As Nicole pointed out a few days ago, we went to the midnight launch of New Moon the other day. Having not read the books, I wasn’t overly thrilled at the prospect of going, but Nicole loves the series and since I love Nicole I did the nice boyfriend thing and went with her to the midnight launch. Without being a cynical jerk and making off-handed comments about a throng of screaming 12 year olds, can I offer an unbiased review of the film? Read on to find out.
New Moon picks up almost immediately where Twilight left off, with Bella still in high school and still very much in love with Robert Pattinson’s character, Edward Cullen, the vegetarian vampire heartthrob. However, after a near-death experience with one of the Cullen family who could scarcely contain his vampiric bloodlust, Edward does the unthinkable and leaves Bella completely offering only that he can no longer continue putting her in harm’s way as his explanation. Despondant and desperate to be with her true love again, Bella slips into a depression of sorts, yearning for her lost love while her friend, Jacob, who we later find to be part of a family of werewolves, helps her pick up the pieces. Naturally, Jacob falls for Bella and struggles with protecting her from an old enemy that arises to hunt Bella down while Edward is nowhere to be found.
Jacob and Edward aren’t the only returning members though, as nearly all of the cast from the first film are back and actually get fleshed out a bit more this time around. Jessica in particular comes off far less air-headed and seems to have grown in her friendship with Bella, doing her best to re-align her apparent insanity as she begins thrill-seeking just to catch an adrenaline-fueled apparition of Edward.
Pretty straightforward really, if you consider a vampire/werewolf love triangle to be straightforward. While it certainly comes off as your typical teeny bopper angst film with a paranormal twist, it does have its moments. Most notably, the cheesy special effects prevalent in the first film have been given a new layer of polish and have been used to make the action sequences pop more than we’ve seen in the past. Also, perhaps to appease the ‘me’ demographic, there have been many more action sequences added. Also, Jacob’s physique is (insert bad pun) inhuman, eliciting plenty of squeals of pre-pubescent joy from the audience every time he takes his shirt off, which, happens almost embarrassingly too often.
All of the action and eye candy wouldn’t add up to much if there weren’t solid cinematography to back it up and I’m pleased to say that New Moon looks great in this respect. There are some very interesting locales and many of the shots contain stark contrasts that really make it pleasing to watch. The edits are smooth and the transitions from one scene to the next are handled with skill. However, I will say that while the pace is even enough for the beginning of the film, it feels very hurried near the end, throwing so much new information at the viewer and leaving a lot unexplained, namely in the area of Edward’s self imposed exile. While it’s tied up fairly neatly when all’s said and done, it’s still a bit jarring and detracts from the film.
Where the pacing gets odd though, the score does a good job keeping up with plenty of somberly melodic songs in all the right places. I suppose I could dock the movie for a lack of upbeat music, but frankly it’s not an overly upbeat film. Bella has an incredibly hard time in Edward’s absence and coming to terms with loss and pain in this film doesn’t exactly make it a prime candidate for a new Jonas Brothers single.
In closing, if you liked Twilight you’ll like New Moon, and if you didn’t, you’re in for more of the groan-worthy dialog and predictability. However, the series is certainly maturing in its latest outing and while it might not win you over completely, you can’t deny that they’re definitely making improvements.
New Moon gets 6 out of 10.
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Eh... I'll take a 6 ;)
I give it a 153 out of 10 <3
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