"Twilight Saga: New Moon": Movie Review (2009)

Movie Review

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon"

Directed by Chris Weitz, written by Melissa Rosenberg, rated PG-13, 130 minutes.

By our guest blogger, Gavin Stone

First and foremost, I have read these books and I think Stephenie Meyer is a twit. I have no clue how this saga of a whiny teenaged girl who thinks she knows everything has become so popular. It’s kind of insulting actually to know that this is what our world has come to--Vampires are disco balls in the sun and kids know everything.

The first movie "Twilight" movie introduced Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who had just moved in with her estranged father in Washington, and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), who is part of a mysterious yet friendly vampire clan.

Girl meet boy, boy is undead. Girl whines about wanting to be undead. End of story. The first movie seemed rushed and forced. Now, I was dragged to "New Moon" by the missus. Yes, I do like the book (It was so much better than the first), but did I want to sit through two hours of pointless teen angst? Nope. In "New Moon," Edward leaves Bella for her own protection, and she takes it really hard. She bonds with her childhood friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) and realizes that when she puts herself in danger, she can see Edward in her mind scolding her. So she becomes an adrenaline junkie and uses Jacob to get that high. Only some feelings emerge between the two. Oh, and Jacob becomes a Werewolf, sworn enemy of the vampires. When Edward thinks Bella is dead, he decides to end his life by having the vampire council--The Volturi--kill him. Bella runs off to save him and leaves Jacob behind.

Let’s be clear--not many over the age of 20 have had a lot of good things to say about this movie. I went in expecting to hate it but instead I really kinda liked it.

Is it a good movie? Not really, but then it is not supposed to be “Casablanca." At no time does this movie not know who it is aimed at. I heard a lot of groans from adults in the theater but every tween girl sighed every time a shirt came off. And a lot of shirts came off until the young men just stopped wearing them altogether. My only complaint is that this movie began to drag about half way through. Coming in at a hefty two hours, this story could have used some more editing. The pacing is slow.

Sensibility wise, the characters in this movie are infuriating. Bella Swan is a whiny teen girl who will give up everything for a guy. Edward isn’t even a worthwhile guy to give your life for. He is flaky and overbearing. On the other hand, you have Jacob, who is grounded in reality and generally a good guy. Yet stupid girl goes for the wrong guy. As an adult, I look at this and just sigh. The stupidity of youth. This is what legions of girls are looking up to. All the girls in the audience are eating it up--mad, corny dialogue and all. I weep for our future.

Yet all of the other complaints about this movie are pretty unfounded. For one, critics have torn apart the acting. In all reality, these are kids acting like kids. Look around you. Kids are kids. They are not Kurt Douglas. Give them some credit. I have worked around tweens all my life and yes, they don't exactly possess much range. Also under fire is the whole glitter-skinned vampire deal. Do I like it? No. Vampires are not sparkly. But why couldn’t they be? We let zombies run. Why can’t a vampire sparkle? It’s just another take on a classic monster that has been done to death.

"New Moon" is 100 percent better than the original "Twilight." If you can’t really sit through the first one, don’t see this one. If you are like me and can tolerate "Twilight," then ‘New Moon’ will definitely be far more entertaining.

View the trailer for "Twilight Saga: New Moon" below. Thoughts on the movie?