Exceeded my expectations

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2009)

I am an avid fan and reader of the Twilight series. I fell in love with the books, and when the first movie came out, I was very disappointed in it. I don't think the acting was all that good, save for a VERY select few (Carlisle, Alice And Charlie for example), and I think Catherine Hardwick tried too hard to make the love/action story entirely into a chick flick. Because of this, I went to New Moon with very low expectations, despite the new director. I was astounded by how blown away I was by this film. I thought Kristen Stewart did a terrible job as Bella in the first movie; there was typically little to no emotion shown on her face. Her expression when she told Edward she loved him was similar to the one on her first day of school. However, she seems to have developed a LITTLE bit of emotion in this second movie. Maybe by Breaking Dawn, we'll see a full range of emotions in her. Maybe? I'll keep my fingers crossed. I also didn't like the acting of Robert Pattison, and the little I saw of him in New Moon did impress me. I think he did a very good job being cruel in the break up scene, and a very good job when he came back in the scene in Italy. Taylor Lautner, whew... I was floored. I am a HUGE fan of Jacob; I am crazy about him. I couldn't form much of an opinion of Lautner from the first movie because he had very few lines. However, in this second movie, we get almost a solid hour of Taylor Lautner. He was phenomenal. Not to mention, the shirtless-ness... can't say I'm going to complain. Taylor did a magnificent job as Jacob, and I'm glad he stayed on. Dakota Fanning did incredible as Jane. In fact, I think they casted everybody in the Volturi very very well. I don't think they could have made a better choice for actors. This film stuck a lot closer to the book, which made me quite happy, as the first film lacked in that particular area. The hits Alice takes at Jacob when she returns after Bella cliff dives are beyond hilarious, and were the perfect time for comic relief. The almost-kiss between Bella and Jacob had me gripping my boyfriend's hand to the point where I almost broke it. Lautner did an amazing job showing the heartache and sadness when he realizes Bella is going to go to Italy to save Edward. The action scene in the Volterra, which wasn't originally in the book, was very well placed and very well played through. The music score, I will admit, could have been better, but I like how they didn't overload the movie with music like Twilight did. The movie, overall, was incredible and I would go see it again, happily.