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uninspired dialogue, Eclipse won't win The Twilight Saga many new converts, despite an improved blend of romance and action fantasy." Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 58 based on 27 reviews. The Hollywood Reporter posted a positive review of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, saying the film "nails it". Variety reports that the film "finally feels more like the blockbuster this top-earning franchise deserves". One review stated the film was the best in The Twilight Saga so far, acknowledging that, "The person who should be worried is Bill Condon, the director tapped for the two-part finale, Breaking Dawn. He's got a real challenge to make movies as good as Eclipse. The New York Times praised David Slade's ability to make an entertaining film, calling it funny and better than its predecessors, but pointed out the acting hasn't improved much. Giving the film 4.5 out of 5 stars, Betsey Sharkey from The Los Angeles Times praised David Slade's method of blending his previous works to form a funny movie. She stated, "Eclipse eclipse[s] its predecessors." Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, stating, "The dullness of the performances really stands out when somebody like [Bryce Dallas Howard], or Anna Kendrick turn up and liven up their scenes." While calling the film "too chatty and too long", he did compliment David Slade's directing and noted that the movie will please the fans. Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2 out
of 5 stars, stating that David Slade's pacing is "everything like molasses running uphill". He also criticized the characters, the actors portraying them, the big close-ups of hand-held devices, and called Howard Shore's score "gunk". Wesley Morris from the Boston Globe stated, "If the first two movies were "get a room," part three is "get a therapist". He said the second and third film "repeat that discovery [in Twilight] without truly deepening it...the movies are interesting without ever being good." A more negative review said that while "Eclipse restores some of the energy New Moon zapped out of the franchise and has enough quality performances to keep it involving", the film "isn't quite the adrenaline-charged game-changer for love story haters that its marketing might lead you to believe. The majority