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This past weekend was extremely significant for Twihards around the world, seeing as how the film adaptation of New Moon, the much-anticipated sequel to the 2008 blockbuster Twilight, hit the big screens. I can still hear the theatre screams and cheers now.

And yes, I do include myself in that pool.

And no, New Moon is not only about Taylor Lautner’s abs.

~~WARNING: SRS SPOILURZZZ AHEAD~~

Before the movie, I sat down to chat with Sam, Brina, and Brenna, a trio of Twilight fans sitting at the front of the theatre line who have been into the series wayyyyy before R.Pattz became a household name and vampires were cool to talk about over lunch – they’ve been fans since the third book came out!

A comment that stuck out in our conversation was their hopes of Chris Weitz’s interpretation of the book, “You really have to read the book and be a fan that way before you make a movie out of it, because you will upset a lot people.” Post-viewing, I realized that this serves as the basis for my take on the film.

The film starts off with Bella’s birthday, a time of celebration for everyone except, erm, Bella. Her aging, lack of pale skin and golden eyes has her vexed, but Edward seems to think it’s okay and life is good as it is – that is, until a mishap at a birthday party causes him to leave our heroine in rainy Forks, shattering the love we learned of in the first film. Enter Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), a friend who really dedicates himself to healing Bella through this rough patch while dealing with a heapful of his own issues (bee-tee-dubs, he can now transform into a wolf and starts hunting vamps to protect Bella - NBD).

It’s evident that Weitz and the entire cast submerged themselves into the thick of the storyline and primarily relied on the books for source material. I have to compliment Melissa Rosenberg’s adaptation of the novel as her script guided the film smoothly, losing the awkward pauses and maintaining a balance between the humorous and emotional aspects of the plot, and even making it more action packed than the book to up the excitement for the audience. Combining this with Weitz’s “classic” approach to directing, which included gorgeous cinematography (thereby showcasing a great deal of B.C., wadd up!) and rich colour schemes, the story was delivered in fine fashion.

Of course, none of this is possible without the talents of the actors involved – the acting has improved tremendously in comparison to the last film, but there were definitely a few standout performances for me. Kristen Stewart really had to take the reigns and delve into the complexities of suffering and heartache to a level like no other – and she did so successfully. Her interaction with Taylor Lautner on-screen established a great tone for what’s to come in Eclipse (and yes ladies, there are plenty of opportunities to watch and drool over Lautner’s abs, along with the rest of the wolfpack). PS – I am totally on Team Vampire, but can I say that the wolfpack in the movie is very adorable? Oh, I see you Bronson Pelletier in your shorts and cute smile. *Dazzled* They did not get enough screen time, just sayin’.

After spending majority of the movie pining for Edward, befriending Jacob, and becoming an adrenaline junkie to connect to Edward through visual apparitions (this is how we get most of our R.Pattz fix in the film), Bella receives word that Edward is out to commit vampire suicide by creating a scene in Italy in order to attract the wrong kind of attention by the Volturi, an elite selection of royal vampires who enforce the law, forcing Bella to fly to Italy to save Edward from his grave mistake. Dakota Fanning as Volutri guard member, Jane, really worked on her inner-evil, hypnotizing all of us with her red-eyes and a delivery of sadistic behaviour that we are definitely not used to seeing from her. FIERCE, is all I have to say. The Volturi was definitely a highlight for me as well.

The soundtrack was weaved perfectly throughout the film, one that boasts artists such as Muse, The Killers, and The Editors. My personal favourite scene, simply because it is shot so well, is the one which includes Thom Yorke’s “Hearing Damage”, where the wolves (the CGI is mediocre) are chasing Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre) through the forest as Bella contemplates cliff diving. And yes: Italy was quite epic, though I wish the last fifteen minutes weren’t as rushed as they were.

As a TwiHard (in respect to both the books and the films), this movie definitely satisfies what fans of the books are looking for, but may lose audiences outside of the avid Twilight Saga readers. While I am extremely happy with Chris Weitz’s artistically driven yet entertaining product, some subtleties of the intentions and purposes of events in the film should have been explained better. For instance, many may perceive Bella’s depression as melodramatic and excessive, and some may even believe that it hindered the movies pace. Another point to consider is that scenes that are meant to be light-hearted often end up being perceived as cheesy *cue R.Pattz pouting and strutting from his shiny Volvo* - I definitely heard a few laughs at that sight in my theatre.

New Moon smashed the box offices this weekend, breaking an assortment of opening day/midnight screening records and holding the title for the third highest grossing opening ever at $140.7 million, domestically. The movie definitely left me wanting more, so I suppose it’s a good thing that I can begin my countdown to the third installment in the series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which is due out on June 30th, 2010. It’s my favourite out of the saga =]

All-in-all, the movie was a WIN! for me. Thoughts, friends?

Tags: correspondents, movie reviews, Movies, New Moon, reviews, twilight, twilight saga

Posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 1:41 pm by Mehek - Correspondent and is filed under Movies.

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