And the music lays on and on...oh oh oh oh, oh oh and it sounds like Eclipse

Rating: 4/10 (8 December 2010)

There are legions of ardent fans of this Twilight Saga - this third installment is ECLIPSE - and they obviously have their reasons for loving both the books and the movies. That's good news, especially for Stephenie Meyer who is probably only second to JK Rowling (Harry Potter series) in skyrocketing income from the transformation of book to screen adventure. The scenery in Vancouver,BC is pretty and the music and lyrics for the film by Howard Shore is meant to add to the story line.
The script by Melissa Rosenberg (who has done some fine work on the television series 'Dexter') is written in staccato phrases - one-liners that don't really allow the actors to express much real emotion under such confines. For this viewer this is one of the main reasons the film doesn't fly. Even if one can buy into the fairytale atmosphere of flatline normal human girl Bella (Kristen Stewart) falling for rather stiff and distant and oh so proper vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson, who has proved in his other films 'Remember Me' and 'Little Ashes' that he actually CAN act) while at the same time falling in love with werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner, ever more buff and using his physique to great advantage in almost every scene), there are problems with the story for the casual viewer who hasn't read the Twilight Saga or followed the previous films. Despite the film's building to the altercation and confrontation between Seattle vampires versus the small town Cullen vampires now supported by the town's werewolves courtesy of Jacob et al the story feels static. No emotion: script versus acting - it is a toss up. Once again Billy Burke and Anna Kendrick (so fine in 'Up in the Air') add to the quality. The werewolves are huge and cuddly, and the blue meadow flowers serving as background for Edward and Bella that open and close the film are nice.
And we have two more episodes to go - or more... Definitely an acquired taste.
Grady Harp