As is the case with many adaptations, David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) probably had a difficult job translating Stephanie Meyer's 629 paged book, Eclipse, for the screen. And it shows. While Eclipse is undoubtedly the best film from The Twilight Saga thus far, there is just too much going on in the two hour running time, leaving the story disjointed, the pace disrupted and many characters left with little to do.

In The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, 17-year-old Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) finds herself in the same predicament that has plagued her ever since she moved to Forks and fell in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) - the ageless and beautiful vampire. 

Should she be 'changed' into a fellow blood-sucker so that she can spend all eternity with her brooding man and a lifetime without her loved ones, or should she stay as she is, with her family and friends and grow old without Edward? Decisions, decisions.

If that weren't enough to handle on a regular school day, Bella is also trying to make amends with old friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), the shapeshifting werewolf and natural enemy of the Cullen clan. Trouble is, he's also in love with Bella and refuses to give up until she admits the feelings are mutual. To make matters worse, there's a vampire-shaped serial-killer in nearby Seattle and they're heading straight to Forks with an army of dangerous, newborn vampires.

But who is orchestrating this war? Is it Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard), avenging her mate James' death, or the powerful Volturi, ensuring that Bella fulfills her promise to become immortal? Whoever it is, the rivals must work together and fight to protect Bella...

Opening with the creation of newborn vampire, Riley (Xavier Samuel), Slade immediately sets a more ominous tone to this Twilight film and focusses throughout, on creating a much more cinematic feel.

Slick action-packed sequences and vast scenery shots are a welcome change to Chris Weitz's lengthy and emotion-driven New Moon, whilst some genuinely funny moments of self mockery bring light relief to the angst-ridden speeches that often made the pace of this more up-tempo instalment, stumble.

Minor characters from the previous films are intended to appear more than one dimensional in the latest part of the saga. Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) and Rosalie (Nikkie Reed) both recall their transition from human to vamp via flashback scenes, yet while these insights are arguably necessary to the film's development, the technique ultimately stalls the pace and doesn't succeed in making their performances - nor those of Jacob's shirtless werewolf friends - entirely convincing. Furthermore, less time is given to familiar characters (such as Anna Kendrick's Jessica Stanley and the often-referenced Volturi) making their appearances more-or-less redundant.

The main players are understandably more confident in their roles in Eclipse, adding to the increased credibility of Slade's more polished interpretation. Stewart's Bella for example, is much easier to watch than in the preceding films. 

Her character is more at ease here (despite being hunted down by the undead. Weird), meaning there's much less of the jittery awkwardness about her. What's more, she even gets her words out without hours of hesitation and endless lip-biting. Hurrah. 

Meanwhile, Lautner's Jacob is ridiculously built, humorously smug, and actually much better as the hot (literally, not pervy) werewolf who can't fathom the idea of a t-shirt for much of the film.

 And it seems that aside from looking pretty hot, Pattinson's Edward is there to hammer home Twlight's familiar suggestion that sex for the loved-up pair might equal death, insisting that they wait to be married before getting it on. And so the abstinence theme prevails...

Aside from the film's lack of cohesion and Melissa Rosenberg's predictably cheesy script, the film really goes wrong during scenes that evoke laughter where they shouldn't. While Eclipse does showcase a few genuine witticisms, there are other instances that are sure to get greater laughs, overshadowing Slade's ability to poke fun at the central characters. 

The final action scene for example is engaging, tense and dramatic but it fails in its climax, inducing - instead of shock - a bout of uncontrollable sniggers. 

It looks a tad like Bella has taken a wrong turn into Narnia and is instead cosying up to an oversized, wolf-like Aslan.

The special effects are noticeably better in Eclipse than the the preceding films, particularly in the case of the werewolves (Chris Weitz, take note). 

But - again - this won't stop the giggles from those that just think it looks a tad like Bella has taken a wrong turn into Narnia and is instead cosying up to an oversized, wolf-like Aslan.

Eclipse is a much more assured work than both Twilight and New Moon but despite Slade's success in developing central characters and translating the entertaining action from what is arguably Meyer's best book to the screen, the film lacks in other areas, jumping from sub-plots with little warning and leaving secondary characters looking like spare parts.

With all that said, it doesn't really matter does it? Fans of the story will love the next installment from the Twilight machine and haters may have already convinced themselves they won't. 

They might however, acknowledge that Eclipse is the best film of all three. The question of whether that's really saying much or not however, is up for debate.