Hey FOOLS! I'm no Twi-hard though I have read the first two books and almost the third but I find after reading them I need a break of about 3 other books between them to get over the sappiness. I can definetely see why young girls love the stories but as a hetro-sexual male between the ages of 27-35 I find that I'm more interested in the characters other than Bella, Edward and Jacob. I'd love for the books/films to be almost an X-Men with Vampires anyways when it comes to the books New Moon was the one that I, and actually after discussing it with a few friends and family members, tended to struggle to read.
Let me begin this review by saying that never before had I seen such a crowd at a film. We arrived 30 minutes early for the film and already there was a huge line up for the 2 simultaneous screenings. We queued and soon the line was out the door, around 5 minutes before the film set to start a cinema staff member asked for all of Cinema 3 to line to the right and Cinema 2 to the left, etiquite went out the door as teens bustled there way forward to get a better spot in the newly formed queues. A few minutes later the barrier was moved aside and people sprinted up the hallway to get prime seats. It was insanity similar to the New Years Day sales. After we had found our seats I realised that mistake I had made. I was trapped for nearly 3 hours (after ads) in a room with a few hundred teenagers, most of them girls. Normally a full cinema could make for a great experience but the ooohhhs and aahhhhhs when Jacob and Edward took of their shirts was painful. There were even girls waiting with cameras until the actors became bare chested so the could have photos on their phones or other reasons I don't want to think about. It wasn't the most enjoyable of experiences.
New Moon begins with Bella celebrating her birthday with the Cullen's, when opening one of her presents she gets a paper cut and the smell of her blood sends Jasper crazy and he tries to drink her blood, Edward tries to protect her and ends up becoming so scared that soemthing would happen to her that he and his family leaves. Bella battles depression as she is left behind, after a while she notices that when she does stupid things she imagines Edward near her, she ends up risking her life so she can feel like Edward is near her. Along the way Bella begins to hang out with Jacob and a relationship begins to blossom but always the memory of Edward is there holding Bella back. I'll avoid spoilers so the final third I'll let you see for your self but I have to warn you it is a romance story that tries to suck you in with hopes of a Vampire on Werewolf battle which does happen but is over far too quick.
There is no doubt that the Twilight cast are so hot right now and I actually think if he can pick a blockbuster Robert Pattinson (Edward) could be huge and Taylor Lautner (Jacob) has some potential but the thing I struggled with was just how whiny and mopey Bella (Kristen Stewart) is, I understand she's had her heart broken but it's just too much for me, I spent half the movie wanting to slap her out of her Edward induced stupor, and every time she spoke it seemed like she was going on soem rant that she couldn't be shaken from. Aside from the main cast the Volturi scene was probably the highlight of the film with Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning out acting all involved with their 10 minutes of screen time. But overall there is nothing too special in the offering from everyone.
It's funny that director Chris Weitz (Golden Compass) has been so panned in the media over his directorial effort her because let's be honest with a franchise like Twilight, and the rabbid fans that love the books, you're damned if you make the film like the books because people will complain they move at too slow a pace and you're damned if you try to pace the film differently to the books because the wrath of Twi-hards is something to be terrified of and they will pick apart every difference the film has compared to the book. New Moon is more towards the book and really the material Weitz had to work with is not the greatest therefore his film is going to reflect that material. Sure there are some terrible moments, like the vision Alice has of Edward and Bella both as Vampires running in slow motion with their diamond skin glistening in the sun that made the entire cinema laugh out loud, but there are some cool moments. Like the changing of the werewolves, which was very similar to the changes in The Golden Compass, and I really liked the scene where Bella was depressed and the the camera panned around the chair she sat in with the seasons changing outside the window with each pass. His effort was not as bad as eveyone said it was.
In the end if you love Vampire and Werewolf films you need to know that New Moon is a romance film that happens to have Vampires and Werewolves in it. I might need to see it again, probably when it is released on DVD/Bluray, but this interrupted viewing was a little boring and just felt like there wasn't enough chemistry between the actors. Even though it is a box office success I wonder if the third installment, Eclipse, will be as big because I think a lot of people might be dissapointed with New Moon, I definetly feel the film is a reflection of the book which I consider the weakest of the three that I have read.