The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Viewer Rating:simonconnolly has rated The Twilight Saga: New Moon rating: 4 Star

Last year when Twilight was released it soon became a global phenomenon and having not seen a trailer or read a review I figured it's popularity meant it was good. And so I went to it, expecting to see a thrilling vampire film but I was subjected to the most unbelievably dreadful film of the year. It was full of slow motion scene entries, stupid dialogue and the films exciting subplot soon fell by the wayside. The direction was unspectacular and concentrated too much on the fact that the lead stars are extremely good looking. This direction also made the film unbearably dull and irritatingly pretentious. So when the sequel to that disaster was released this week for some reason I decided to give the franchise another chance, and I was very pleasantly suprised. New Moon takes off where Twilight ended, with Bella and Ed madly in love and truly happy. It's Bella's 18th birthday and the Cullens throw her a party, during which she gets a paper cut and Edward's brother tries to eat her. Ed realises that the only way he can really protect her is to leave. And so Bella becomes depressed and is comforted by old friend Jacob, with whom she has yet another 'will they won't they' romance thing. Then word gets round that Bella's protectors are gone and so Victoria (evil vampire whose fella was killed by Cullen's in last film) arrives to get revenge. It turns out however that Jacob and his friends are werewolves and they fight her off. The rest of the film sees Bella coming to terms with Jacob's secret before heading to Rome to stop Ed breaking vampire rules and being killed by head vampire Aro. So despite the fact that I hated the first Twilight film I managed to clear it from my head and go in with an open mind and I must admit I was very impressed. This film was far better made and did the things the first really should've. First of all the film was far less dark and depressing than the first installment. Director Chris Weitz really was the best thing that could've happened to the franchise. He introduced a little humour into the film which made the characters more accessible and likable and it gave the film a more laid back feel and as a result it was far more enjoyable. The film also had a much better structure. The first film was consumed by Bella and Ed's love affair and the more exciting subplots were hardly explored. This film was a lot more balanced and even though there was still a lot of the romance and soppy stuff to keep the girls happy there was also a lot of action. These action sequences were gripping a wonderfully shot. The introduction of the werewolves also made the film seem a little more original as the vampire thing has been used and abused for years. The werewolves really could've been used and explained more but there are a few more adaptations to come. The cast are also a lot better this time round. Robert Pattinson was used a lot less in this film which was fine by me as despite being the most popular I thought he was the weakest link in the last film. His less predominant role also gave Kristen Stewart a chance to shine. She really came out of her shell and showed that she is a far better actress than the first film had suggested. She's not the best at delivering the films much needed comic relief but if you see her in an interview then you will see that this is due to the fact that she quite simply doesn't get jokes. Taylor Lautner more or less replaces Pattinson in this film and didn't really impress on the acting front. He just seemed to run around taking his top off whenever he got a chance. Michael Sheen was also a fantastic addition to the cast. He didn't have a lot of screen time but he used it masterfully. Dakota Fanning was another big name addition but she really didn't do much. So all in all I though this film was brilliant. It really was the biggest movie suprise for years. I expected it to be awful and the trailer didn't sway me at all. And when it was released I still gave it a chance and I'm really glad I did. It was far more gripping and fortunately less depressing, dull and pretentious. Chris Weitz did an amazing job behind the camera and made the film visually spectacular and exciting. So if you asked me if you should see it last week I probably would've very angrily told you to cop on but I am sorry to say I have been converted and I now kind of can't wait for the final films in the franchise (although this is mainly due to the fact that David Slade and maybe Gus Van Sant will be helming them). So if you loved the first film as so many did then this should be just as good for you but if you hated the first then note that New Moon doesn't go all Harry Potter and the film is still accessible for people who aren't fans of the books or previous film.

Review published on the 23 November 2009 20:33