Almost exactly one year after the release of “Twilight,” the highly anticipated sequel “New Moon” opened in theaters Friday.
The movie stays almost religiously true to its literary counterpart, which will satisfy hard core fans of the novel. Moviegoers less invested in the “Twilight” phenomenon will probably be less dazzled by “New Moon” but still may enjoy themselves.
The movie follows Bella Swan’s depression after her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen leaves town.
After sitting around in a catatonic state for three months, Bella discovers she can see illusions of Edward if she does dangerous things. Thrilled, Bella enlists her childhood friend Jacob Black into helping her fix old motorcycles so she can see Edward again. Jacob begins to fall in love with Bella, however she remains in love with the vampire who left her.
In the midst of the teenage melodrama, Victoria – a vampire who wishes to avenge her dead mate killed by Edward in “Twilight” – returns to kill Bella. Then, triggered by the return of his Native American tribe’s vampire enemies, Jacob begins his transformation into a shape-shifting werewolf.
While “New Moon” is not comparable to “Wuthering Heights” or “Pride and Prejudice” as an epic romance, it certainly improves upon its predecessor in every way possible.
Under the direction of Chris Weitz, the plot of the movie becomes more evenly paced than “Twilight.” However, the last third of the movie seems slightly rushed, which is a shame because it is the most excitingpart.
All in all, the movie does not drag on too long and covers most of the important material found within the novel without dwelling on Bella’s depression for so long that the audience will follow her lead.
The deviations from the novel still capture the spirit of the novel and actually improve upon its plot. Arguably, the film is better and more likable than its source material.
Although the book is the most gloomy of the four novels in the saga, the movie is surprisingly upbeat at times. This is actually a good thing, as the novel was extremely painful during the first 300 pages.
The appearance of the characters has also improved from the last movie.
While the vampires looked pasty in “Twilight”, the crew has managed to find a way to make the vampires in this movie more naturally pale. However, the computer-generated sparkling skin the vampires sport in the sunlight still looks laughable.
Though, it probably could not look much better, at least it no longer looks like sweat. The werewolf transformations and the werewolves themselves are actually quite good most of the time.
The camera angles are also less disjointed than Twilight’s were. This makes the movie look more polished.
At times, the movie is unintentionally laughable. These cheesy moments are found significantly less often that in its predecessor.
“New Moon” also accomplishes a feat the book never truly does: It makes the heroine likable.
The script and performance of Kristen Stewart transforms Bella from the two-dimensional character found within the books to someone with depth the audience can relate to.
The other actors do well and the dialogue, being less cringe-worthy than the last movie, helps their performances.
Overall, the script is an improvement and is less disjointed than before. Climatically, the movie builds well and there is actual action for more than three minutes of the movie. At least any boyfriends drug to see this movie will get to enjoy some form of excitement that does not involve girls’ squeals.
Despite the improvements, it is doubtful those who were not swayed by the first movie or the series will become fans after “New Moon” (though it has a better chance than “Twilight” or the book of creating fans).
However, while the movie is not for everyone, it does entertain. With the source material he was given, Weitz has made the best film he possibly could.
“Eclipse” is coming to theaters June 2010. Hopefully, the movies will continue to improve and have the same balance of drama and action as “New Moon” does.
3 and a half out of 4 stars