What a surprise after two dull movies

Rating: 7/10 (15 July 2010)

I went into the third Twilight movie on the assumption that it was half a fingernail - you know, ripping off half a fingernail isn't much fun but, having got to that point, you might as well rip the other half off. You know from bitter experience you aren't going to enjoy it, but at least it finishes things off. The first movie told how sulky Bella got together with stylish vampire Edward, and the second one told how werewolf Jacob became a second contender for the underwhelming affections of this depressing teenager. So in I went, all ready to start tearing the second half of the fingernail off.
D'you know, I enjoyed it. It has a lot of action and a strong sense of developing threat and dread, and several flashback sequences showing how members of the Cullen family became vampires in the first place. All this stuff was well done and very entertaining, and comprised a large part of the movie (compare this with the first two movies which were downright dull). The only time the movie flagged was when it spent time with drippy Bella and her besotted rival paramours.
What else did I get from Eclipse? Apparently native American werewolves are several times bigger than the humans who turn into them. And apparently vampires are made of wood (at least that's what it looks like when bits get knocked off them. Plus they burn really well). And it turns out that the Volturi (aka Vampire High Command) are needlessly sadistic and unpleasant (plus, from Twilight 2, they are stupid enough to have their headquarters in a town which holds an annual anti-vampire festival), so my money is on a showdown between the Volturi and the Cullen clan in the final chapter, especially as Bella's nemesis Victoria is now cinders.
I no longer blame Kristen Stewart for Bella - it is hardly her fault that she is lumbered with performing one of the worst conceived and written characters in the history of Gothic romance.
So my verdict is: unexpectedly enjoyable.