Movie Review: Twilight Saga – New Moon

First, I have to preface my review with stating I have not read the books of the Twilight series. However, despite the growing popularity of the saga, it seems there are still a lot of people who have not read the books. Considering that, I approached the movie as a general moviegoer, and critique it as such. In the entirety of the movie series and books, New Moon probably fits in quite well with the story. As a movie by itself, it is not very well done though. Read the entire review below.

The movie picks up shortly after the events of the first film, with Bella recovering from the vampire attacks that plagued her and Edward. However, after an accident nearly causes a member of Edward’s family to attack Bella, he decides it is not safe for them to be together, and leaves her. After months of being introverted, though, she rekindles her friendship with Jacob, and starts to move on from Edward. Her feelings for him still exist as she often sees him in “visions”. Jacob has his own secrets; he is growing into a werewolf. When danger from Bella’s past catches up to her, she finds herself torn between the one who is falling for her, and the one who left.

My two biggest gripes about the film are the representation of Edward and the poor acting by most of the cast. First, fans of the series will be able to look past the excessive “visions” and representations of Edward. It is meant to convey Edwards emotional presence in Bella and his protective nature over her. She sees him when she is doing something reckless, which becomes more and more often. The plot device becomes tedious and repetitive after a while, whether it is absolutely crucial to the story that we see him so often is hard to say. His “ghost” pops up so often, you would think she would not become startled every time she sees him.

Second, Bella and Edward are supposed to be completely engrossed with each other. Their love and connection is meant to be unbreakable, even when they are apart. It is spoken of and implied by the film, but the movie actually seems to present the opposite. Robert Pattinson presents next to no acting talent in this film. There is no on-screen chemistry between him and Kristen Stewart. As stated before, fans of the series will probably look past it as they have context to the story and characters, but as a simple viewer, it was painful to see the two together in the film. Taylor Lautner, as Jacob Black, stands out as the top performer in the film. He even was on the chopping block of being recast for this film because of his build, but got in incredible shape to earn his role, and his talent shows in New Moon.

Overall, the movie was up and down. I did not enjoy the first 20 minutes, but the middle hour or so of the film was by far the best portion. Every fan of the series is either “Team Jacob” or “Team Edward”, but the movie fairly shows each of their strengths/flaws. The action sequences are effective, but only make up a few minutes of the movie. Some of the graphics could be touched up, especially the vampire super speed, but it is only a small part. The movie is for sure a must-see for Twilighters, and for those who enjoyed the first Twilight movie. Hopefully, the series can continue to improve for the successive films, as the movie does not have the appeal to the average movie goer.

Fanboyz Grade: C+