The horror! The horror!

Rating: 4/10 (29 November 2009)

I saw the first film, basically for lack of anything else to do while on vacation. I saw about the first half of this one, before I decided to find something better to do.
Jacob and his buds chased Victoria from Forks "up to the Canadian border." Meaning they chased her out to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and they all dived into the water and swam out half-way to the border. Or maybe they chased her in a giant U-turn all the way around Puget Sound and up to Canada. Or maybe they took a Seattle ferry (eastbound is free) and they all did laps chasing Victoria around the promenade deck until the ferry landed and they chased Victoria up to Victoria (why the border? No passports?). This was one of the two interesting "mysteries" in this film.
Poor Bella. Her major B.F. is a vampire, and her substitute B.F. is a werewolf. And her father is oblivious. Doesn't know who his daughter is running with.
Vampires are apparently created, not procreated. A lifestyle "choice," I guess. Whereas werewolf-ism is a genetic trait, apparently limited to teenage males of the Quillayute tribe. What I noticed was the vamps and the wolves dissing each other, using quasi-racist insults.
The pack of werewolves was interesting. Others have remarked on the Spandex. At first I thought it was a practical consideration, due to regular clothes being destroyed when the inner animal came out. But the CGI wolves were not wearing Spandex. And during one scene in which Jacob transforms, we actually see the shreds of his clothing flying off as he expands and changes in mid-leap. So when he changes back, where does he get the clothes? This was the other interesting mystery. I think the film makers cheated their teenage girl audience. Though it might be because Jacob won't be 18 until Feb 2010.
About half-way through, I could not understand why Bella was still interested in Edward, when there was a local teen wolf who had many admirable qualities and who loved her and he did not suffer from bad makeup. So I left. Maybe I missed the big scene at the end where Bella is bitten by a smart bug and develops some common sense and goes for the wolf. But somehow I doubt it.