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The film picks up where New Moon left off. Bella is getting ready to graduate from high school. She’d like Edward to turn her into a vampire sooner rather than later so that they can live happily ever undead together. Edward would like to get married first and do this all right and proper. He proposes to her about every 20 minutes or so. And Jacob’s really mad at Bella for wanting to turn into a vampire – the werewolves’ mortal enemy - so he’s not speaking to her…even though he’s desperately in love with her and wants her to choose him. And as silly as that may sound on Jacob’s behalf, playa might be on to something.

I particularly liked the humor that director David Slade is able to draw out of the actors and Melissa Rosenberg’s script. Pattinson and Lautner both seem to have a sense of humor about themselves so it’s fun to see them afforded the opportunity to utilize it from time to time. Stewart’s best scenes in the series continue to be between Bella and her dad Charlie (Billy Burke). She lightens up immensely here and plays these scenes opposite her usual mawkish and mopey self. Usually she just annoys the heck out of me and bores me to tears with her incessant mumbling and line delivery to the toe tips of her sneakers. She can’t be bothered to hold her head up long enough to even look at the friggin’ wolves, much less her own boyfriend. Time after time her character is a witness to amazing things and the most energy she can seem to muster up is all spent twirling her wig. I’ve maintained from the beginning of these films that Stewart is the luckiest woman in showbiz. She does nothing in these movies to deserve this role and the opportunities this franchise has given her.

While I was reading the books I remember tearing through Eclipse the fastest. I especially liked how the back stories for Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed) were then introduced and I think their moments translate well cinematically. Bryce Dallas Howard takes on the role of vengeful vampire Victoria who sets all the action of Eclipse in motion. She eats up the screen in her few moments in the film and she makes it terribly obvious who in this movie is in charge of their craft and who is out there just feeling around for it.

Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick is also used sparingly out of necessity, but she manages to give recurring Jessica some spark. The showdown between a batch of "newborn" vamps and an alliance of Cullens and werewolves provides the best action sequences the series has seen yet. All of this may not be enough to convince the casual moviegoer who is not part of the fan base to buy a ticket, but that’s more than okay if the opening weekend grosses are any indication. These movies, while far from perfect, play to their base and continue to improve. So while this review is also not a ringing endorsement, Eclipse will have to tide me over until November of 2011 when I can get my next fix.

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