Eclipse. Yes, that is what ScarC and I were sent out to do last week. Random ordered us to go see it, and write a review (ScarC saw it three times-my goodness)
Now, before you Twi-Haters start clicking the "X" at the top of your screen, just stop and listen to me for a second. As many of you know (or have guessed by my name) I am a Buffy fan, a Buffy loyalist, whatever you want to call it. I'm sure some of you reading this are too, so don't feel like I've betrayed you in some way because I have not. I loved vampires before Buffy, after Buffy, I used to draw vampires in elementary school for crying out loud. The reason why I say I'm a Buffy loyalist is because Buffy was the first form of media I ever saw that had my beloved vampires in it. Sure they were being slayed by a petite blonde, but I loved the characters, I loved the vamps, and I loved the show.
It wasn't long after Buffy season 7 had ended, that I came across Twilight while perusing a bookstore (which I later worked at for a year). Back then, there were less than a dozen copies of Twilight on the shelves. New Moon didn't exist yet, Twilight hadn't exploded into the crazy thing it is now, and TwiHards were few and far between. I read the book, I liked the book, and I admit I was excited when I found out there was going to be a sequel to it. So, I guess you could say I'm an original fan, but that's all I am. I'm not obsessed with it, I don't have Rob posters plastered on my wall. I just enjoy the story and the characters. I've only read through each book twice and that's it.
Why am I going through all of this in a movie review? Because I want you to understand where I am coming from, and because I want you all to know that my review for Eclipse is genuine. It's not biased in anyway. It's pure and honest truth.
So as you all now know, I was asked to go see Eclipse and write a review. Now I have to be honest, I can't stand the first movie of the series: Twilight. I had such high hopes for it, I even saw it twice in theaters just to see if the second time around would be any better...it was worse. No offense to people who love Kristen Stewart, but she just could not act in that movie! All the twitching and eye blinking (seriously if you don't believe me, look it up on youtube.). I thought the special effects were bad, the directing, the music, it just wasn't good! And I was taking a film class in college during this time, so I knew what I was talking about. The only thing I liked about that movie was the baseball scene (you can't go wrong with a MUSE song in the background), and the Cullen Family. The Twilight movie actually awakened my love for Jasper. I was intrigued by him in the books and LOVED his relationship with Alice, but it wasn't until I saw him in Twilight that I started to get all twitterpated.
With New Moon things got a little better. I had lower expectations for that movie because New Moon is my least favorite book in the series and I already experienced Twilight, so I was ready for anything. New Moon was definitely a step up from Twilight. With a new director, and more money to spend on special effects, the movie just felt better. The only issues I had were the cheesy scenes here and there (Alice's vision? I mean, come on), Kristen's acting (no surprise there), and the make up for Edward (in the words of a friend who saw it with me, "I'm trying to check out Edward, but all I can see is his lips") a little too much red on the lips there.
This brings us all to June 6th, the day I saw Eclipse (not at midnight, I saw it during the day). The movie opened with Bella and Edward sitting in their meadow, Bella is reading something for English while Edward is distracting her; asking her if she will marry him, to which she still replies with a "no". One thing I do in every Twilight movie is stare at Kristen Stewart's eyes, waiting for the extreme blinking and twitching to occur. It didn't happen at all in this movie. That was when I realized Eclipse was going to be different from all the others.
Eclipse is actually my favorite book in the series, but regardless, I went to the theater on my guard. I didn't want to have high expectations for it like I did with Twilight, only to be greatly disappointed, so I went in with a neutral air about me. Seeing Kristen Stewart's lack of blinking and twitching gave me hope; could this movie possibly be what Twilight should've been? It was. One should call Eclipse the Redeemer of the Twilight Movies. I was almost on the edge of my seat when the Cullen's starting chasing after Victoria through the woods. I knew they wouldn't catch her, but it was amazing to watch all the same.
