The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Film)

I’m a bit excited to see The Twilight Saga: Eclipse after seeing the last part of New Moon last year. I am exited to see how the new director visualize the story, hoping that it might be better from the first two movies. But I also tried to lessen my expectation knowing that the script is written by the same writer. And as expected the script is not so impressive. There are too much diagloues, mushiness and pick-up lines that doesn’t work well. But it was for the most part faithful to the story, out of all the films from the saga this one was closest to the book. I’m impressed at the amount of quotes taken from the book and added into the film though there are more better lines that was left out. Lines like “For the first time in almost a century, I felt hope” and what about Jacob line that tells about the movie title – “The clouds I can handle but I can’t fight an eclipse”. Anyway, my favorite line in the movie was not actually taken from the book, the graduations speech of Jessica Stanley played by Anna Kendrick. For me it was perfect.

The supporting characters are more interesting than the leads. Anna Kendrick as Bella’s classmate can make a few seconds of exposure so great, while Kristen Stewart as Bella was quite boring. She is such a blank slate. She has only one look – confused. Taylor Lautner as Jacob is good but there are some lines that didn’t work for him. Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen is great, his acting improves this time. He also smiles a lot which add more charisma on his character. Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria did a good job but not better than Rachelle Lefevre. She didn’t have enough evil look or attitude about her. Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Hale who did not speak much in the first two movie is a wonderful surprise. The casting of Xavier Samuel as Riley was great.

As for the love story, things did get more physically intimate for the three main characters, more than the previous one, but the “romantic” lines do get more corny. Jacob’s little one-liners didn’t work much. The meadow scenes were a bit lame. And the ring, it’s not how I imagine how an old-fashioned elegant ring look like. I also don’t get why all the boy werewolves walk around without shirts on after their transformation but the girl werewolf has. That is inconsistent. Should they just put all their shirts on? It’s pretty good that they don’t forget to add the Cullen’s backgrounds. Rosalie (Nikki Reed) & Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) history add spice to the story. It was interesting to learn more about their past. It gives a little more understanding on their characters. The story of “The Third Wife” is also there.

The action was quite good. The fight scenes were actually quite well shot with good special effects. They were suspenseful & thrilling. The opening sequence showing Riley being turned was actually pretty tense. There was bit of that creativity in violence, but somehow the camera pulled away just before the image got too graphic. The overall design look of detached vampire flesh was nice & neat. The wolves looked better than they did with New Moon.

The film is way better than the first two movies in terms of visual effects, makeup, acting & story telling. There’s more story behind it. It’s not one of the best movie but it’s good to see that the saga is improving.

Graduation Speech:

“When we were five, people ask us “what do you want to be when you grow up?”
we tell them things like astronaut, fireman or in my case…

Princess.

When we were 10 they asked again and we answered, rockstar, cowboy or in my case…

gold medalist.

Now that we have grown up they want serious answers. Well how about this: “who the hell knows?”

This isn’t the time to make hard and fast decisions. This is the time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train and get stuck somewhere. Fall in love… a lot. Major in Philosophy because there is no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind, then change it again because nothing is permanent. So make as many mistakes as you can so that way when they ask us what we want to be, we wont have to guess, we’ll know.”

Twilight Saga: New Moon (Film)

I went to see the premier of Twilight Saga New Moon last Friday night at SM Megamall with Rica and Bunnz. Rica is lucky enough to get a free four tickets while we got some shirts of Edward and Jacob before the movie screening. The movie start late than I expected because of some programs & games. Most of the games are like a voting polls which make you choose which is hotter between Edward & Jacob. I have to say that the majority of the movie goer inside the cinema are Team Jacob. I am not really a fan of Jacob Black nor the second book of the saga New Moon. I actually find the second book boring when I first read it, maybe because of the absence of Edward Cullen in the story. Though I still went to see the film hoping that they will add more of him but unfortunately for me, the writer just stick on the book basically. Her script is very much a direct adaptation of the novel. Watching the film is like seeing Stephenie Meyer‘s words in action. Most of the lines are just plainly by the book.

“This is the last time you’ll ever see me,” Edward Cullen says to Bella Swan.

Edward is as good as his word in that dialogue and New Moon suffers as a result. His lesser appearance make the film tedious. Constrained by the plot of the novel, the film keeps the two lovers apart, robbing the story of the crazy-in-love energy that made Twilight such a guilty pleasure. The Cullen family has a little exposure in this film. The funny, comedic, vampire moments that made Twilight bearable are no where to be found. No more exciting game like the vampire baseball game in Twilight. I wish they expand the scenes of the vampires specially the Cullens and also the Volturi at the end of the film. Obviously this film is for Jacob Black and the werewolves pack.

