Better than Twilight, Come on People!

Rating: 8/10 (20 November 2009)

I can't believe this movie has such low reviews! I'm gonna help it out a little, because there is NO FREAKING WAY I'm going to let Twilight have a higher rating because this movie improved on the first one A lot! I also can't believe that almost nobody will say it's their favorite book just because Edward isn't in it. I mean, this book adds soooo many more dimensions and drama to the story! The introduction of the Volturi, the werewolves, another love interest for Bella, a deepening connection between Edward and Bella now that they know they can't go back to normal lives without each other, believable reasons why Edward won't change Bella, a prelude to the next book in which they must finally fight Victoria...what the heck people!! Okay, so the dialogue was still pretty cheesy in some parts, mainly the parts between Edward and Bella. I don't really get why anyone is pro Edward/Bella if they haven't read the book, because they have ZERO chemistry on screen. They are INTENSELY AWKWARD. Where the hell is the charismatic and charming Edward I read in the book? Rob looks like he's constipated when he mushes his lips all over her face in a "passionate" kiss. I get that he doesn't want to kill her. But I don't get why he has to look like he's taking a rough dump. It made me laugh when I'm sure the director intended for me to start "Awwww!"-ing. And it doesn't help much that Rob Pattinson just doesn't know how to act, even in less intense scenes; I liked him better as Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter series. Maybe he'd have been less awkward if he could've kept his British accent...not that it would've made him better looking, cough cough, ahem... But aside from the Bella/Edward awkwardness...the movie was GREAT! Taylor Lautner's acting was surprisingly good despite a few cheesy awkward lines he had to say. I have to say that I am very happy with his portrayal of the Jacob that I read in the book, it was spot on. He even looked like I pictured him. He was hardly awkward with Bella at all, and it looked and felt more natural when they interacted. Yep, I'm definitely Pro-Jacob, even though I read the books and know what happens anyway...sigh. Lastly, but not leastly, the director was a TEN FOLD improvement over Catherine Hardwicke. The fight scene looked a lot more legit in this movie than the one in the last movie did. And when Jacob did supernatural stuff, like climb up Bella's house to her window, it looked fairly believable. None of that "spidermonkey" crap. The music was less mainstream and gave the movie a more original and personal feel to it, so kudos for that. The scene where Edward leaves Bella is so heart wrenching I cried, despite the cheesiness. It was the good directing, the camera angles and the music and the feel of the scene that helped with that a lot. The pacing was also really good, it felt like it lasted just long enough and all the scenes were drawn out to just the right extent. It was also very on key with the book. So yes, I definitely will give this movie an 8/10. I am overall very happy with this adaptation from my FAVORITE book in this series. (: