While I enjoyed the Twilight books overall, I'm not a huge fan of them and I don't go into some sort of fit at the sight of a trailer for the movie versions like some do.  The first movie was entertaining overall, though far from my favorite.  Even though I had major issues with the second book, I decided to see New Moon.

Things that happen in New Moon are tied fairly close to what happened during Twilight, so this really isn't a good place to jump into the series.  People who haven't seen the first movie will probably be lost by some of what happens.  

I will be mentioning a few things that could be spoilers for Twilight for people who haven't seen that movie or read the book.  I am going to share a little bit of background for the series before specifically discussing this movie.

After moving to Forks to live with her father, Bella notices the Cullen family, especially Edward.  Before long, she figures out that they are vampires and she and Edward fall in love.  The Cullens don't feed on people, but there are other vampires out there that do, and some of them take interest in Bella, putting her life in danger.  

Bella wakes up on the morning of her eighteenth birthday after having a bad dream involving her being years older than Edward.  Bella considers herself now older than Edward since he was seventeen when he became a vampire.  She has decided that she wants to become a vampire to be with Edward while he doesn't want that for her.  Things go very wrong at the small party at the Cullen's after Bella gets a paper cut, and she ends up hurt worse.  The next day, Edward tells her that the family is leaving town and he doesn't love her anymore.  

When Edward leaves, Bella is devastated and slips into a depression that lasts for months.  She only starts to crawl out when her father says he is sending to live with her mother.  Bella sort of makes an attempt to reconnect with her friends, but when she is out with Jessica, she sees a vision of Edward when she is in danger.  Bella then decides to keep doing dangerous things so she can see the visions of Edward.  She gets a few junky motorcycles and gets Jacob to fix them up.  Jacob goes through some surprising changes and becomes a werewolf.  Bella ends up in danger yet again when Victoria returns to the area.

New Moon is based on the book of the same name by Stephenie Meyer.  The book is the second in the four book series about Bella.  I have read all the books, and New Moon is my least favorite.  I'm still not completely sure why I decided to watch the movie given how much I disliked the book.  The movie stays fairly close to the book, though Bella's moping and depression are toned down a bit.  So is her fixation on Romeo and Juliet.  People who haven't read the book may find something to like about the movie, especially if they liked the first movie.

I expected New Moon to be longer based on the length of the book and how long the first movie was.  The plot is only sort of interesting, though I felt the same way about the plot of the book.  Bella is hurt in the presence of the Cullen's and then the next day, Edward shows up saying the family is leaving and he doesn't want Bella anymore.  The majority of the movie is focused on how depressed Bella is after Edward leaves.  Several scenes just show her moping around or planning to do some incredibly stupid, dangerous thing so she can see a hallucination of Edward.  Those scenes tend to move slower and the movie has a fairly slow pace overall.  I do feel like not that much really happens by the time the movie is over despite how long it is.

There really isn't much action to what happens in New Moon.  There are a few fights and that is about it.  The threat from Victoria really isn't much of a threat at all.  She is just sort of tossed in to add some complication and then nothing really develops from it.  The book has the same issue.  There is a little bit of minor violence in a few scenes, but that is it.  The few fight scenes that do happen are fine, though the characters are moving around so fast, it is hard to tell what is going on.

Edward and the Cullens are gone for most of New Moon since they leave Forks right after the incident on Bella's birthday.  These vampires are a bit different since they can go out in sunlight.  That part doesn't bother me since vampires in other movies and books have had the same ability.  The thing that I still think it is a bit weird is that Meyer's vampires sparkle in sunlight.  That effect looked horrible in the first movie.  It is slightly better this time, but I still think it is stupid.  It mostly looks like Edward - since he is really the only one shown in sunlight - went overboard with glitter powder.  The makeup for the characters is done better ovearll though so that the paleness of them doesn't change as much as it did in the first movie.  Some new vampire characters in Italy are introduced and they have creepy looking red eyes since they feed on human blood.  The eyes look effective, especially on Jane.

In addition to vampires, New Moon features another type of creature.  Jacob, along with some of the other young men in his village, are werewolves.  Well that is what they call themselves, but they aren't typical werewolves.  The moon has nothing to do with their transformation.  Some members of the tribe have inherited a gene that allows them to be able to change into a wolf when vampires are in the area so they can fight them.  They can change into wolf form whenever they want, though anger does seem to set it off.  Their change is also instant.  When they aren't running around as wolves, they tend to be barely dressed, usually only wearing shorts or jeans.  These aren't werewolves.  They are shape shifters who take the form of wolves - large wolves.  Standing on all four feet, the wolves are probably close to six feet tall, if not taller.  It just kind of bugs me that these are called werewolves when they really aren't like werewolves.  The wolves look all right, though most of the time they are moving too fast to see much detail.

