The Twilight Saga: Eclipse ****

Now, before you judge the star rating because you know I'm a Twilight fan, let me say this - Genuinely, I realise Twilight is a mass merchandised product in order to make teenage girls weak for a fantasy storyline they'll never be able to have. So to be aware of this means I am not deluded into thinking this is one of the greatest stories ever told, because it's not. But this film is the best out of the 3 so far and has really pulled everything from the books that it can in order to make a very entertaining film... So, enough with the grovelling; as Jimmy Carr says "It's a young girl's choice between bestiality and necrophilia." - What's not to like about that?!

We're now seeing Bella (Kristen Stewart), Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) as very refined characters in this story being told to us. After the previous 2 seeming to be somewhat of a swoon fest for young girls and lets not forget older women, this film has hyped up the action, reduced the long, drawn out stares and brought aspects of the books into the feature very well. True fans of the books will appreciate the attention to detail in terms of the background stories behind the vampires and the key plots in the writing. Scenes such as the tent scene are visualised in this film perfectly making it a very exciting watch for the Twihards.

Now, if you're not a fan you'll probably be rejecting the idea of seeing this film completely. Let me tell you why you shouldn't. Action in this has been filmed brilliantly. The fight scenes aren't drawn out but last enough time to see the true brutality behind the killings of the creatures. It doesn't hold back when giving you tips of how to kill an evil vampire coming after you. In regards to the scenes leading up to the fights, the intensity grips you pretty hard not only due to the professional acting from the cast but with the way in which the story is told. It does start off a little annoyingly as we jump from storyline to storyline with different shots, and you don't seem to be settled with the story being told to you before you're watching the next one. But this slows and we begin to see more of what's important, and then slowly you become hooked. In all honesty though, if you go and see this and don't like it, you're never going to like it. Give up.

What brings this film back to reality (as much as reality can exist in this film) is the fact it almost takes the mick out of itself. With little one-liners from the cast showing they realise what fans love most is the rivalry between the two teams (I'm Team Jacob), it introduces fun taking away the almost silly fake seriousness it tries to create in the previous two.

David Slade (who also directed 30 Days of Night) has really played focus to the darker side of this story. Yes, he carries on the love triangle because that's the main drive behind the narrative. But to make this a true vampire film with dark truths behind these almost glamorised monsters has worked very well. With focus on the other vampires as well as the favourite Edward helps with the new appeal this film seems to have gained. We're also introduced to new characters like Riley (Xavier Samuel) and Leah Clearwater (Julia Jones) who adopt their roles perfectly.

So, give it a go if you haven't liked the others. You might be pleasantly surprised - See it when it's going to be quiet though because the noise of screaming hormonal girls will drown out the sort of gratification you may receive from this. If you love the others OH MY GOD, LIKE YOU'LL TOTALLY ADORE THIS ONE.