That tiny flicker of hope has died

Rating: 3/10 (23 December 2009)

Firstly I'll set out a few points because I don't want this to come off as biased or a 'Twihard' or 'Twihater' - I'm neither. I'm a guy who has in fact read the Twilight Saga and it's an OK series (except for Breaking Dawn - but we will cross that bridge when we get to it). Everything clear? Let's begin.
Now, Twilight was bad. I'm sorry but it's true - no matter how much you deny it, it was. If only Twihards tried to clear their beloved book, RPattz and Taylor out of their heads for just a while and watch that movie again, they would see the awkward stiff moments which were supposed to be romantic scenes, mumbled lines and zero connection between the characters.
For me, I blamed all these flaws on the director, Hardwicke. After the handing of the Twilight reins to Chris Weitz and I truly had high hopes for New Moon, seeing all the trailers, leaked footage, photos etc. The end result? Weitz didn't do anything better, New Moon may have even tumbled a few steps below Twilight. The flaws mainly exist within the static acting of the cast - more than half of the dialog is mumbled and said with no emotion. Bella (Kristen Stewart) manages to maintain only one expression throughout the entire film - whether she's sad, happy, exhilarated, depressed (very Channing Tatum). Robert Pattinson hasn't displayed any great talent either. The only considerably good performance was that of Taylor Lautner who has put on a much better show than last time (that's speaking with his body out of mind)although his character did begin to slip near the end.
All in all, New Moon is a big yawn - there is some action which does help brighten the scene but is very brief and provides no satisfaction. There is nothing drawing the viewer in, nothing that keeps you compelled for more - it's almost a chore to watch this bore of a movie through to the end. As I've said already this is largely a fault of the stone- faced, monotonous acting. Both Twilight and New Moon never showed us why Edward loves Bella, nothing ever convinced the audience that they are truly in love. Twilight seemed to have been rushed to get to to the action, while New Moon seems to have concentrated on how many shirts we can get off. Box office success or not, New Moon has done it for me, I have truly lost all hope for the franchise - unless a serious cast change is in order, nothing is tempting me to and I don't think I'll be waiting outside Eclipse's doors.