The only issue I had with Eclipse was the lack of emotion from Kristen Stewart. Sure her blinking had stopped, but she was still bleah in the rest of the acting department. Her deep voice drives me nuts. Honestly, with Rob and Taylor constantly glaring at each other and wanting to fight each other, you could hardly tell she was there. Other than that though, I couldn't find anything wrong with this movie. Compared to the two before it, it was phenomenal. It was funny, it was intense, it was romantic. If I could see it again I would. Mostly because of one individual in particular:
Jasper
HO-LY-DANG! If I hadn't given my heart to Angel(us) long ago, I think Jasper might've taken it during the movie. When he took Emmett down (the strongest of the Cullen's) my heart was all a flutter. There's nothing I love more than watching a vampire beat the crap out of another vampire just on shear skill. Angel does the exact same thing and it's one of the many reasons for why I love him so much.
BEST SCENE EVER: Other than the tent scene and Jacob getting punched in the face (which were both hilarious), I have to say watching Alice and Jasper fight each other. It was the scene I was waiting for and it didn't disappoint at all. I so love their relationship, the fact that the only person who can take down Jasper is his wife, to me, is the sweetest thing ever. Behind every great man is a great woman, and Alice is definitely that.
A close second would have to be the fight scene. I never pictured the newborn vamps' faces breaking like porcelain when they were punched. Amazing visual, Jasper was a beast, need I say more?
I'm glad Eclipse didn't turn out as awful as I had thought, but the Twilight movies still need a lot of work. I mean, when you look at the Twilight movies and then you look at Harry Potter and how the kids who played Harry, Hermione, and Ron started out acting...they were still better than these twenty-somethings running around.
I'm trying to be optimistic about the movies, really. It's just sad that it had to take three movies in order for the saga to at least be decent on screen. I don't think it's the director's fault either, it's got to be the screenwriter.
Anyway, if you want my score on the Twilight Saga movies this is how they go in my opinion:
Twilight: D
New Moon: C
Eclipse: B+
Oh and JASPER JASPER JASPER
Now, before you Twi-Haters start clicking the "X" at the top of your screen, just stop and listen to me for a second. As many of you know (or have guessed by my name) I am a Buffy fan, a Buffy loyalist, whatever you want to call it. I'm sure some of you reading this are too, so don't feel like I've betrayed you in some way because I have not. I loved vampires before Buffy, after Buffy, I used to draw vampires in elementary school for crying out loud. The reason why I say I'm a Buffy loyalist is because Buffy was the first form of media I ever saw that had my beloved vampires in it. Sure they were being slayed by a petite blonde, but I loved the characters, I loved the vamps, and I loved the show.
It wasn't long after Buffy season 7 had ended, that I came across Twilight while perusing a bookstore (which I later worked at for a year). Back then, there were less than a dozen copies of Twilight on the shelves. New Moon didn't exist yet, Twilight hadn't exploded into the crazy thing it is now, and TwiHards were few and far between. I read the book, I liked the book, and I admit I was excited when I found out there was going to be a sequel to it. So, I guess you could say I'm an original fan, but that's all I am. I'm not obsessed with it, I don't have Rob posters plastered on my wall. I just enjoy the story and the characters. I've only read through each book twice and that's it.
Why am I going through all of this in a movie review? Because I want you to understand where I am coming from, and because I want you all to know that my review for Eclipse is genuine. It's not biased in anyway. It's pure and honest truth.
So as you all now know, I was asked to go see Eclipse and write a review. Now I have to be honest, I can't stand the first movie of the series: Twilight. I had such high hopes for it, I even saw it twice in theaters just to see if the second time around would be any better...it was worse. No offense to people who love Kristen Stewart, but she just could not act in that movie! All the twitching and eye blinking (seriously if you don't believe me, look it up on youtube.). I thought the special effects were bad, the directing, the music, it just wasn't good! And I was taking a film class in college during this time, so I knew what I was talking about. The only thing I liked about that movie was the baseball scene (you can't go wrong with a MUSE song in the background), and the Cullen Family. The Twilight movie actually awakened my love for Jasper. I was intrigued by him in the books and LOVED his relationship with Alice, but it wasn't until I saw him in Twilight that I started to get all twitterpated.