If you haven’t read the series, the plot line of this New Moon film may be deem. The first 80 minutes of the film is dull. Everyone sort of ambles around with no purpose as the story tries to unfold. I think Twilight had a greater sense of arrival and better storytelling compare to this one. In Twilight, scenes between Bella and her father were quite touching, and Bella’s alienation was easy to understand. It gave her a reason to be drawn to Edward Cullen. In New Moon the reason can’t be found. There is so much content jammed together that we don’t have time to see the relationships or tension build gracefully or to unravel any of the mysteries. It’s a very straight up adaptation, but in comparison to Twilight New Moon is paler than the Cullens.

Good thing about New Moon is the chemistry between the three lead roles. But the acting still needs an improvement. Kristen Stewart has one single facial expression throughout the movie. The special effects here is also better thanks perhaps to a bigger budget. The makeup is more acceptable than the first entry of the series. Overall, I still enjoy the movie, after all I got to watch it for free and I didn’t get sleepy because I’m too busy explaining to my companions what is happening. Seeing the ending of the film makes me excited to see Eclipse, the third part of the saga.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

“Edward had always thought that he belonged to the world of horror stories. Of course, I’d known he was dead wrong. It was obvious that he belonged here. In a fairy tale.”
– Bella Swan, Breaking Dawn

Breaking Dawn is the fourth book of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. The story opens straight with the climax of twilight saga – Edward and Bella’s wedding. The first part of Breaking Dawn is quite narrated in a rush. It can be added to eclipse and make the series a trilogy. But still Breaking Dawn has its own story to narrate. It’s quite different to the first three books which tell the story of two young extraordinary individuals passionately in love with each other against all odds. Breaking Dawn push the next chapter of Edward & Bella’s story to a more mature level.

Bella’s character in Breaking Dawn is a lot different from the first three books. Of course I want her to get stronger & more independent but it seems that it lacks the transition stage. It happens too fast without much development details, she suddenly became a queen and heroin from being a pawn.

There are lots of characters from the other books that I missed. Surely they all exist in Breaking Dawn but they became different. I missed Emmett’s fun character, his few but fun remarks that makes me laugh or smile. Alice and Jasper are quite different too. I understand why Alice needs to leave the Cullen’s but getting it from Bella’s point of view doesn’t give much justice. Speaking of point of view, I think the book can be narrated without Jacob’s point of view. It can be more attached if Bella still do the narration in book two. After all it is Bella-Edward’s love story so why not instead of Jacob make Edward do the narration – I think that’s more interesting.

The vampire sunlight-sparkle was gone. I totally missed Edward – he still exists but I miss him so much. He suddenly became different in this book. After Alice left, he simply takes Bella’s justification as if he doesn’t know Alice for more than half a century. Yes, he knows that Alice is doing the right thing but he should justify it more than just believe Bella’s idea. What happen to the most brilliant person? He also planned to abort his own child just to save Bella. What happened to the lovable martyr in him? It’s so out of character for him. The plot is quite expected, nothing amazing at all. Jacob imprinted on Renesmee is not brilliant. I already guessed it even before I actually read it but I honestly assume Meyer will give more than that.

I have to say that the first three books were better in terms of characterization. Twilight/Midnight Sun is the best among the series. It is not that massive but it does pull you if you are at least a bit romantic. It got some charms that make the readers ask for more.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

“The clouds I can handle. But I can’t fight with an eclipse.”

After a little disappointment with New Moon, I still continue reading Eclipse and Breaking dawn out of curiosity. Before I decided to read Eclipse, I did hope that this book will be better than New Moon. And I’m thankful it was quite good but I can’t say it is the best. Meyer makes monsters romantic again in this third installment of the Twilight series. I enjoy some of the characters development especially the vampires – Edward, Rosalie and Jasper. It discuss how Rosalie & Jasper became vampires. Their human life and other interesting detail that uncovered their own traits. It also discuss more about werewolve’s folklore. How they became werewolves and the legends they pass down.

Bella remains little more than a pawn in this book, trying to please everyone but herself. I expected Bella to get stronger and more independent. To find herself, I suppose. But she seemed to get more co-dependent and more self-serving. I didn’t like also the Edward-Bella-Jacob love triangle. It adds few inconsistency with the story. During the first part of the book Bella was so sure of herself that she didn’t love Jacob she even punched him when Jacob kissed her then suddenly at the end she realized that she loves him too. From the very beginning of Twilight, the author has made it exceedingly clear that Bella and Edward are soul-mates. What’s the point of love triangle? I don’t have anything against Jacob. I would have liked him to remain friends with Bella. But not Bella realizing she was “in love” with him.

