Hello again everyone! Let me start this post by saying that I have read all four of the Twilight Books (Yes, audio books count!) and I need to express a general opinion about them. I had a few problems with the books and I apologize in advance for the super fan this may insult.
The first problem I had was that the first two books, and this is the nicest way of saying this, were whiny. Bella tends to do a lot of whining throughout the books, but particularly the first two where draining at times. I think I know what the author, Stephanie Myer, was trying to do, or at least I will speculate as much. I think she has a good understanding of what teenage girls like and feel. I also think that was clearly her audience, particularly for the first two books. The only problem with that is teenage girls are, no offense ladies, somewhat crazy and obsessive. I think this hurt the books in that it took away from the depth of the characters. It ended up making Bella feel like a groupie, and Edward an arrogant fool. I think the comparison they make to Romeo and Juliet is interesting, because Shakespeare had a way of making an arrogant fool, Romeo, have depth where Edward clearly falls short.
This is not true, however, of Jacob. If I could interview Ms. Myer I would love to ask her if she tried as hard with Jacob. Jacob's character has a way of talking to you, most likely because he is constantly being abused in the books. He is the night in shining armor that we often pull for, but in this case is rejected at almost every turn. This is takes me to my second problem with the books. Jacob's constant abuse, and I can only speak for myself, makes Bella the biggest monster of them all. She uses Jacob, knowingly I might add, and in the end (I won't ruin it for those still reading) is sort of dealt with in this neat little way that left me a little irritated. That however is a review for another time.
All of that being said, Ms. Myer owes Chris Weitz, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner a ton of gratitude and respect. New Moon portrayed everything I felt its worded counter part attempted to portray. For those who are contantly saying the movie is never as good as the book, let me say this, can it be. Books have the ability to drone on about the most minute of details, while movies cannot afford that luxury. A movie has two hours to do what a book has twenty hours to do. In the two hours and twenty some-odd minutes that New Moon has, it hits almost every plot highlight in the books and the actors give the characters depth that the books sometimes worked hard to do.
Chris Weitz and Summit Entertainment puts together a film that looks how it feels, both real and sureal at the same time. Summit is a independent film company and I think it is good for the Twilight movies, keeping them grounded. The actors are of course more attractive then I or most will ever be, but they look real and even the vampire and werewolves do not go way over the top. I think if anything the somewhat subdued CGI of the wolves were the most extravagant thing in the movie, and that is including a trip to Rome and a visit with the Volturi. The movie flows well and does not seem as long as it is, which was a concern I had going in. There were times in the books where I wanted it to get to the point, and I did not have that in the movie. My one criticism is, and again I have to be careful of taking my own advice, it did brush over parts of the books that I enjoyed, such as Charlie's involvement and bonding with Alice and the growth of Jacob and Bella's relationship, but again there are only two hours.
Now the actors, I will start by saying this, Kristin Stewart could become the death of Megan Fox's star. At nineteen she has begun to grow up right before our eyes and is beautiful in the same way that I have always felt that Diane Lane is. I will say that her screeching in the movie at times is annoying and unbelievable, but her depiction of Bella is spot on. I think she and Chris Weitz's direction during Bella's depression is accurate and effective. I will take this moment to implore Kristin to find a movie that does not make her so depressive and dark because I want to believe that she can do something else. She has a history of playing depressive and dark characters and she is running the risk of falling into that early in her career.
On a side note, let me say that Dakota Fanning is doing a good job of putting herself in situations to make the transition from child star to budding actress, by doing the Twilight movies and Push, characters the audience would not have expected to see her in.
I want to briefly speak to the vampires. Robert Pattinson has an appeal that we have not seen out of our cousins across the pond in the last decade. At a time when the Australian's have filled the void, Robert Pattinson is England's return to our hearts. I will say that he has to be careful that the teenage mobs do not only kill him physically, but professionally as well. Again he will have to strive to distance himself if he wants anyone over the age of 21 to buy him as a talent. The rest of the vampires take a back seat to the Werewolves, but again we do take a trip to the Volturi, who are sufficiently distant and arrogant, and again, though she has maybe two lines and five minutes in the movie, Dakota Fanning steals the show. I look forward to Eclipse and a real return to the Cullens.
So cue the stars of the movie, the Werewolves. After I got past the feelings of insecurity staring at abs for a good 50 minutes of the movie, I found out Taylor Lautner is a really good teenage werewolf. Make no mistake that the New Moon book is clearly about the werewolves, and there is a lot the movie was forced to leave out, but Taylor Lautner and Chris Weitz get the audience there quickly and efficiently. Taylor does an excellent job of being that knight in shining armor and does and excellent job of taking his constant rejection. Sam and the crew are not as present as I would have liked, but they take advantage of their time there. The action sequences with the wolves both with vampires and without, are exciting and also subdued enough to fit in with the rest of the movie. I think the best part of the movie is that it ties the story together in a way that the books were not able to do until the third and fourth books.
I think the most surprising part of the movie, was the humor. There are quite a few times that the audience found itself laughing despite the otherwise brooding tone to the movie. It keeps the movie from becoming too depressive. I was also happy to see that it was able to keep it entertaining for those of us not between the ages of 11 and 19 and of the female persuasion. I give it a B+.
Thanks for reading, until next time!
JP
PS. Go Team Jacob!
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