TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART

It's somewhat like Harry Potter and Lord of the Ring.

You are either a fan, or dread the time of the year when the "Twilight Saga" season comes around because basically every corner of every store is filled with promotional posters and merchandises with the face of 2 pale looking couple and one brownish (but hot) werewolf.

While "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Ring" carry mystical and magical themes, which bring audiences to out of the world fantasy-lands, "The Twilight Saga" indulges in a sad, pathetic love story between two souls who have nothing better to do in life.

I remember writing a review on "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" for my job interview.

Oh well, I guess I didn't get the job because the editor loves Twilight hahaha....or perhaps, I'm just not objective enough. I was a bit too harsh in my comments and a bit too crazy about Lautner, highlighting a lot of him. Maybe the editor is a vampire....

But nothing is going to stop me from being real honest about "The Twilight Saga".

I admit that I once enjoyed it because I love the unity of the Cullen clan - I love the fight scenes and I love watching the Cullens as a family.

I hate watching Bella and Edward. I do not get why they look at each other awkwardly, although some might argue that they look at each other with love...Sadly, we clearly have a very different feeling about love.

Frankly speaking, Bella is one of the most painful character to watch and it makes me not really adore Kristen Stewart. Perhaps she is good because of her strong, accurate portrayal of an over-emo girl, who is different, truly different.

Many had said that the movie butchered the book, because the book is very much better than the movie. I believe that's true. I mean, Harry Potter movies did not live up to the books standards, so I think the same would apply to the Twilight Saga. I think to be fair to the author and the whole story, once has got to read the book and sadly, I have yet to do so. Thus, I can only comment on the story portrayed in the movie.

I know Twilight is mainly on the theme of forbidden love, but I find that part the killer of the movie. It is a bore to watch the love triangle between a vampire, a mortal and a werewolf. Thus, New Moon was a complete waste of time and money for me because it centered around just the three of them mainly.

I went into the cinema expecting the worst for Eclipse but it was surprisingly okay.

This has definitely got to do with the fact that half the movie is more about the Cullens and the werewolves working together to protect Bella and defeat the army of Vampire.

The CGIs were amazing, one of the least fake ones I've seen so far. Technology has definitely gone a long way since those good old days where those created monsters look ridiculously stupid because of the weakly embedded images using not so advanced blue/green screen techniques.

I particularly love the huge werewolves, they are lovely and beautiful.

They blend in in the movie as if they are real creatures. I also love the action scenes between the Cullens. The action scenes were enhanced by face-paced camera movements, which could be annoying but brilliant at the same time - really depends on how you look at it. The fast paced panning of the camera, shifting focus from the various characters during battle scenes do make audience kinda dizzy but at the same time, in my opinion, did manage to create hype and excitement.

The only reason Eclipse is to a certain extent entertaining is the fact the the other Cullens have more screen time and their history one how some of them became vampires were mentioned. That makes the whole movie more interesting, rather than just LOVE LOVE LOVE! By offering the background story of some of the other Cullens, we get to see some other character developments, rather than just Bella and Edward, whose character are as stagnant as the drain water behind any local hawker stalls. I mean, from the 1st movie until the 3rd, we are still looking at both of them look at each other...so tell me, besides the fact that they can't live without each other, what else is there?

Annoying to watch is how Bella can't seem to choose between Jacob and Edward. 

Oh well, it's just me because I really dislike watching girls being fickle-minded when it comes to love. As if in life there is nothing else more important than to choose between two guys. Like I've stressed over and over, I am not a fan of the character Bella. I think it is mainly because we think very differently - she would give up everything for the love of her life, including her parents...I mean, I can't imagine not seeing my parents for the rest of my life. It's funny that she is only 17 and all she can think about is spending the rest of her life with a guy when other normal teens would be thinking about which education path to follow. Again, like she said, she is different.

Jacob is as hot as usual but I find his persistence in courting Bella a bit annoying. I am biased however since I am so madly into Taylor Lautner and therefore, I am less critical about his character. But if another dude was portraying Jacob's character, I'd really give him one tight slap in the face and say, "Aiyo, enough la! People got boyfriend already. You move on and find other hot girls lar!" But I believe some girls find Jacob's persistence and love for Bella admirable.

As for Edward, I just don't get skinny vampires. However, one of my friend adores the way he looks at Bella - she claims that he looks at her as if he would give her the world. All I can say is, I failed to notice the sincerity in his eyes but if someone else felt it, I believe Robert Pattinson did a great job in portraying his character and love for Bella.

One may argue that the most striking thing about the vampires in the movie are their eyes. You should notice that throughout the movie, their paleness highlights the intensity of their eyes and thus, I believe that if you play the role of a vampire in the movie, you must at least be good in conveying messages using your eyes. If you are a werewolf however, you'll have to make sure you have a tonned body, which hot abs and hot chocolate coloured skin. That's about it haha.

But it is cool that they managed to include some humour into the movie. There are funny moments that got me laughing at little - my favourite was when Taylor Lautner said, "Besides, I am hotter than you". Watch it in the context of the movie, and you'll get why it's funny haha.

So basically the third installment of the Twilight Saga presents 2 main story:

1. Vittoria trying to create an army of vampire to kill Bella and Bella sought protection from the 2 guys who love her like mad, and indirectly creating a pact between the disputing Vampire clan and the werewolf clan.

2. Bella trying to choose between the vampire or the werewolf, which metaphorically means choosing to be different or normal. While she do so, we see many moments where Jacob and Edward taunt each other and Bella standing in between...so...ya..

Basically that sums up what Eclipse is all about.

Whether you like it or not, it is still a phenomenon. But this 3rd movie is considered bearable (if you limit it to one-time watch only).

TC-My Ratings:

Love,
TammyC