The Twilight Saga: New Moon

What would you do, if a wolf should fall for you, when rejected by your lover, spending months under the covers, he wants more than to be friends, an outstretched paw he's keen to lend, scratch his back and he'll scratch yours, just be careful of those jaws, as the lupine are not supine, and returns from certain bloodlines, can increase the curdling pressure, and then you may just need a tether.

** out of (****)

Chances are, your feelings toward the film "Twilight" will match your feelings for "New Moon". Mine sure did. This film basically did nothing for its predecessor, which is a shame since the trailer looked somewhat decent. I thought that maybe an above average Twilight flick would make its way, but I guess that's too much to ask these days. The characters are surprisingly more stale than before, although this movie is a little more interesting. For everything that is in this movie that was better than Twilight, there is also the opposite. However, the special effects improved slightly and fortunately we get more action than romance. Still, this movie is basically neither better nor worse than "Twilight". You can take that as a complement or a negative, and you know which side you're on.

"New Moon" revolves around Bella (Stewart) and Edward (Pattison). Edward leaves Bella in the forest and now Bella is all alone. However, she meets Jacob (Lautner) and gradually develops a crush on him. Although, Edward returns and Jacob has a secret: he's a werewolf.

I think it's kind of humiliating that a director gets a better script, yet makes a film that's on par with Twilight. I mean how could this have not been good? You have werewolves vs. vampires. That sounds cool already and imagine the type of execution that Scorsese can make *faints*. Folks, if you think this latest installment is impossible to have worse acting and dialogue, then you are dead wrong. Yes, it might seem improbable, but the performances and dialogue have gone from beyond awful to officially the worst I've seen. Moreover, I thought the first hour was way too boring and a chore to sit through.

Now, there are some redeeming qualities. The technical aspects have improved. Not by much, but a sufficient amount. Moreover, the last hour is actually watchable. The action here is also not too shabby. Also, I thought that the story was slightly more interesting.

"New Moon" is basically on par with "Twilight", but that isn't a complement. Both films boast decent technical aspects and interesting stories, but also boast terrible performances with an awful script. "New Moon" is neither a bad nor good film and compared with its predecessor, it matches its film quality. This weekend, I'll seek out "Eclipse" and see if that film can break the mediocrity streak. Hey, David Slade is directing. If the third installment is even just the slightest better than "New Moon", I'll be satisfied. Until then, this is my review of "New Moon".

First of all, I haven't read the novels/books, so I can't say how close this is to the source material. I've heard that, the first movie (Twilight) didn't bring everything from the book onto the screen (which makes sense, because otherwise the source material would've been really slim/weak). While we had our introductions in the first movie (and I'm assuming you have either seen that or at least read the book), we should be able to have more "fun" with the characters this time around ... well if you thought that, than you are very wrong!!

The things K. Stewarts character (Bella) has to go through, come across. But while some additional stuff has been made up (or so I've been told), that wasn't in the book, to have a "special" character with more screen time, this all adds up to a pretty dreadful experience.

The acting wasn't really top notch from part 1. There is no reason for that. And I think the only one coming out of, mostly unscathed, is Taylor Lautner. And the girl who played in "Up in the Air", forgot her name. But that's more due to the movie "Up in the Air" than to her role in this one.

While nothing much is happening (not only acting wise), the movie still tries to be as dramatic as it can be. The problem being, it isn't at all! And while there are a few nice action pieces, the whole thing feels utterly ridiculous, which makes it quite hard to really enjoy it. Again though, as with the first one, this was aimed at a female audience group and if you saw it in theaters, than you might have heard quite a few of them screaming. There is one "special" scene that really made them happy ... and some guys too (although they might have been cynical)! While the scene as it is, didn't excite me and influenced my vote directly, the impact it has/had, does reflect in my vote, as well as the fact, that the target audience seems to love it ...

I saw the first film Twilight when it came out and absolutely hated it. From the acting to the story and special effects to the script and dialogue. I promised myself I would never ever see New Moon. I broke that promise as I saw it at my university at the film society with friends who were girls who begged me to come along. I was bored at the time and it was free and thought I could just fall asleep or maybe laugh at how awful it is but heavens above! This was actually mildly enjoyable! What has helped maybe I don't know is the new director Chris Weiz who took over from Catherine Hardwicke. The main problem still with the last film that hasn't changed is the acting from Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. It's still really awful. There is still no chemistry between them and Stewart with her character of Bella is still boring and won't smile and just broods about. The two actors can't seem to finish a sentence without pausing awkwardly as though they have forgotten there lines. What Stewart and Pattinson need to do is eject more emotion into there voices that would convince me that they care about each other. Weiz has failed to instruct the actors more. The script and dialogue don't help as it is corny and clunked. Though less so than in Twilight that is an improvement. Another criticism is that the guys in the film always seem to have there damn shirts off. Have they heard of a shirt? Now obviously it's done because the teenage girls love it but logically within the realism that should be apparent in the film, it's just silly. Guys no matter if they are werewolves or vampires don't run about with there shirts off! But that is a minor criticism. Some of the music was also cringing, particularly one track that was played a couple of times when Bella was missing Edward, the girl couldn't sing!

However one big improvement is those special effects, they were much better! Because more was spent on the film. When the guy Jacob and his friends transform from human to werewolf and vice versa was impressive to watch. I also did like some of the music as well. But the best thing about the film, which made the rating even this high was Taylor Lautner who played Jacob. His acting was surprisingly good. There was emotion in his voice when he talked to Bella and told her how he felt, which made me believe he really did care for her. (Take note Stewart and Pattinson) Other actors in it like Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen, Michael Sheen as the vampire Aro and Anna Kendrick as Jessica who is Bella's friend make the most of there tiny cameos. In the end New Moon was watchable but still too long. I would be willing to see the third one and hope that there will continue to be improvement, hopefully with Stewart and Pattinson's acting. If it does get better along with better dialogue and script (though in New Moon it was better than Twilight) I would give it a higher rating. This is bad in a lot of ways but there have been improvements and are some good things about it. Believe me I'm surprised I even mildly enjoyed it. Let's hope the third continues on the road to improvement.

People who liked either the first movie or the New Moon book will probably have a great time at this movie. People who didn't like them still might have fun laughing at the moments of glorious teenaged awkwardness--Michael Welch returns as the hilariously down-on-his-luck Mike Newton.

As a sequel, New Moon is excellent. It maintains the same tone as the first movie, smooths out some of the rough edges and builds from there. On its own it's mostly quite enjoyable to watch. There were lots of intentional and unintentional humor and of course the movie takes only a bit of the edge off the book's more than slightly unbalanced story structure.

Things that impressed me? FIGHT SCENES. They actually let us see Felix toss Edward around like a rag doll. And they might have robbed us of the sight of spooky elder vampires petrifying in their old age, but they did let us see Edward's head literally crack like an eggshell as he gets slammed into the floor tiles.

I also like that they expanded Alice's role and showed Bella actually missing someone in addition to Edward. I really wish that both the books and movies had gotten more into the Bella-Alice friendship. Also, the idea that a person's spouse is the only relationship they need is a relatively new one. If even a romantically obsessed book series like Twilight can focus on the fact that Bella is reacting to the entire Cullen clan and not just Edward, then maybe we're moving toward a healthier idea of what love is.

Also, Michael Sheen is the champion of creepy. Sorry, Bill Nighy; he played Aro before you played Greyback! My final recommendation? Go see this movie with a big crowd for all the squealing and shouting at the screen. It's like a floor show but with body glitter.