With New Moon things got a little better. I had lower expectations for that movie because New Moon is my least favorite book in the series and I already experienced Twilight, so I was ready for anything. New Moon was definitely a step up from Twilight. With a new director, and more money to spend on special effects, the movie just felt better. The only issues I had were the cheesy scenes here and there (Alice's vision? I mean, come on), Kristen's acting (no surprise there), and the make up for Edward (in the words of a friend who saw it with me, "I'm trying to check out Edward, but all I can see is his lips") a little too much red on the lips there.
This brings us all to June 6th, the day I saw Eclipse (not at midnight, I saw it during the day). The movie opened with Bella and Edward sitting in their meadow, Bella is reading something for English while Edward is distracting her; asking her if she will marry him, to which she still replies with a "no". One thing I do in every Twilight movie is stare at Kristen Stewart's eyes, waiting for the extreme blinking and twitching to occur. It didn't happen at all in this movie. That was when I realized Eclipse was going to be different from all the others.
Eclipse is actually my favorite book in the series, but regardless, I went to the theater on my guard. I didn't want to have high expectations for it like I did with Twilight, only to be greatly disappointed, so I went in with a neutral air about me. Seeing Kristen Stewart's lack of blinking and twitching gave me hope; could this movie possibly be what Twilight should've been? It was. One should call Eclipse the Redeemer of the Twilight Movies. I was almost on the edge of my seat when the Cullen's starting chasing after Victoria through the woods. I knew they wouldn't catch her, but it was amazing to watch all the same.
The only issue I had with Eclipse was the lack of emotion from Kristen Stewart. Sure her blinking had stopped, but she was still bleah in the rest of the acting department. Her deep voice drives me nuts. Honestly, with Rob and Taylor constantly glaring at each other and wanting to fight each other, you could hardly tell she was there. Other than that though, I couldn't find anything wrong with this movie. Compared to the two before it, it was phenomenal. It was funny, it was intense, it was romantic. If I could see it again I would. Mostly because of one individual in particular:
Jasper
HO-LY-DANG! If I hadn't given my heart to Angel(us) long ago, I think Jasper might've taken it during the movie. When he took Emmett down (the strongest of the Cullen's) my heart was all a flutter. There's nothing I love more than watching a vampire beat the crap out of another vampire just on shear skill. Angel does the exact same thing and it's one of the many reasons for why I love him so much.
BEST SCENE EVER: Other than the tent scene and Jacob getting punched in the face (which were both hilarious), I have to say watching Alice and Jasper fight each other. It was the scene I was waiting for and it didn't disappoint at all. I so love their relationship, the fact that the only person who can take down Jasper is his wife, to me, is the sweetest thing ever. Behind every great man is a great woman, and Alice is definitely that.
A close second would have to be the fight scene. I never pictured the newborn vamps' faces breaking like porcelain when they were punched. Amazing visual, Jasper was a beast, need I say more?
I'm glad Eclipse didn't turn out as awful as I had thought, but the Twilight movies still need a lot of work. I mean, when you look at the Twilight movies and then you look at Harry Potter and how the kids who played Harry, Hermione, and Ron started out acting...they were still better than these twenty-somethings running around.
I'm trying to be optimistic about the movies, really. It's just sad that it had to take three movies in order for the saga to at least be decent on screen. I don't think it's the director's fault either, it's got to be the screenwriter.
Anyway, if you want my score on the Twilight Saga movies this is how they go in my opinion:
Twilight: D
New Moon: C
Eclipse: B+
Oh and JASPER JASPER JASPER
Randomness! One of my nephews looks like the dude that plays Jasper and even has his accent. The other randomness... he acts like Jasper from the books. I've dubbed him "Jasper" until further notice. :D
ReplyDelete-Scarc91989