The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

“The Twilight Saga: New Moon”

Janae & Anna-Kaye:

I really wanted to like ‘New Moon’. This is the second film in the Twilight series, based on an enormously best selling book.
I liked the concept of the first film; the high school vampire version of Romeo and Juliet, I must admit, kinda excited me. I had my hang-ups about the whole Twilight thing though, but my ‘Team Edward’ crazy friends wouldn’t have let me live a peaceful life if I didn’t see the movie at least once. So I put my ‘game face’ on, and viewed it.
Truth is, I was so horrified by the lack-luster quality of the first one. Did I mention the acting? ... No Comment! I didn’t even want to entertain the thought of going to see ‘New Moon’, but I’m a firm advocate of second chances – so that I did!

After Bella recovers from the vampire attack that almost claimed her life, she looks to celebrate her birthday with Edward and his family. However, a minor accident during the festivities results in Bella's blood being shed, a sight that proves too intense for the Cullens, who decide to leave the town of Forks, Washington for Bella and Edward's sake. Initially heartbroken, Bella finds a form of comfort in reckless living, as well as an even-closer friendship with Jacob Black. Danger in different forms awaits.

The first thing I noticed about ‘New Moon’ was the obvious step-up in overall ‘quality’. The editing, definition, animation and even the acting was better! The visual effects this time around were MUCH better than in the first Twilight. The numerous chasing, fighting, and cliff diving, and ‘humans transforming into werewolves’ scenes which seemed to be their specialty, were commendable, but could have done with a bit more mastering.
The lighting in ‘New Moon’ made it that much more bearable for me. The dark, Sci-FI effect that they had going in the first Twilight just was not doing it for me, as it sucked out ALL the energy from the film. This time, they used a lot of incandescent lighting, which made the shots yellow and ‘cheery’. It lifted the energy of the movie, which was much needed to distract us from the fact that the two main characters [Bella and Edward] were apart for most of the movie.

As is seemingly customary in the series, the close-up and medium shots prevailed! Only this time around, they made the effort to give us a few decent scenic shots, and they really put their wide-angled lenses to use. It gave their cliffs, rivers, and forests overwhelming scope and vastness. I especially loved the canted angles they gave us; frequent in Bella’s dreams and in Italy where they made the beautiful buildings come alive. All in all, making the movie seem more mature and well put together.

Overall, it was a good movie and I really hope it gets better as the series continue.
It didn’t kill me, and my friends were happy, so….
I give it 3 ‘fist pumps’!