Pull yourself together woman!

Rating: 5/10 (8 October 2010)

Ever since Stephanie Meyer's popular series of novels, the Twilight Saga was commission be made into films two communities have emerged on the internet: Twihards who love the books and films and will not accept any criticism and Twihaters who will shout from the rooftops how much they hate it and go and see the films just so they can rid them apart. I am in neither camp and I am neutral to the Twilight films, accepting them for their own merits. I have not read the books, so I can only judges the films by themselves.
Bella Swan (Kirsten Stewart) has just turned 18 and reluctantly celebrates her birthday with her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and his family when they throw a surprise party for her. But when she is nearly attacked by Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), Edward ends the relationship for Bella safety and the family move from Forks, Washington. With Bella being heartbroken she becomes socially isolated from her friends and becomes a danger junkie, hoping Edward would save her. She falls for her old friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) who helps her overcome her depression: but he has his own dark secret, with Sam (Chaske Spencer) putting pressure on Jacob to join his gang/cult.
I will say that New Moon is a weak film, but there are some positives. I am personally critically of Chris Weitz as a director because I believe he is one of the main reasons why The Golden Compass was a hatchet job of Northern Lights: but he does a better job with New Moon. With New Moon he does a better job. With editor Peter Lambert, Weitz was able to shot with effective shots pacing time, like when the camera goes around Bella when she staring out the windows and the months roll by and when Bella and Jacob rebuild the motorbike. Weitz is also a more confidence action director then Catherine Hardwicke was with Twilight: it was obvious that more money was spent on the CGI and there were some decent fight scenes like when Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre) fights a werewolf with a Muse song in the background and Edward fighting the Volturi. There is also an effective and stylist CGI for creating a misty ghost of Edward which only Bella can see: I particular like how he disappears. Plus there is a fitting soundtrack and Weitz makes a wise call to use indie music.
But there is a plenty of weaknesses in the film. The pacing is very slow, with not much happening, leading to a boring experience. There is a feeling that of just get on with it, shorten and cut scenes: the film need to be more action packed, particularly to widen the fan base. The film focuses on the dullest character in the series and it would have been more interesting if we got to see it from Edward or Jacob's perspective with all the personal issues they would have to go thought as monsters. The acting is bad, Stewart is good when she is suffering night terrors, but otherwise her acting was very wooden. It's the same for Lautner, which I doubt his abilities as an actor: I will be surprised if he does become a star outside the Twilight series. Many of the small actors like the other members of the werewolf tribe were terrible actors and I'm sure they were cast because they were cheap and can be passed off as Native Americans. Ashley Greene starts of strong but later on her performance is just average. Even Michael Sheen hams it up in the film and that Dakota Fanning doesn't have much to do. Pattinson is better and I believe he has a better chance of becoming a star. But the best performer overall was Anne Kendrick as one of Bella's human friends and her role was minor. There is also some weak dialogue, like when Edward said 'Bella, you give me everything by just breathing.' Who speaks like that? There are interesting ideas in the Twilight series and I do like how ideas of the myths are twisted. I like that the vampires are having to fight their blood lust, and want to be good that there is a ancient order of royal vampires that powerful and govern the vampire race and that the werewolves are part of a Native American tribe and change by choice and anger rather then by the moon and become a creature with no memory of his/her old self. I would have like to have seen more of these ideas and been developed in the film. I also thought the film should have shown more of the fact there is a murderer targeting hikers in the woods and how the police would have investigated it. It could have helped give the film a more male audience and keep the female audience.
As I said I speak as someone who is neutral towards the Twilight series.