Chris Weitz Saves Himself From A Mauling

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2009)

Weitz delivers a solid and faithful adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's insanely popular novel. Whilst keeping in tact much of what was good about the book, unfortunately a few faults were transferred over as well.
In New Moon Bella is left nursing a broken heart after her beloved Edward skips town. Fearing he was putting her in constant danger Edward broke of their romance, leaving Bella's childhood friend Jacob Black to pick up the pieces. As their relationship grows increasingly complicated, Bella is amazed to discover that Jacob is harboring a secret of his own.
The Twilight novels were always destined to work better as films than as books, mainly due to the fact that we are spared Meyer's unfortunate habit of waffling on e.g Bella's miserable, for the next one hundred pages I'm going to keep baffling on about just how miserable she is in case you missed the basic idea of the concept. Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg once again does a superb job of adapting Meyer's novels by snappily summarising the poorly paced book, mostly retaining the charm and skipping the yarn. Unfortunately like the book, the middle of the film seems to drag on, but this does seem unavoidable considering how true to events Rosenberg's script remained. New Moon is also flawed in the fact that, like the first film, many serious moments appear unintentionally funny which serves to dampen the quality of the picture.
After the relative Ishtar that was the Golden Compass, Chris Weitz has managed a return to form proving he can be trusted with a big budget and beloved source material. Weitz manages to retain much of what was loved about the first Catherine Hardwick adaptation-snappy dialogue with a unique balance of light and dark moments-whilst putting his own visual imprint on the film. Also remaining from the first film are the cast which has a lot to do with the Twihards acceptance of Weitz's vision.
Kristen Stewart once again pulls of the inordinate task of making the insufferable character of Bella from the novel like able. Stewart brings a certain strength to the character that is sorely lacking in the books. Robert Pattinson however is devoid of the charm and charisma that made his first outing as Edward so memorable. In Pattinson's defence the character is chronically depressed and mopey throughout the film. However, as you watch the gamut of his acting abilities range from a frown to a scowl and back again you can't help but get the impression that he doesn't really want to be there, and considering the constant hysteria and media attention that plagues the actor's personal life, perhaps he doesn't. This film was Taylor Lautner's time to shine and he makes the most of his opportunity. As Jacob Black he brings great warmth and likability (as well as some crazy muscles) to the role that makes him a real competitor for Bella's affections. As an audience member you almost dare to think the impossible- perhaps Bella would be better of with this quintessential boy next door than the perpetual sad sack she pines for throughout the film. The rest of the supporting cast once again do well to add most of the comic relief to the film. New addition Michael Sheen as Volturi leader Aro proves why he is one of the most in demand British actors in the business, whilst child prodigy Dakota Fanning turns in a suitably creepy performance as the sadistic Jane.
New Moon is visually stunning. Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe manages to give the dreary town of Forks a lush, almost otherworldly quality. The beautiful visual quality is emphasized when the story shifts to Italy and we are inundated by majestic scenery and vibrant colors. The only real disappointment are the quite poorly done CGI werewolves which looked about as real as Pamela Anderson's breasts.
All in all Twilight fanatics should be pleased with the latest installment and Summit Entertainment should sit back, relax and start counting the Benjamen's. For more reviews please feel free to visit http://rantsreviews4filmnuts.blogspot.com/