Movie vs Book: Eclipse *Contains spoilers*

Today I hauled my butt to the cinema and sat amongst swooning teenage girls to watch Eclipse the third in the Twilight Saga.  I enjoyed the book and enjoyed the movie, for me it was the best movie in the saga so far. 

Personally, while I enjoy the story I don't like the Bella characterisation and how dependent she is on the men in her life and can't quite function without a man and the attached melodrama.   But then again when I was a teenager it was all about Buffy and Charmed - women who could have their men but also saved the day and kicked arse. I also didn't really think Kristen Stewart was right for the role of Bella, in this movie I found some of her acting a little contrived and not quite natural but much better than the first two and there's no denying her chemistry with Robert Pattinson.  Ah, Robert Pattinson - while he doesn't really do it for me, he really is the best possible Edward and in this film he really came into his stride.  I loved the interaction between Edward and Jacob the tension and the mutual understanding of their feelings for Bella and their tentative truce was perfectly played though I wished the triangle between the three would have been more deeply explored in the movie. 

The fight scenes between wolf and vampire were just perfect - the effects were incredible and it played out almost exactly as it had in my head when I read the book - wolves flying through the air, vampires leaping and biting their prey.  I particularily liked the exploration of Rosalie and Jasper's pasts - Rosalie's was a heartwrenching tale of misplaced affection and then revenge and Nikki Reed pulled of the stotic yet vulnerable Rosalie without a hitch and I just love how Rosalie wants what Bella so obviously takes for granted.  Jasper's past story is intriguing, he was trained for violence but could feel everything his victims felt.  The only disappointing part of Jasper's story in the movie was that the didn't show the flashback scene of Alice waiting for him in the cafe, for me that was the cutest part and it just rounded out Jasper's story completely. 

In conclusion the movie didn't quite meet up to my expectations and I prefer the book but it was still enjoyable.

Thoughts?  Comments?