Twilight Saga...

On June 29th I channeled my inner 13 year old & sat for 8 hours in a movie theater somewhere in Connecticut to share an experience with 100 other Twi-hards. For those of you that live under a rock I am speaking of the Twilight Saga. These are a series of films based on the novels & characters created by Stephanie Meyer that have become a world wide frenzied phenomenon.

We sat through the first 2 movies with surprising ease in anticipation of the latest installment; Eclipse. Eclipse is the continuation of the story of Bella, her epic love interest Edward, & her best friend Jacob. You see, things are always complicated in the town of Forks, WA. When your true love is a vampire & your best friend is a werewolf things get...shall we say...hairy. To make matters worse, Jacob believes he is in love with Bella. This only proves to drive a larger wedge between her two worlds with Bella in the middle fighting for balance. & Victoria is back. The woman who hunts Bella in order to avenge her mate who Edward killed in the first film in order to save Bella. That's a mouthful. Victoria creates an army of vampires to attack the Cullen clan...& Bella's two worlds are forced to come together to save her from another brush with death.

I loved the book & although many of the details were lost in order to make the movie a tolerable length, I feel as if the film did the book justice. The CGI was a definite enhancement & as the series progresses, the films get more & more technically sound.

Replacing the character of Victoria was veteran Actress Bryce Dallas Howard, a huge fan of the novels as well as the films. I believe that the original actress who was cast is still the better choice for the role but BDH brought her own power to the character...they could have made her hair a little more normal looking. She looked like a grown up version of a vampire Orphan Annie.

Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, & Taylor Lautner are all settling quite nicely into their love triangle roles without seeming stale or overdramatic. In this film we get a little more insight into the beginnings of Edward's brothers & sisters. There is a wonderful scene with Rosalie & Bella where Rosalie explains why she is so bitter & jealous of Bella's humanity. We were also given a glimpse of Jasper's story before joining the Cullens. This gives the audience more of a reason to care about the entire cast...we are understanding more about Edward's family.

I was dissappointed that we didn't get more of the stories from the Quilluettes. I felt as if those were glossed over & could have been given a little more depth. I think it would have enhanced the struggle and conflict for Bella. But timing...everything couldn't possibly have made the movie!

As a side note I think that Dakota Fanning who plays Jane is wonderful as a member of the Volturri Guard. She has the sense of entitlement and regality and we saw it come through much more in this film than the last.

I left satisfied. I will definitely see the movie again in the theater. I would caution you that you will probably sit an a theater with a bunch of prepubescent teenagers who whistle and scream whenever Taylor or Rob come on the screen. In fact I had to stop myself a few times otherwise I would've punched the 12 year old next to me. She just wouldn't STOP giggling at the boys. However, I am beside myself waiting for the 2-part conclusion of Breaking Dawn and for all those who doubt the $30 price of admission...I am here to tell you it was worth it.

Title: Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Directed By: David Slade
Written By Melissa Rosenberg based on the novel by Stephanie Meyer
Opened On: June 30, 2010

Cast:
Kristen Stewart Bella Swan
Robert Pattison Edward Cullen
Taylor Lautner Jacob Black

Viewed On: June 29, 2010 a 12:01 am
Viewed With : all my girls - Monica, Amanda, Michelle, Donna, & Kaylin
Viewed On: July 19, 2010
Viewed With: Alone
Recommendation: I will see it again in the theater at least one more time, buy the dvd and probably would do this triple feature again when the next film comes out. For those that love the Twilight series...I salute you.