I do have issues with some of what goes on in New Moon.  I had the same issues with the book, though certain things aren't as extreme in the movie as they were in the book.  Bella is irrational and does one stupid thing after the other, usually while moping around and embracing her misery.  On her birthday, Edward tells her more than once how much he loves her and how much she means to him, yet when he says he doesn't want her anymore, she doesn't doubt what he says for a second.  She never stops to think that he might be doing it as an attempt to protect her after the incident at the party.  She does her bit of thinking that she isn't good enough for him even though she wants to become a vampire so she can be with him forever.  Once he leaves, she wallows in her depression, only making an effort to act more normal when her father finally speaks up and says he is sending her to live with her mother.  

When she discovers by chance that being in a dangerous situation will cause her to see a vision of Edward, Bella starts deliberately looking for stupid, dangerous things to do just to see a hallucination.  She gets progressively more reckless in her desire to keep seeing Edward, getting hurt and even coming close to dying.  Her behavior is ridiculous and makes it difficult to watch the movie, though she is much worse in the book.  She only decides to spend time with Jacob because she wants him to fix up the motorcycles so she can ride one and see Edward.  She does enjoy being around Jacob, but she is blatantly using him and leading him on, which further complicates things once he starts expressing his feelings for her.  

Bella is the main character since basically everything that happens is tied to her in some way.  She spends most of the movie moping around and makes very little actual effort to deal with the situation with Edward.  She does several stupid things and is just highly annoying and I really can't like her.  Kristen Stewart is fine in the part.  She at least makes the moping and depression believable.  Charlie is barely in the movie, so Billy Burke really doesn't have anything to do other than try to express some concern for Bella a few times.  Bella's friends Jessica, Angela, and Mike also end up with almost nothing to do since Bella is ignoring them in her depression.

Edward and the rest of the Cullens are barely around since they leave Forks the day after Bella's birthday.  Edward has the most to do, though there really isn't anything new added to his character.  Robert Pattinson is fine in the part.  Alice ends up with a little more to do later in the movie.  I like her character, so it is too bad that she isn't around more.  The rest of the Cullens are only in two or three short scenes and barely have any lines.  There isn't anything special about any of them.  Victoria is another character that is hardly in the movie.  All she does is run around in a few scenes and try to look menacing.  

Jacob is around for a decent amount of the movie since Bella spends so much time with him.  He is genuinely happy to see her and to spend time with her.  He becomes more expressive with his feelings for Bella, which causes more complications.  Jacob does look more muscled than he did in the first movie and he cuts his hair as well.  He looks much better with shorter hair.  Jacob does have some anger issues, though he is a decent character overall.  Taylor Lautner is fairly good in the part considering what he has to work with.  He does look really good without his shirt on.  Jacob's friends, who also turn into wolves, are in a few scenes without being developed.

The vampires from Italy, the Volturi, are introduced in the movie.  They basically rule the vampires and make sure that humans don't find out about them.  They are all very old and powerful.  Aro does most of the talking and seems to be in charge.  Michael Sheen is fine in the part, though he doesn't do much.  Jane is some sort of guard for the Volturi who can make others feel pain.  Even though she is only in a few scenes, Dakota Fanning does well with the part.  She looks really creepy with the red eyes.  The other Volturi are just sort of in the background of the scene and only have one or two lines.  Most of the characters lack development.

Main Cast

Billy Burke - Charlie
Peter Facinelli - Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Dakota Fanning - Jane
Ashley Greene - Alice Cullen
Anna Kendrick - Jessica
Taylor Lautner - Jacob
Rachelle Lefevre - Victoria
Kellan Lutz - Emmett Cullen
Robert Pattinson - Edward Cullen
Jackson Rathbone - Jasper Cullen
Elizabeth Reaser - Esme Cullen
Nikki Reed - Rosalie Cullen
Christian Serratos - Angela
Michael Sheen - Aro
Kristen Stewart - Bella
Michael Welsh - Mike

Chris Weitz - Director

DVD Information

I have seen a few different DVD versions of New Moon.  One version has one disc, and I have seen a few versions with two discs.  I don't know how the extras vary from version to version.  I do remember seeing a few different stores having some sort of special exclusive version of the DVD.

I'm not that fond of New Moon, though I did like the movie slightly more than the book.  Fans of the series will probably be happy.  People who don't like the books may be turned off by the slow moving, mostly depressing plot.  I would only recommend this to fans of the books.

Twilight ~ New Moon ~ Eclipse ~ Breaking Dawn ~ Twilight (Movie) ~

Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD