THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON Movie Review
I just got back from finally seeing The Twilight Saga: New Moon and let me tell you it was good, really good.
I do need to disclose that I am a big fan of the Twilight series and have been since even before all the craziness started. I have read all four books and enjoyed the first movie, although I thought it worked better if you had actually read the book before seeing it. However, I will admit that even though I did enjoy Twilight, I wasn’t jumping up and down about it, and I understand why some people didn’t really enjoy it. So when I went into New Moon, I was hoping for something better, especially because the trailer looked so great. I am happy to say that New Moon went above and beyond my hopes, and delivered a really great movie that even people who haven’t read the books can enjoy. In addition, I think that fans of the book will also be very pleased with how close to the book the movie is.
For those who don’t know, in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Edward leaves Bella in order to protect her from the dangers that come from dating a vampire. A heartbroken Bella then turns to Jacob for comfort and their friendship grows. As the two get closer Bella also learns about Jacob’s secret, turns out he’s a werewolf. Unfortunately, the return from one of the Cullens disrupts their new friendship, as Bella needs to make a difficult choice.
The story has a very good pace and the relationship between Bella and Jacob has a great build up. Even though I’m on Team Edward, while watching the movie, I found myself having a soft spot for Jacob too.
Some of the more tender moments reflected the book more closely. A lot of the lines come directly from the book, but they do not sound cheesy when said out loud, which is not that easy to do. There is also some comic relief throughout the film, which was really welcome and balanced the darker moments well.
Another great improvement over Twilight is that the visual effects are way better this time around. The pack of wolves look pretty damn amazing and scary. And the fight scenes are way more impressive. Even the sparkling of the vampires worked better.
And finally, the actors. Well, I already thought that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were good in the first movie, and in New Moon they definitely stepped up their games. Although Robert Pattinson isn’t as much in the movie as Kristen Stewart, it feels like he has a better grasp over who Edward is, which makes his scenes so much more true and interesting to watch. I can’t wait to see what he does in the third movie, Eclipse.
I always thought Kristen Stewart was a great Bella, and in New Moon she is able to get to a real dark place showing us Bella’s despair over Edward leaving her. I’ll even admit that I had tears in my eyes at some point. I really enjoyed her performance.
And of course, Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob, is front and center in this movie. He definitely went through a huge transformation both physically and acting-wise. I honestly wasn’t sure that he could touch me the way Jacob had touched me in the book, but as I was watching scenes between Bella and Jacob, it was as if I was reading the book all over again. I am definitely impressed and looking forward to seeing more of Taylor Lautner in Eclipse.
We don’t see as much of the supporting cast as these three main actors, but I do want to mention a few of them.
I was really happy to see more of Charlie, played by Billy Burke, in New Moon. Not only that, I also feel like they captured the essence of who Charlie is so much better in this one than in Twilight. He also had quite a few funny lines, which made him even more likable as a father.
The Volturi were definitely scary, but mostly I want to mention what a great Aro Michael Sheen created, he was absolutely wonderful.
We unfortunately didn’t see too much of the Quileute werewolves, and I wish we had seen more of them interact together with Jacob, but overall I think it worked.
As for the Cullens, well there really isn’t much to say since we barely see them in this film. But I always get a kick out of seeing Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), he’s pretty hilarious.
Overall, I think that even non-Twilight obsessed people might enjoy New Moon. It feels like a totally different movie and series compared to what I had come to expect from the first one. I have to give huge props to Chris Weitz for giving New Moon such a great tone and bringing out such brilliant performances from the actors. I really hope that David Slade does as good of a job with Eclipse.
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Title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Director: Chris Weitz
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Bronson Pelletier, Alex Meraz, Kiowa Gordon, Billy Burke, Chaske Spencer, Edi Gathegi
Synopsis: In the second installment of Stephenie Meyer’s phenomenally successful Twilight series, the romance between mortal and vampire soars to a new level as Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) delves deeper into the mysteries of the supernatural world she yearns to become part of – only to find herself in greater peril than ever before.
Following Bella’s ill-fated 18th birthday party, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and his family abandon the town of Forks, Washington, in an effort to protect her from the dangers inherent in their world. As the heartbroken Bella sleepwalks through her senior year of high school, numb and alone, she discovers Edward’s image comes to her whenever she puts herself in jeopardy. Her desire to be with him at any cost leads her to take greater and greater risks.
With the help of her childhood friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), Bella refurbishes an old motorbike to carry her on her adventures. Bella’s frozen heart is gradually thawed by her budding relationship with Jacob, a member of the mysterious Quileute tribe, who has a supernatural secret of his own.
When a chance encounter brings Bella face to face with a former nemesis, only the intervention of a pack of supernaturally large wolves saves her from a grisly fate, and the encounter makes it frighteningly clear that Bella is still in grave danger. In a race against the clock, Bella learns the secret of the Quileutes and Edward’s true motivation for leaving her. She also faces the prospect of a potentially deadly reunion with her beloved that is a far cry from the one she’d hoped for.
Release Date: November 20, 2009
Watch the trailer here
Lol.
i do love this movie!!!
it was a pretty damn movies!
dont 4get to watch it!
XD
nice movie wor!
I completely agree that this movie was fantastic. Once it was over, I was sitting there like “Chris Weitz is amazing”. The film was just sooo good and definitely proves that you can stay true to the book and still produce a great movie that even non-book lovers should enjoy! The added humor was just soo great, but it didn’t detract from the emotions of the rest of the story. The acting was incredible all around for me. The CGI…wow, just wow. There were bits and pieces here and there of course that weren’t wonderful, but overall I left the theater a very satisfied Twi-hard. I’m just really thankful to the director, cast, crew, and everyone else that put in so much effort to make this really great movie for us. I can’t wait to go watch it again!
I really enjoyed this movie, like most I have read the books, so Im a huge fan. I didnt think Twilight was very good at all but New Moon was great. Chris did a great job, and I LOVE the wolves. The relationship between bella and Jake was built and I have always been team edward, but in this film it really showed how much bella and jake connect…so now Im team switzerland! 🙂 They had alot of the key parts from the book, and the fight scences were very good, acting was much improved and I cant wait for eclipse! I will go see this movie again, then probably buy it! lol
I loved the movie. I saw the midnight premiere in Baton Rouge, LA. i have been team Jacob (holy!! That guy is the finnest thing since chocolate)since the beginning. I would fall for him, jacob and taylor, hook line and sinker. Although Eclipse was my favorite book, this movie was AMAZING!!!! I found myself tearing up as Jacob pleaded with Bella. I would do anything to be in Bellas shoes in that particular part. I find that i would actually chose Jacob over Edward because Jake is a kind person and sounds extremely hot in the books and is played by an even hotter actor, (love you always taylor<3).
jacob black is just this…..incredible….. to bad bella didnt pick him:(
It was completely crap. A war between the vampires and the wolves and a lame love triangle. Conversations were too slow. I felt like i had to pull the language out of them myself. The actions were too fast and there was too little of it. I couldn’t see who attacked who at some points.
Let me say something that some people don’t understand each book is like different genres twilight is like beautiful story of edwards and bella falling in love with some drama. New Moon is mix with depression,friendship and introducing characters and a bit action, Eclipse is Action 1 0n 1 and ofcourse with some love/pain/love haha and Breaking Down is sooooo unique there’s no way tu put it haha so i think ppl expected to see the same thing or the action wit the vampires and wolfs fast but there’s lots more then that.
cant wait 2 c da movie..
u guys have such awesum reviews on it! 😀
i loved this movie…i went to see it 2 times in one day…LOVE IT <3
NEW MOON was frekin awesome. for the person who said that it wasn’t there is somthing wrong with them. They just need to read the boks GO TEAM EDWARD!!!!!!!
honestly, its not that good…very dissappointed.. yeah theres sum gudstuff like the jacob tranformation thing but the bella edward moments…so much missing in there like the part where edward opens her present i mean the cd (edwards/esme gift),the part when they got back from saving edward(cullen family waiting at the airport….edward bring back bella home while charlie furious seeing edwrd…the part when bella wanted to go to edwards haus to make the vote its like theyre alredy at the cullen haus..skip so much all the gud stuff thre!ugh!it doesnt feel like a movie..esp the last part wtf…its like its jumping,skip,jumping to a diffrent scene rather than the continuation of that scene……………asking bella to marry him right after wer jacob and edward almost rip each others throat nice SETTING!nice MOOD!what the hell is the director thinking???!!i know they cant do exactly whats in the book but the way they did it..ugh!i didnt feel even half of what i felt when i red the book…what a messed up script!