Review of The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) by William C — 15 Mar 2015

Grade: Middling 4/10.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon is the second in the Twilight franchise and a movie that although steps it up a notch, comes up worse than the first go. With it's slow pace and rather melodramatic remarks and scenes and of course new digital effects, this can seem boring and if not a big fan of the series then also stale. For fans of the book it seems it is a good representation from what I have heard and although people less in tune with Twilight may be sorely disappointed, hardcore fans should be pleased.

Our second outing takes places in the same place, with nearly the same pace that we saw at the beginning of the first one. Of course no film stays happy forever and as we see(without spoiling it) ,Bella goes through some things and people come in and out of her life in a flash, its all very easy to feel sorry for her, if only just a little. This really did make me think that to truly connect then you have to be a hopeless romantic or madly in love because this one truly is for the lovers and wannabe lovers as it has so many scenes directed in that direction. I did feel this one lacked fighting, now not all movies require action of course but this one really does, but the thing is when it comes around it seems cheesy and yet again over dramatic, poor showing on the adrenaline side(this in a film where Bella is trying to get adrenaline rushes).

Chris Weitz takes the helm and does an OK job, I mean for a movie like this it is a hard job to make it good so I can't destroy him that much, well maybe not yet. Melissa Rosenberg comes back to create the adapted screenplay and although I guess for some of the horrible script problems you have to blame Meyer, maybe a few changes here and there would have spruced things up and made it better to listen too also. Now I mentioned effects and with the addition of a new supernatural being like a werewolf you expect quite good ones with such a big budget, this is not the case and even if you can look past it, the over dramatic directing and filming comes in and severely damages the respect this movie still has.

Now Kristen Stewart, is she a good actor here, well make your own mind up but for me although not going the mile to act well, still bears the entire movie upon her shoulders and manages the more difficult scenes well. Taylor Lautner has his time to shine in this one and he does well but not well enough for me to say good, he bounds around the place like he is lost but still manages I guess to bring some emotion and that angst we always see with Twilight. Robert Pattinson is not as good here as before, too quiet and subdued and really doesn't bring any of the at least slight charm he could conjure on Bella in the first instalment. The rest of the cast are pretty solid but by the end they all manage to be sucked in to the bad script and kind of poor directing, or maybe that's just them.

So yes Twilight New Moon is a movie failing to improve upon it's average predecessor and although making strides in the romance department, lacks in enough action and thrills to justify it's 130 minute running time. And again yes it is a bit too long for a film, as I said before and have many, this it one for the fans but for those who don't really like the series or just can't be bothered reading then be ready to be let down at a very high grossing film. It is Poor there is not doubt in my mind but be prepared to give it a go, it can be enjoyed in small parts.