"Let's face it, I am hotter than you."

I am more than willing to admit that although the first two movies of the Twilight Saga, Twilight and New Moon, weren't exactly great movies, I still enjoyed them (and own and have seen them multiple times). I was a little bit nervous that Eclipse, which is my favorite book of the series, would end up disappointing me. But alas, whether it was the newest director David Slade or the cast finally getting into the groove of their characters, there was pretty much nothing about the third installment that I didn't love. (And how much better did all the female characters look this time around? Kristen Stewart, regardless of the not great wig she was wearing, looked amazing throughout the whole movie.)

Something clicked in this movie that hadn't happened in the previous two, making it more than just a live action film of the book, but an actual action packed, fast paced movie that held the audience's attention the whole way through. I can't help but wonder if David Slade, the director, wasn't a main reason that Eclipse was as enjoyable of a movie as it was. I almost want to write him a letter thanking him for finally getting it right.

Now let's move on to the good stuff, shall we? Since I'm all about top 5 lists lately, I'm going to drill down my top 5 favorite parts of the movie:

1. Even though his time in the movie is pretty minimal, Charlie Swan is one of the best characters in the series. He really nails the awkward single father dealing with a teenage daughter and creates some great moments between him and Bella. From the beginning of the film when he decides to finally un-ground Bella until the end when he attempts to have "the talk" with her, I found myself chuckling with glee everytime he was on the screen. Doesn't hurt that he's pretty dreamy for a dad (although, maybe he should lose the mustache).

2. In the other two movies we were treated to a couple flashback scenes that were heavy on the cheese factor. A big part of Eclipse, the book, is taking a look at the past of many of the characters, specifically Rosalie and Jasper, and learning more about the Quileute tribe/wolf pack. Both Nikki Reed and Jackson Rathbone really stood out to me in this movie with their performances in their respective flashback scenes. For the most part in Twilight and New Moon they were just in the background, with Rosalie giving Bella bitchy looks and Jasper wanting to eat her. I'm glad we got to see more about their characters. Especially since Rosalie's human life/death flashback in the book is one of the most heart wrenching parts of the whole series. And a way to finally bring a sense of friendship between her and Bella.

Moving right along to the Quileutes. A touching scene between Bella and Jacob happens during a campfire (romantic, right?)/pack meeting, where Billy Black goes into detail of how the shape shifters came to be. Even though Jacob's sort of gone over this whole thing before, it's interesting to get to see more history about the "cold ones" and the Quileute wolves.

3. Speaking of Bella and Jacob, one of the main themes throughout the entire movie and book (all of the books, for that matter) is the love triangle of Bella, Edward and Jacob.

While reading the books, I was always rooting for Edward. He was the kind of guy every girl dreams will fall in love with her. But the moment Taylor Lautner takes his shirt off in New Moon, I quickly changed my mind about which of the two I'd rather spend my time with. Two moments happen in Eclipse that Team Jacob has been waiting for: when Bella and Jacob kiss for the first time, and she breaks her hand punching him for it and when Bella and Jacob share their first REAL, intense kiss prior to the final fight. I think almost everyone in the theater cheered when Bella called out to Jacob on the mountain top, asking him to kiss her. Poor Edward...he just can't seem to win lately. First Bella continually refuses his marriage proposal and then she asks another guy to kiss her. Luckily for him, she finally decides that although she does love Jacob, she loves Edward more, and agrees to marry him. I suppose I should go into more detail about Bella and Edward, but I'm not going to. Sorry.

4. This movie really brought the action unlike any of the other two. Granted, there is a lot more action in Eclipse, the book, than in any other books/movies, but how they handled it really worked. From the initial Victoria chase scene with both the Cullens and the wolves to the Jasper led newborn army fight training to the final Riley/Edward/Victoria/Seth Clearwater fight at the end, the action kept the audience (in the theater I was in, at least) at the edge of our seats.

5. And finally, my favorite part of the movie, the introduction of Forks' newest baddie, Riley. He may just be one of Victoria's minions, but kudos to David Slade and Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter, for creating a much bigger character out of Riley than he was in the book.

Unfortunately for us, he doesn't make it to the end of the movie and therefore we won't be seeing him in Breaking Dawn, but here's hoping Xavier Samuel finds his way into more and more movies in the future. Or finds himself in San Francisco in need of a tour guide...either way. What is it about the bad guy that always draws me in?

This seems to be getting a bit long, so I'm going to wrap things up. I can pretty much guarantee that I will be seeing this movie again, both in the theater and once it comes out on DVD. I'm still a bit wary of how Breaking Dawn will be adapted to the big screen, but in the meantime, I'll just focus on Eclipse and how glad I am that it really did exceed my expectations.

Until next time... xo

Title quote: Jacob Black, "Eclipse"