A marginal improvement over 'New Moon'

Rating: 5/10 (13 November 2014)

This installment of the Twilight saga is a slight improvement across the board from the last one, but it is still every bit as cheesy. The story this time is a little more engaging, following the love triangle between Edward, Bella and Jacob and revolving around an unexplained series of killings in Forks. It turns out to be an army of Newborns being built by Victoria, and this draws the attention of the Volturi, who have a slightly expanded presence here. One thing that does keep me watching these movies without being utterly bored is the unintentional humor, especially in this one. The scenes between Bella, Edward and Jacob are really funny and over-the-top in their portrayal of masculinity and because of the woodenness of the performances. Some other positives include effective tension in a few scenes, as well as more action. The obvious set-piece here would be the climactic battle between the Newborns and the Cullens and the werewolves. However, since the movie is PG-13, the violence is bloodless. I still have some problems with the visual effects being slightly less than convincing, but at this point I don't really expect them to improve significantly anyway. Generally speaking, the acting has improved marginally since the first one, but the material they're working with is passé, immature and flawed. One performance in particular that stuck out to me as being really bad was Dakota Fanning as Jane, one of the Volturi. Also, Stephenie Meyer's Mormon roots are on full display now, as Edward acts as the mouthpiece for "traditional" values. It's a shame, really, that teenagers eat this stuff up. Times have changed, but most likely they were distracted by all of the teenage flesh on display. There's also a creepy moment early on where it's suggested (through dialogue) that Bella is essentially being groomed to be a vampire. This takes on a new meaning when you remember that Edward is over 100 years old, and Bella is a minor (although she does turn 18 in the movie). Still, this movie is somewhat worth watching, if only for the moments of unintentional comedy. Just don't complain if you don't like it, since you most likely made it through the previous installments to get to this one.