Last November the vampire phenomena "Twilight"(based on Stephenie Meyer's hit book series) was released in theaters. Many teens loved it, critics hated it, I for one thought it to be one of the most poorly done films ever; but a guilty pleasure more or less. Now a year later, the sequel to the hit film was released and I thought it was going to be a tad better than the first but still nothing special. Well I was pleasantly surprised for what was shown to me in this action packed sequel, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."
In the film we return to the town of Forks, Washington where Bella Swan(the human played by Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen(the vampire played by Robert Pattinson) continue to live their happy lives together. We also see Jacob(the soon to be werewolf played by Taylor Lautner) who is still trying to win Bella's affection but for now is just sitting on the side as a friend. It's Bella's birthday and she travels over to the Cullen's home for her party where she accidentally cuts her finger. The blood causes one of Edward's brothers to attack her but Edward makes sure she isn't harmed. The next day Edward makes the decision to leave Bella so that she will stay safe from harm. Heartbroken, Bella falls into depression and cuts herself off from life until she decides to start visiting and eventually falling for her old friend, Jacob. This is where the movie truly begins.
Right off the bat I can say that almost every element in "New Moon" surpassed "Twilight" from the music, to the acting, to the CGI. While the three main actors, Stewart, Pattinson, and Lautner, still have a ways to go in acting, their performances have improved and are good enough to carry on the film. The best acting comes in the climax of the film where Bella and Edward meet the self-proclaimed vampire rulers know as the Volturi. These characters(who are presented as the antagonists) have the best lines and best scenes in the film. Actors/actresses that were cast as these roles included Michael Sheen as Aro, the main leader, Dakota Fanning as Jane, a guard that can torture others with illusions of pain, and Jamie Campbell Bower as Caius, one of the leaders. Theses actors also acted as "scene savers". For instance, when someone says something cheesy or if something awkward would happen, these characters save the scene from being bad.
"New Moon is packed with action which was something "Twilight" didn't have. Of course with the bringing in of werewolves you have to have several fights scenes showing what they can do. There are several fight/chase sequences with the wolves in which they fight vampires and even sometimes themselves. The CGI for the wolves is impressive however I would have enjoyed it more if the showed a little more detail in their transformation. However, when in their full form, they look very cool and add another interesting realm of fantasy to the film.
The CGI as already stated above was a large step up from the first film. In "Twilight" everything looked blurry, messy, and cheap(which it was). In "New Moon" you can tell that more money was put into this film. From the vampires to the werewolves everything looks better, however there is still plenty of room for improvement.
The only thing that is barely better than "Twilight" was the cheesy dialogue. Unfortunately the film is still stained with bad lines and awkward situations. Now as I stated this film is very good with saving the scenes that include bad lines. Most of the time when something cheesy happens, something cool or surprising would distract me. Another thing that would happen is when a character would say something that sounds much better than the line before it(this is the case in the Volturi scene). So because of this, the dialogue doesn't ruin the film.
"The Twilight Saga" is an action packed film that will surely please fans of the book and many other teens/young adults. As for adults, I'm not sure I can say the same. My parents personally enjoyed the film but said it wasn't truly special. For the most part this is probably a film that the young will enjoy. None the less, "New Moon" has good acting, action, CGI, and romance that gets me excited for the next film in the series. Two and a half stars out of four.
"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" has a running time of two hours and ten minutes and is rated PG-13 for some violence and action.
2 comments:
I recently read your blog that was shown in the Chronicle. I myself was not impressed with what you had to say about Twilight, and New Moon. First off Twilight was not suppose to be action packed. It was created to show you the love that transpired between the human, and the vampire. The only special effects made to blow your mind in that movie was the Love that blossomed between Bella, and Edward. I believe it to be filled with wonderful acting, and I think they have done a very good job when it came to casting the characters. Love it or hate ((which I love it)) you have to give it props. You gave it not enough, do I sense a hint of jealousy? Maybe not jealousy but just a misinterpretation of the depth that lives within the film. Maybe you should give it another look-see. New Moon was very well created, and I do not believe any lines were 'cheesy'. The script, and effects are perfect. I read your opinion, and now you can read mine. Happy Holidays.
My only comment is that, yes, I did give "New Moon" another look and now would probably rate it much lower after I relized just how bad that film was. My opinion
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