newborns and wolves is by the far the best action sequence from all of the Twilight movies. Following the book closely Eclipse offers many Team Jacob and Team Edward scenes that all fans will love. Eclipse has the most entertaining dialogue between the two loves of Bella. Finally we are also given a vision into the past of the characters of Rosalie (Nikki Reed) and Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) giving us a better idea of how they got to where they are today. Japer who I have always found awkward to watch finally steps into the spotlight and made you like his character. One character not winning any love would be Victoria. Bryce Dallas Howard could not compete with her predecessor’s performance and I found her to be a complete disappointment.

The chemistry between Bella and Edward and Bella and Jacob was there. They definitely heated up the screen, but for me I found Kristen Stewart a little uncomfortable to watch on screen this time. I think back to her performance in the original and somewhere along the lines her performance as Bella has become strange. The romance, action and special effects made Eclipse better then New Moon. This film will not disappoint Twihards and will have everyone bummed that Breaking Dawn is a year and half away. Enjoy your holiday and get lost in the whimsical tale that Eclipse has to offer.