The Twilight Saga: New Moon will make girls scream as its young male leads, Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson, yank off their shirts. Gasps will erupt when two close friends move in for a first kiss, a wolf’s eyes debut through foliage or when four powerful words turn into an ill-timed cliffhanger. Fans of the book will eat up the heartbreaking script Melissa Rosenberg has crafted with their blind loyalty; unfortunately everyone else will feel like a vampire is slowly draining their energy as the plodding supernaturally fueled breakup tragedy plays on.
The technical complexities of handling CGI wolves crucial to the plot of New Moon fell beyond the qualifications of Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke so more experienced director Chris Weitz was brought on board. His time spent working with a myriad of digital creatures on The Golden Compass proves a perfect match to capture the ferocity of and track the bear-sized werewolves as they brazenly hunt vampires in the woods – both visually and aurally. Weitz also understands the creatures are more compelling if their human side is projected through the eyes so he makes sure to hold the camera tight on several occasions including a beautifully rendered shot of a concerned Jacob as a wolf perched atop an Oceanside cliff.
What New Moon gains in general filmmaking knowledge and technical know-how from Weitz it loses from not having a female in the director’s chair. Say what you will of Hardwicke’s sometimes atrocious camera moves and awkward lethargic line delivery from her cast. By Twilight’s end she had successfully told a sensible and “relatable to teens” love story any young girl could sink their teeth into for a couple hours of harmless escapism from the trials and tribulations of growing up with raging hormones.
In New Moon, Bella is abruptly separated from Edward against her desire and left to fend for herself from a pair of agitated vampires whose friend her former lover’s family ripped to shreds and barbequed. With Edward gone and vowing never to return, she has emotionally and physically removed herself from everyone around her, including her friends and father, relying on dangerous rushes of adrenaline for an Edward “fix” via ghostly images of the vampire casting advice and warnings.
Kristen Stewart should be playing the part on the verge of a mental breakdown, shedding tears and looking visibly upset. Rather than emote while awake she only screams in her dreams. Conscious hours are spent staring off into oblivion with the same mopey facial expression given when gazing longingly into Edward’s eyes. Even when reuniting with Edward after several months to save him from making a certain death mistake, she fails to shed a tear or act remotely relieved or ecstatic. Weitz seems more content to make certain the parallels between Bella and Edward with Romeo and Juliet is spoon fed via clever book placements and a class film on the subject. He would have been better off drawing inspiration from any of the Romeo and Juliet film adaptations on how to make his leads connect.
The “Weitz” effect cascades down to Robert Pattinson who acts every bit as robotic and gloomy as his co-star. His character has more of an excuse for this behavior by not having a soul or “life,” but he could at least look in Kristen’s eyes rather than seemingly everywhere else or offer an ounce of emotion from when he fell in love with her in the first place. Only when being tortured by equally emotionless Volturi member Jane (Dakota Fanning) does Robert exhibit any semblance of a pulse.
Completing the awkward love triangle is newly beefy Taylor Lautner as Bella’s childhood friend Jacob Black. He, and his wolf pack brothers, are convincing as outsiders with a secretive agenda and lifestyle. The younger wolves in particular offer ample comic relief and their subculture, though partially not translated from the book, adds a necessary new layer of intrigue and departure from Edward’s moping attitude. Bella’s wounds begin to slowly heal when Jacob comes back into her life. Likewise and not coincidentally, the film picks up some much needed energy and interest the same time.
Where Weitz was unable to offer a woman’s touch to New Moon, he does bring out performances in the secondary cast that reach beyond those in Twilight. Anna Kendrick as fast talking bubbly Jessica steals every second she is on screen with her irrelevant youthful banter. Michael Welch as sheltered Mike is the perfect contrast to smooth talking Jacob while Ashley Greene never delivers a dull line in her scant appearances. Her short time with Taylor where they subtly acknowledge hatred for each others’ species is one of the film’s best moments alongside a handful of scenes spent with Michael Sheen and the ominous Volturi.
I was tipped off just prior to the press screening that the New Moon novel is inherently drab with Bella spending much of it whining about the lost love of her life. In that respect the film remains faithful to the book, albeit despite much room for improvement between its star-crossed lovers who dominate the runtime’s first third. This heartache, no matter how portrayed, is all fans of the franchise want and in that they will be rewarded. Anyone else should ingest an ample supply of caffeine before taking their seat.
– Dan Bradley
