So close to being pretty OK

Rating: 5/10 (23 March 2015)

Rating-5/10
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is the third instalment in the series and one that well, kind of takes it up a notch. Now please don't get me wrong, this is an average made movie but one that is so close to being kind of OK, it actually weirdly surprised me. It's better than New Moon by a long way and also in my opinion better than the first movie so this really does feel like the closest point this film series can get to franchise redemption so far.
This part is better acted, Kristen Stewart steps it up a notch and Pattinson does too after a poor showing in New Moon. Even Taylor Lautner gets slightly better and it almost feels like he has come of a new age with confidence and more actual skill in his work. The story is kind of overstuffed in truth though with new people, Bryce Dallas Howard returns, well replaces the previous actor to play Victoria, the evil vampire bent on revenge on Bella since the first movie. The problem with so many people is that it feels hard to not only keep track but also it means the acting goes down a level as most of the new people are inexperienced.
The film is no doubt a thrilling one, it has it's action although it is very much confined toward the end and so anyone wanting all out fighting will be slightly disappointed. One good thing with this though is that it doesn't hang around like it has done previously, the school isn't shown as much and we also get to explore more in the vampire world and we finally spend some time not talking about Bella. The romance is as ever it's radiant self, but is still awkward but not as much again as before. The lines are less stupid and the characters feel more real in this showing, some fans may feel it even strengthens in this one as the relationship is tested at times.
The cinematography is one of the technical aspects that improves here, it feels more good movie like and avoids the common traps that make the camera work feel dull and not exciting enough. One trap that does get fallen into is the director David Slade, now he isn't bad but he doesn't improve enough for this to be a good piece of work for him, it falls back into the same old kind of category and although I feel Slade and the movie do try to escape that, it ultimately just about slides back in.
It can feel just a little slow at times Eclipse can, with it's as I mentioned more time away from the school, it is more interesting but the boredom can creep in and kind of pointless adventures and conversations are had that feel very much like time wasting. The effects that are fairly poor before are still not perfect, but they are at least used well and on the point of the slow film, when the effects come, it can breath fresh air into the plot. They are also not overused as is also the usual case, before we had silly backdrops that looked really dumb, now all that is annoying scenery wise is the incredibly strange camera filters.
Overall this is a kind of so-so movie that although never makes the grade, never falls flat on its face. This feels like a new beginning in the chapters of Twilight the movie series and is much more confident and all credit for at least pleasing hardcore fans yet again. One thing to say though is that this isn't good I will repeat, it may be for me the best in the series so far but I highly doubt the most cynical of critics for the series will find any solace in this part.