By Charly SHELTON

Let’s put this out there right at the start: I am a 20-year-old boy. I have seen all of
the “Twilight” movies, but with an added commentary track from Rifftrax.com making jokes at the long pauses and lingering gazes. The only part that I really liked about the first two movies was the special effects. And maybe Alice. After giving it a go, twice, I can confidently say I am not a fan. That being said, this third go in the “Twilight” series, “Eclipse” was actually a pretty good movie. I enjoyed it a lot more than I ever expected.  Definitely best in the series so far.

Bella (Kristen Stewart) is facing her last few months of high school in Forks. Her undead boyfriend Edward (Robert Pattinson) is also graduating for the umpteenth time. Her werewolf friend/boyfriend wannabe Jacob (Taylor Lautner) is not returning calls because she chose the wrong side in the vampire-werewolf feud. And as she nears graduation, she wants more and more to become a vampire. But when old nemesis Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) reappears creating an army of powerful vampires, the wolves and the vampires need to work together to save Bella, and the town, before the Vulturi intervene. While Bella is spending more time with and being protected by Jacob, she realizes she is not so single-minded in loving only Edward, but that she is torn between the two, each with his own faults. As the battle nears, the tension mounts between the boys as well. Bella needs to decide which love path to walk.

As the battle between super vampires and good vampires/werewolves rages on, the camera holds its extreme close-ups on Edward’s too perfect face and Jacob’s rippling abs.  It could be that I am just a boy and I want to see action, but the way the movie seems to be set up is that it is leading up to this great battle, then when it starts we only see two short sequences of the battle, and cut to the Bella love triangle again.

Werewolf telepathy narrates the battle, but the drama is with the two boys competing for the girl. When we cut back, the battle is over.

The film is about Bella and her loves, but it seemed to also set up this one thing, this great battle, only to glaze over it. However, the drama with Edward and Jacob is not bad.  There is a certain scene in a tent when Jacob and Edward have a wolf-heart to still-heart conversation about what each one wants, and what is best for Bella. This is the best scene in any of the three movies. It really shows their characters as people, not just a muscle-bound teen wolf and an undead perfect boy. The conversation ends as so many of the “enemies forced to talk” conversations do, with the two saying that under different circumstances they could call each other friends. This really touched the hearts of many in the audience because for three movies these two have been such bitter enemies, fighting over Bella and everything else.  So to see just them reacting together without the catalyst of Bella is really a sweet moment.  Definitely worth seeing. Even for non-fans.

Rated PG-13 and starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. I give this movie 3 out of 5.

  Eclipse, Edward, Jacob, Twilight