Dear Twilight Franchise --
I know that over the past handful of years you have been compared to the Harry Potter phenomina, which there is nothing wrong with since it was and still is wildly sucessful, but you should not have let that go to your head. Just because HP is splitting the final story into two parts does not mean that you have to as well. Yes Twilight blew up over night just prior to the first film. Yes the books are a great YA (young adult) series that got a ton of teens back into reading after the HP books were completed. Yes you have one of the actors who was in the Goblet of Fire film as the star of your films, but how far are you really going to take this competition?
Now let me begin by preferencing this with the fact that I have been a fan of both book series for many years and the books are fantastic. BUT dearest Twilight, you have saddly disappointed me for a second year in a row with your films, and what I am about to do is not only a little sad, and sligtly embarrassing, but I feel as though I need you to understand just how much you broke my heart with the third installment of the Twilight Saga.
"Yo Twilight, I'm really happy for you, I'm going to let you finish but Harry Potter is one of the best franchises of all time...one of the best of all time!"
Twilight did so well with the adaptation of the first book, and even the second film was palatable outside of the fact that you have made a sex symbol out of a 17 year old boy who some 30-something women have a hard time controlling themselves as they watch the film, and who even twilight-moms make complete fools of themselves by embarrassing their daughters by making such odd requests as asking the buff star to sign their Team Jacob panties. I'm sure it will be a story told anytime Mr. Lautner is asked what is the craziest thing that has ever happened to him, but did you really need to go as far as you did? And with Eclipse I am saddly left speechless.
Eclipse had so much potential but I felt it fell short of what it could have been. The two-hour film was hard enough to sit through with awkward dialog (which I've yet to figure out if that is just because Kristen Stewart still has not come to terms with her new found fame that the role continues to make her one of the most awkward and uncomfortable actress to watch on screen, or if it was just the dialog chosen for the film) and a third of the film being visual effects that moved so quickly that all I could focus on was the blurry CG playing out before my eyes. No matter how much I love Stephanie Meyer's writing, this film did not stand up to the reputation and stands of the two films that came before it. Too much time was spend on visual effects, and not enough was spent on the story itself. Had a viewer not read the books they would have been left in the dust as they would have had no idea who the characters were or what was happening in the story. I felt it was the weakest film of any series I have ever seen.
Although I cannot say that the whole film was a bust. There were a few saving graces during the 2-hour running time. I commend the writer, Melissa Rosenberg, and director David Slade in their flashback sequences as they were the highlights of the film. I loved seeing each of the Cullens' back-stories play out on the big screen. As far as the actors go, it was Billy Burke (Charlie Swan) who saved the film for me. His quick one-liners were the comic-relief that made the film easier to stomach. And of course I just have to mention that my favorite line in the film is Edward saying: "Doesn't he own a shirt?"
I am sad to report that I am no longer a Team Edward or Team Jacob advocate. I will stand beside Jasper any day of the week and turn to Charlie when I need a quick pick-me-up. However the films just are no longer doing it for me. I would rather turn back to the black and white pages of the books and re-read the series to get the original excitment and joy I felt when Stephenie Meyer first introduced me to the Twilight series.
Overall, I give Eclipse a 2.5 out of 5. Judge as you may, but after seeing the film don't say I didn't try to warn you.