Eclipse is fast-paced, full of action and romance which makes it a bit exciting. It is also pretty humorous with some cute moments that made me smile. But it has a lot of angst & drama as if it is a soap opera. Nonetheless, it is still a good book, far greater than New Moon but not the best.

SYNOPSIS OF ECLIPSE

Edward and Bella are back together. She’s going to become a vampire after her high school graduation and she wants Edward to be the one to do the job. His only condition for this is that she marries him. Will she say yes and risk disappointing her family?

In the meantime, Seattle is being ravaged by a “serial killer” that is really an army of newborn vampires that are unable to control their bloodthirsty urges. These newborns are being created by Victoria, who wanted to kill Bella in revenge of James death. It is up to vampire Edward and werewolf Jacob to unite the good vampires and werewolves in order to save Bella’s life.

In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

“Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars–points of light and reason… And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything.“

– Edward Cullen, New Moon

After reading Twilight – the prequel of New Moon, I am interested in what will be the next story for the new Romeo & Juliet of my imagination. I’ve already read few reviews of this book and most of them are not good, so I tried not to expect too much from it. I’ve finished reading the book more than a week ago. That time, I’m not sure if I still want to write a review for it.

When reading New Moon, I tried to convince myself that the book has its own journey. I know that it is a placeholder to the other books so I need to read it in order to understand more the next book. As I start reading I thought it was good, but after few chapters, it became dull to read for me. I thought it became boring because Edward Cullen is absent in the story, but then I realized it’s not that. There are just some scene that I think is unnecessary in the whole story. That it could have written with more fun and it would have been much more enjoyable to read.

There are some inconsistency with the story and characters too. Like when Bella gets a paper cut while opening a gift from Edward & Alice, and it makes Jasper crazy with the scent of her blood and he tries to attack Bella, but Edward stops him, and of course Bella falls over and ended wounded from a bunch of glass and bleeds a lot, and suddenly none of Edward’s family can handle it aside from Carlisle, and the others all have to leave the room. While few months prior (at the end of the first book – twilight) they were in the ballet studio where Bella cracked the back of her skull open and was bleeding all over the place, but they didn’t try to eat her then. So why this spilling of Bella’s blood would make nearly everyone of the Cullen’s family lose their complete control? And Bella said that she was not a suicidal but she always act like one, trying to be reckless and throwing herself to a cliff just because of some sort of hallucination that she wants to hear.

One of the reason I like Twilight is the new concept of vampires that Meyer created in the book. She made a non-traditional image of vampire clan living in today’s world. I didn’t get much of that new concept thing in New Moon. “Hero runs away to protect heroine from his dangerous lifestyle” is a overly used in fictional stories and it is a bit annoying for me. But then after reading the draft of “Midnight Sun” , I understand more why Edward needs to leave. Silly as it may seems but this story is really getting in my nerve. If you’ll ask me a week ago how I will rate this book, I may give you a dissatisfaction rating. I’m a bit disappointed with the book even If I tried not to expect too much from it. But after reading Midnight Sun, I’ve learned to understand and appreciate New Moon than the first time I read it.

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

“My life was unending, unchanging midnight. It must be, by necessity, always be midnight for me. So how was it possible that the sun is rising now, in the middle of my midnight?”
– Edward Cullen, Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun is the expected companion novel of the book Twilight. Stephanie Meyer wrote the first chapter of Twilight from Edward’s perspective as an exercise in character development. From this exercise sprang the idea of Midnight Sun – Twilight narrated from Edward Cullen’s point of view. Meyer initially made that original exercise available on her website and later started drafting the whole book. Unfortunately, one of the drafts was leaked on the internet, apparently ruining the project for her. She then reluctantly released a draft of it online for the fans.

I found this book more interesting than the other two books of the series that I have read (Twilight & New Moon). And maybe, even more good than Eclipse & Breaking Dawn which I plan to read soon. This book is not yet finished but I still like it, and I really love to see the other part of it after the book is finally published and released to market.

Midnight Sun is more revealing than Twilight since Edward’s character can see more than what Bella’s character can. He can read minds, which means he knows more than what Bella know. So he can narrate more than just how the first book is narrated. The story opens the mysteries behind Edward Cullen’s and his vampire family. What they are thinking, how they feel and other sort of revelation on their characters. Secrets and explanations from Twilight are revealed in this book.

Midnight Sun is good. While reading the draft I’ve felt the characters are alive. I can see the passion of the writer behind it. The depth and complexity of the story was there. I hope the author can still continue the remaining part of the story with the same depth and passion after the leakage happens.

…I feel that Bella should read Midnight Sun. Bella has missed so much about Edward she has a right to know all of it.