The choice is obvious...this is the one

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2010)

Being a Twilight fan, I couldn't wait to catch Eclipse, the third installment of the Stephenie Meyer franchise. I sat in the theater, waiting for it to begin, wondering what favorite lines of mine from the book would make it into the movie. I also couldn't wait to see Robert Pattinson's gorgeous face again.
The movie did not disappoint. Just like New Moon, it was pretty close to the book. In this one, Seattle is plagued by unexplained deaths; these are the result of Victoria. She is building an army to take on the Cullens and get to Bella. Meanwhile, Bella is wrapping up things in her human life to prepare for her departure into the world of the undead. She visits Jacob a few times and he tells her he's in love with her. He says he knows she loves him too, but won't admit it. Later, Bella agrees to marry Edward in exchange for him having sex with her after the wedding. After battling Victoria's army and her own inner demons, Bella comes to realize exactly where her heart does lie.
As usual, the three leads are dead-on in their performances. Truthfully, I hated Bella in Eclipse; I couldn't believe she would treat Edward the way she did. Kristen Stewart made Bella likable; even though I still hated Bella, I could understand her point. Except, of course, when she asked Jacob to kiss her. Out of everything that was cut, that made it in. I knew it was important, but it didn't make me any happier. And despite the fact that I'm Team Edward, I do like Taylor Lautner as Jacob. He is probably the stand-out in this movie, getting to fight vampires, kiss the woman he loves, and accept the truth. His final scene is heart-breaking and I almost found myself wanting to console him. Almost.
Robert Pattinson takes Edward to new levels. You can see the pain he's feeling when Jacob keeps Bella warm in the tent and makes his jealousy evident in several scenes. Some say Pattinson's performance is horrible, that he shows no emotion. He's playing Edward as Meyer has advised him to; Edward is supposed to be rather reserved and isolated. This is what makes his emotional scenes so powerful. He also is mesmerizing when fighting Victoria. A truly fine performance.
Another stand-out in this film is Jackson Rathbone. His character of Jasper finally gets his chance to shine when we learn how Jasper came to be. And although several of the best lines from the book are omitted, Rathbone's intensity is not. You feel his pain as he explains "I didn't know of another way" when he joined Maria and his never-ending love for Alice. Though I was irritated that one of the best lines in the entire saga was not present in the movie ("I felt hope"), I was rewarded with a nice Jasper-Alice kiss. And Ashley Greene herself portrays some great emotion when dealing with the visions of Victoria coming to Forks.
The rest of the supporting cast is just as excellent, especially Nikki Reed and Kellan Lutz. Emmett gets a chance to fight and show his humorous side and Rosalie finally explains her dislike of Bella. This helps you understand her more and realize that although she's self-centered, there is still a human there. Bryce Dallas Howard replaces Rachelle LeFevre as Victoria. I really wanted to hate her; I was convinced that only LeFevre could play Victoria. I was wrong. Howard is almost as perfect as her predecessor and shows off some real talent when Edward is goading her. My bias for her dropped during the film and I became glad that she was in it. And there's a new vampire to drool over in Xavier Samuel as Riley. This brings the list of hot men in this movie to one hundred. I can only imagine what Breaking Dawn will have.
Like before, the cinematography is beautiful. There are several shots of the area that they live in and several cool action shots. Costumes are modern and desirable, especially the blouse Bella wears in Edward's home. The soundtrack once again includes music from musicians that I didn't know exist, such as Sia and Beck and Bat for Lashes to the ever-faithful Muse. And, true to form, there is one instrumental on the soundtrack album, one for those who are Team Jacob.
Anyone who is a fan of the Twilight Saga will not want to miss any of the movies, but most especially this one. So far, it is the best in the film franchise.