Just got home from watching Eclipse and had to come throw down a few thoughts about the film.

A few years ago a good friend of Kara’s suggested that she start reading the Twilight Saga because it’s what teens are reading and it would be a great point of conversation for kids in our church (prediction = true).  I digested bits and pieces of the Twilight Saga via Kara’s many rants about the books and the tiny bits of plot that she’d feed me.  The picture I got of the books was mostly a story about the inner-workings of an overly dramatic, overly emotional, but otherwise pretty boring girl in love with a vampire.  Not exactly my cup of tea.  I’d skip the books and wait for the movies… and even then, only out of a compulsion to go see movies that will impact our culture (good or not) and a desire to see movies that are important to teenagers.

So I caught Twilight on DVD… and barely made it through without turning off the tv.  Then Kara and I went to see New Moon (at midnight no less! in order to witness the spectacle in all its screaming/giggling glory) and again was really not a fan of the movie, or story, but mostly not a fan of Kristen Stewart’s portrayal of Bella.  It was entirely maddening watching Stewart pout and sputter through her lines.  Then there was also the fact that I found it hard to root for the two main characters.  Bella came off as such a vapid and empty pushover and as far as the story played out on screen it was impossible (special blood not-withstanding) to understand what Edward could possibly be attracted to in this pouty, whimpering girl.  The screenplay writers never give you anything of substance in Bella to make you think “oh, of course Mr. Fancy-Pants Vampire guy would love her, who wouldn’t!“  Okay, thus ends my complaining about New Moon (see me in person for more).

Eclipse was, happily, much more grown up than the two previous films in the Twilight franchise.  Gone are Bella’s days of whimpering and fidgeting and the acting in general seems to have matured, or maybe it’s director David Slade’s touch having already directed a for-the-reals vampire movie called 30 Days of Night.  Eclipse also saw a big improvement in the general action and special effects departments and was a better film because of it.

But far and away my favorite part of this film is that at last all my frustrations with the story and with the character of Bella in general are voiced on screen by the character Jacob!  In two separate conversations, one with Bella and one with Edward, Jacob shoots straight and says what I (and probably tons of other people who just don’t get the Edward/Bella deal) have been thinking all along.  My wife tells me this means I’m a member of “Team Jacob” but I’m just glad that somewhere in this ludicrous story there was a glimpse of someone making even an ounce of sense.

Take one of the last conversations in the film for example.  [really not much of a spoiler alert] Bella is explaining to Edward why she needs to become a vampire.  It’s not just because she loves him, it’s… get this… it’s because she feels awkward in her own skin, because she feels like she doesn’t belong, like she’s special and just doesn’t fit in.

Umm, it’s called being a teenager!  Everybody felt like that!

So what does the 100+ year old oh, so wise Edward say to her?  Not, “Wow you should really give this whole becoming a vampire thing more time.  Everyone your age feels like that!”  No, he totally buys her logic and it just glad she’s not going to throw her life away because she loves him… she’s going to throw it away because she’s clumsy and she loves him.

I just wish Jacob would have been eavesdropping so that he could pop out of the forest and say “THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!!!”