Director David Slade found the formula that translated Eclipse's humor and humanity from the page to the big screen. Having the good fortune to play with better source material than what can be culled from Twilight and New Moon, Slade delivered on action, character development, and The Love Triangle. The small, human moments, however, resonate the most clearly. For instance, I found Bella's visit with Renée both sweet and heartbreaking. A mother’s laser sharp observations of her daughter’s transformation struck a nerve, lending a poignancy to Renée’s "congraduation" gift. The handmade present is a roadmap of sorts of where Bella has been in her young life and experiences she already knows will not come her way again. I also thought Jessica's commencement speech was great, as were Bella's reactions to the valedictorian’s references to making mistakes, falling in love, and not rushing to choose one's path in life.

Sometimes flashes of backstory pull one's attention away from the fable that needs to be heard. In the case of Eclipse, the personal histories of some of the characters are one reason why the third installment in The Twilight Saga is my favorite. In the film adaptation, the very human and tragic tales of Rosalie Hale and Jasper Whitlock are masterfully crafted. Stories within stories, I could be well entertained by watching a film based solely on either character. Being that I’m a Civil War buff, Jasper's recollections are particularly fascinating. Another example is the scene where Jacob brings Bella to a tribal council meeting around the fire. The Quileute legend of The Third Wife, as told by Billy Black, was a fantastic flashback that helps set up conflict and action later on in Eclipse (i.e.: a certain matter with one disgruntled redhead.)

Now on to the schmoopy parts. The love story is key to Twilight's popularity. I enjoy the more florid bits of the books and films that focus on the agonizing attraction between Bella and Edward, although The Love Triangle angle often becomes overwrought and silly. It's for this reason that I was impressed with how naturally and without affectation Kristen, Rob, and Taylor portrayed the emotions and objectives of crazed, love-obsessed teens. Corny stuff, yes. But the trio plays well off one another and the awkwardness on the screen is driven by the character's motivation and not by an actor's nervous tick. In other words, David Slade drug authentic reactions out of the entire cast which elevated the acting by leaps and bounds. Here's where I happily insert that Billy Burke has consistently kept Forks’ Chief of Police Charlie Swan my favorite character in all three movies. Burke shows that the love Charlie has for Bella is the real deal and not derived from mythical fantasy attraction. Billy makes Charlie alive, vivid, real, and multi-faceted whether he's having a much belated talk about the birds and the bees with Bells in the kitchen (a very touching and funny scene from the film) or silently swigging a Rainier while cleaning his rifle. Yeah. I'm a proud supporter of Team Charlie!

The Pacific Northwest is another character that is well portrayed in Eclipse. I'm still figuring out how long it took Riley and his bratty pack of newborns to walk from the shores of Elliott Bay to the Olympic Peninsula. It's a good thing vamps aren't bothered by wet socks. Oh…and poor Bree. The scenes of life with Riley that were fleshed out thanks to the novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner added depth and insight into what a vampire’s existence is really like. It would have been nice if Bree’s luck had held out and she became a Cullen.

I had a howlin’ good time watching Eclipse. The tight, concise pacing between the action scenes and the romance created a fine framework that gave this supernatural love story more grit and definitely more bite.