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When I reviewed last year's TWILIGHT, I recognized how much of a thoroughly mediocre film it was, but I made a prediction. I said that, based on the way the first film ended, it seemed like the second installment had all the potential in the world to be a much better movie. I wasn't able to go see NEW MOON immediately when it came out in November because I was very busy, but as soon as I started seeing the reviews, I thought "Well, I guess my prediction was wrong." Now that I've finally seen NEW MOON... well, I suppose a lot of people will toss all kinds of rotten fruits at me for this, but I can't help feeling like this movie actually fulfills the expectations of improvement that I envisioned based on its predecessor's climax. That climax told us that Bella would be dealing with the dilemma of deciding whether or not to abandon life as a human and become a vampire so that she can be with Edward eternally. The examination of that dilemma is certainly more interesting than the excuse of a plot that they gave us in the first film, which is why I was looking forward to it, and that dilemma is exactly what plays out over the course of this second film's last few minutes.
The first film in the TWILIGHT saga essentially featured nothing but Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson going ga-ga over each other in a forest setting, with lots of lame atmospherics in the background. The biggest problems were, first, the fact that that sort of thing took up most of the film's running time, and second, that there was an inconsistency in terms of performances because, on the one hand, Stewart held her own (as she always does) despite the terrible dialogue, while Pattinson was... very bad. To be fair, we do see the same sort of thing play out in a few instances in NEW MOON, but what I was surprised and glad about was the fact that at least OTHER STUFF happened in this movie, as opposed to the first one. NEW MOON isn't all about Bella and Edward spewing corny romantic dialogue at one another. This film gives us much more of an opportunity to understand its main character (including her insecurities and the reason why she makes rash, "reckless" decisions sometimes).
Perhaps another reason why this film is better is the fact that, although Pattinson gives just as bad a performance here as he did in the first film (and just as bad as the one in LITTLE ASHES), he's not actually in this film as much. Instead, the film focuses more on the relationship between Bella and Jacob (Taylor Lautner), who is actually a werewolf (Bella just naturally attracts all these supernatural beings, apparently). Ultimately, I think what helps here is the fact that Stewart (once again) delivers a strong performance despite having to utter a few bad lines, and also, while Lautner may not be a bravura actor, he's no doubt better than Pattinson. His emotional responses don't feel nearly as artificial.
What makes NEW MOON a solid film is not just the fact that it deals with Bella's dilemma of whether to become a vampire or not, but that it actually has scenes that generate suspense, which is far from what happened in the first film. The first film's "final showdown" was a thoroughly lame fight sequence between Edward and the vampire who tried to take Bella from him, whereas here the "final showdown" doesn't have as much action per se, and it's more of a dialogue-based, very intense sequence with several people in a room, all pondering how to handle their inability to read Bella's mind and the prospect of having her become one of them. Sorry, but even if the dialogue isn't 100% perfect, I prefer this a thousand times more than the poorly-edited climax of the first film, in which bad special effects came one after the other.
The other aspect that I appreciated is that the "love triangle" that was supposedly going to be the centerpiece of the film isn't as much of a love triangle as you might think. It's always completely clear that Bella is in love with Edward, and this isn't a spoiler. Jacob just operates as an important part in how Bella adjusts to her new life once Edward leaves and of the difficulties she has in doing so. That's a lot more interesting than if they had just done a straight-up love triangle plot, and I appreciate the unconventionality of not allowing the film's final moments to turn into a predictable battle sequence between both guys. Instead, it's more of a heated interaction between all three characters that concludes realistically, and the film's final (abrupt) moment is very effective in creating a hook for the next film.
With all that said, though, the dialogue is still mostly just as hokey as it was in the first film and the acting by the supporting characters is definitely on the poor side. Both Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner deserve a better secondary cast, and well, Robert Pattinson should probably take acting lessons before they start filming the third film. Speaking of the third film, though, I must admit that now that I feel like there has been an improvement with this second one, I'm particularly excited about the next one, especially because it will be helmed by David Slade, who was in charge of the fantastic HARD CANDY and the surprisingly good 30 DAYS OF NIGHT. If the pattern of improvement continues, there may even be a possiblity that Slade could accomplish something great, as much as the "haters" will think of this as impossible. I don't consider myself a "Twihard" or a "hater", but I try to be objective in recognizing the good and the bad and not dismissing a sequel simply because its predecessor was sub-par. NEW MOON may have its faults, but I was engrossed throughout its entire running time, and once again, it left me excited to find out what's coming in the saga's next entry.
6/10
