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'New Moon' Improves on 'Twilight'
Movie Review
By Jonathan Specht
Rating: B
This column is probably useless, since you've probably already made up your mind about The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Either you're hopelessly devoted to the Twilight franchise, or you're completely dismissive of the phenomenon and mystified by its popularity.
As everyone knows, the Twilight Saga is a set of four wildly popular books about a moody girl in Washington State (Bella) who falls in love with a sparkly vampire who refuses to suck human blood (Edward). Criticisms of the books range from the legitimate (the writing is pretty awful) to the ridiculous (they promote premarital abstinence).
The second film picks up where the first one left off, with Bella (Kristen Stewart) madly in love with Edward (Robert Pattinson). Things fall apart quickly, when Edward decides to break up with Bella for her own good and she falls into a multi-month depression. Eventually, Bella starts to get over Edward, thanks to a new man in her life: Jacob (Taylor Lautner), a Native American hunk who also happens to be a werewolf. Edward, however, refuses to let her be snatched away by another man (or rather, another supernatural being), and the last portion of the film concerns his efforts to get back into her life.
While the first movie had a few strong points, it was hobbled by its bad acting and even worse cinematography. Fortunately, New Moon doesn't share the flaws of its predecessor. The acting is much better overall, although neither Kristen Stewart (Bella) nor Robert Pattinson (Edward), deliver top-notch performances. New Moon is also much better directed than Twilight. Unlike in the previous film, there were no moments when I laughed out loud at terrible cinematography. The film also includes a number of good action scenes.
The film's real standout star is Taylor Lautner, who plays a frustratingly patient piece of man candy for the gloomy and obsessive Bella. Dakota Fanning, who somehow grew up, also plays an interesting role as an associate member of the inner circle of Vampire leadership.
New Moon is neither great nor terrible. It probably won't win any Oscars, but it will bring its producers hundreds of millions of dollars in ticket and DVD sales. I would offer one warning to anyone considering seeing it: be prepared to have your film experience interrupted by frequent shrieks from young teenage girls.
Originally Published: Issue 825 - December 2, 2009
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