Eclipse - it should have been better
12 July 2010
Well, I managed to squeeze in a trip to the theater to see Eclipse while still pregnant. (Though at this point, I’m feeling like I’ll probably get to see Breaking Dawn in the theater while pregnant as well. A whole other issue, though.)
Maybe it’s my funky pregnant brain. Maybe it’s that I was hungry and needed to pee during the last half hour of the movie. But for whatever reason, I left the theater less-than-thrilled with Eclipse. Which surprised me because I’d read several reviews talking about this being the best Twilight Saga movie yet.
I felt lots of scenes lacked punch, had a general feeling of flatness, and that there were unnecessary distractions. (They couldn’t have given Bella some kind of coat during the snow scenes? And if not a coat, no one thought, “Hey, Bella, you should shiver more”?)
The biggest place I noticed the flatness was the camping scene. This is one of my all-time favorite scenes in the entire series, so I was really excited to see it played out on screen.
Sigh.
First of all, I felt like it wasn’t clearly established that Edward is cold. Maybe that’s just me, but I felt it would have gone a long way had there been some kind of reminder (Bella drawing back from him, Bella’s shivers getting worse when he came closer, etc.) that Edward is cold and Jacob’s body temp is 108.
In the book, Edward and Jacob’s conversation was so good, whereas in the movie it felt rushed. It didn’t feel like the big turning point in their relationship that it’s meant to be.
Another disappointment was Jacob in general, who I felt lacked all his fun Jake-ness in this movie. I don’t think it was the actor’s fault. I think they just left out the parts in the book where he’s being funny and charming. Actually, I’m wondering if the adapter is Team Edward, because I spent a lot of the movie feeling sorry for Edward. Much more so than I did while reading the book.
In the book, I felt like Edward was controlling and needed to back off. He was so over-protective of Bella, and I just wanted him to give her some space. Which was such a sharp contrast to the way Jacob was, where he encouraged her to be herself and be young. I don’t think that came through in the movie at all.
Which is probably why when Bella and Jacob had their big kiss, I was sitting there thinking to myself, “What are you doing, girl? You made your choice – let Jacob go pout.” While reading the book, however, I was like, “Finally!”
There were definitely things I liked about the movie. Basically any scene with Bella’s father, Billy Burke, who I’ve loved since seeing him on Gilmore Girls.
I’m glad I saw it and everything, just… I just think with a few tweaks it could have been a lot better.
But that’s just one girl’s opinion. Who happens to be very pregnant and semi-cranky, so take it for what it’s worth.
Comments
Haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve heard a lot of the same comments. Maybe they didn’t feel the need to enhance Jacob’s cinematic character because they figured everybody would be rooting for him anyway, given that he’s played by a shirtless Taylor Lautner and all.
Posted by Bethany Taylor on 12 July 2010
In Edward’s defense, it’s not like he’s ever needed a mummy bag. But, yeah. According to the book, they have a ton of camping stuff because that’s their cover when they go hunting. AND Bella works in an outdoors store…
Lol, Bethany. And maybe they were right and other girls were still rooting for him. I need a few more smiles to go with that washboard… I just liked him so much better in New Moon. Of course, he was happier.
Posted by Stephanie Morrill on 13 July 2010
The camping scene bothered me too. Seriously – who lives for a couple hundred years spending great amounts of time hunting, and doesn’t pack a decent mummy bag for camping in the mountains? Did he spend too much on hair gel and SUVs to buy her a decent sleeping bag?
Posted by Ben on 12 July 2010