Twilight Saga Eclipse - Movie Review

I saw the Twilight Saga Eclipse last night at midnight, and with all Twilight films I am glad that I went on opening night.  First; it's good to know what everyone is talking about, and second; there is no experience like a Twilight film at midnight, it's electric.

Eclipse so far is my favorite Twilight film to come out.  The acting was better, the directing was better, and the special effects were better.  Everything has just improved so much since the series first hit the big screen.

I was disappointed in a few things.  Bryce Dallas Howard took over in the character of Victoria.  Her acting was cheesy and not very believable.  I'm not sure she was a good fit.  In the action you couldn't tell it was a new person, but in her speaking lines, it was painfully obvious that this girl was not built to be an angry vampire.

The editing had it's moments.  I was not a huge fan of the opening.  I liked the idea of it, but thought it came out rushed and choppy.  This was apparent in other parts that as well.  I think they needed a few more shots to make the sequence work out better.  Along with the editing, some transitions were awkward.  Just a bit forced.

Other than that the film was visually beautiful.  I would see it again just for the prettiness of it all.  The new character of Riley was great.  I wouldn't have minded if he had more face time.  This installment did a good job of providing background to characters other than Edward, Bella and Jacob.  You see the back story to Rosalie and Jasper and scratch a little more of the werewolf surface.

I think I say the rest in my video review below so check that out.

Rating: 3.0★ stars (out of 5)

Recommendation: Twilight fans and those curious about Twilight will love this film.  You can't go into it expecting a cinematic masterpiece or you will be disappointed.  It merely a fun fan movie. There is no need to see this film in IMAX.  It wasn't filmed for IMAX so don't waste your money.

Twilight Saga New Moon

O Twilight, how tweens and twi-moms love the.  New Moon was a definite step up from it's predecessor Twilight, and audiences around the country agree.  In it's first night it racked up $140.7 million making it the 3rd most attended midnight showing in the history of movies behind The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 3, and just in front of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (that's ridiculous, and twice as much as Twilight).  What is more surprising is that that movie only took $50 million to make.  They made a profit in it's premiere hours.  So far the movie has sold close to $220 million in tickets.

Now I bought my ticket about 2 months in advance on fandango and was right there for the midnight showing.  I loved the movie, but that's because I love the story.  So saying that, I will try my best to give an objective review.  Here we go...

New Moon is the sequel to Twilight, and the movie opens in one of Bella's (Kristen Stewart) dreams on the dawn of her birthday.  She doesn't want to get older since her vampire love, Edward (Robert Pattinson) can't age.  The Cullens throw Bella a birthday party, and all hell breaks loose when she gets surprisingly bloody paper cut that sends Jasper on the attack.  Edward decides it's in Bella's best interest to leave and let her live a normal life.  This sends Bella into a depression where she can only find peace in her friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner).  But Jacob starts acting weird and disappears for a while.  It turns out that Jacob has a special Quillette gene that turns him into a Werewolf who hunts vampires.  Bella is still hung up on Edward and sees visions of him whenever she does something dangerous.  Edward learns of one of her daredevil attempts, thinks she's died and decides that he no longer wants to live.  Now it's up to Bella: stay with Jacob or rescue Edward.

New Moon had a new director, Chris Weitz, who also directed films like The Compass.  Depending on what review you read, he either did a horrible or a terrific job.  I'm following the latter.  He did a much better job of portraying vampires running, and he was good for all the animation that they used.  The acting was better too, but only slightly.  I'm not sure if any director can get Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson to jell on screen.  If they do have a relationship, why don't they translate that to the screen.  On the other hand, Kristen and Taylor Launter had tons of chemistry.  The feel of the movie was much warmer, but the pacing was off for most of it.  Drama was drawn out where it didn't necessarily need to be.  I didn't notice this the first time cause I was so amped to see it, but the second time it was pretty clear.  Lautner was topless for half the movie which will have young girls (and cougar moms) squealing everywhere.

Rating: 2.7 ★ stars (out of 5)

Recommendation: Boys, take your girls to this movie (unless you are insecure about your body). This is the yet another perfect tween movie, but if your not a fan already, I'm not convinced that the films will do it for you.

Twilight

The only place to begin is the book.  Twilight is about a teenage girl, Bella Swan, who exiles herself to a small town of Forks, Washington, and the rainiest place in the continental United States.  There she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen, in unique tale of forbidden romance.

When pressed to describe the series I say it’s about “vampires and awesomeness.”  I am a tween at heart.  The books are amazing, so it’s hard to believe that any film could come close.  If you have read the books you must go into the movie with an open mind.

I saw Twilight at the midnight showing in my town.  That was a very interesting experience.  All the little tweens screamed every time a new young male actor appeared on the screen.  It was annoying and fun at the same time.  My theatre was full.  Arriving a half hour early left me in the suck seats two rows before the scream.  Not the best way to see any film.  So it wasn’t surprising to me that Twilight grossed around $77 mil in it’s first three days.  That was the highest opening for a female director, and thought that makes me happy to see a successful female, I was upset that it had to be Catherine Hardwick.

Catherine Hardwick directed and young, up-and-coming group of actors.  Kirsten Stewart plays Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson plays Edward Cullen.  The acting was so-so, but I blame that on the direction.  Kristen Stewart really only had one look the entire film and that was a very blank one.  Establishing shots were amazing but most of the film was conducted in close-up and these actors just aren’t ready for that yet or were poorly directed on.

The filmed moved very quickly and the action was a little off.  Never once did the book say that Edward was spider-man and yet he’s scaling trees in the film.

Rating: 2.5 ★ stars (out of 5)

Recommendation:  This is the perfect tween film.  It represents teenagers almost spot on and is quite humorous.  Throw in some good-looking actors and you have Twilight.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved the film, but I loved it more for what I could bring to it than what was presented in front of me.  If you are, have or are a tween at heart then this is a good film for you.