‘Twilight Saga: New Moon’ Movie Review
In case you’ve been living in a cave for the past couple of years, The Twilight Saga: New Moon is the second movie of the four-book series by Stephanie Meyer. It deals with a love triangle set against the backdrop of an ancient battle between vampires and werewolves.
New Moon has been getting heavily criticized in much the same way its predecessor did. Poor reviews come with the territory because this is a movie aimed at fans of the book and any amount of attempts at including non-fans isn’t going to be enough.
However, director Chris Weitz has done a much better job of it than Katherine Hardwicke managed with the first installment. I have never read the books yet I had the majority of my questions answered in as simple and succinct a way as possible. It’s a testament to the screenplay that a sizable book was cut down to a two-hour-long film with very little fuss and little cut out.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon also manages to match the book a lot better than the first, or so people who have read it tell me. While the first deviated majorly from the written prose, New Moon sticks lavishly to it; which is a huge bonus for the fans.
Some of the acting on display in New Moon isn’t the best. Kirsten Stewart does her best with limited talent, Robert Pattinson’s heart didn’t seem to be in it, and Taylor Lautner proves it was the right decision to keep him on in the role – even though he had to beef up a great deal to do so.
New Moon isn’t very action-oriented. Much the same as the first, the gooey interplay between Bella Swan and either of her two male admirers is the main thrust of the movie, with a bare scattering of action scene sprinkled on top. So if endless scenes concerning love, feelings, and life don’t appeal then it’s probably best to avoid this one.
The movie is a little long-winded, more so than the original. But I personally found very few moments where I wasn’t interested. The middle section of the film seems to drag on for just a bit too long before the love triangle is completed.
I enjoyed New Moon and came out of the theater wanting to read Breaking Dawn and Eclipse to know the outcome. That’s partly the appeal and partly the problem because these movies definitely come as a quartet unlike, say, the Harry Potter movies which work on their own but have a series plot enduring throughout.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon is bang on for its target audience – females, teenagers, fans of the books. But even I as a 32-year-old male who has never read them enjoyed it. Whether that says more about me than it does the movie I’m not sure.
