The undeniable world domination by lecherous, blood-sucking fiends continues with the release of the second segment of Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” saga, “New Moon.”
For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past four years, “Twilight” is the new worldwide literary-cum-cinematic phenomenon, filled with romance, action and magical creatures.
The series begins with “Twilight” where shallow, vapid and hallow Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) discovers that her soulmate, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), is a vampire. In “New Moon,” the hot romance is pushed aside by peril when Edward leaves Bella. She goes into a psychotic depression, riddled with night terrors, starvation and monotony. However, Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), a new romantic interest, slowly brings Bella out of her funk.
In comparison to “Twilight,” “New Moon” surpasses the film by leaps and bounds.
“New Moon” Director Chris Weitz gave Stewart, Pattinson and Lautner more to explore with their characters in this movie rather than having them lie in a meadow and gaze dreamily at each other, similar to Catherine Hardwick’s direction in her masterpiece (or monster-piece, however a viewer looks at it), “Twilight.” Granted, “Twilight” has a mere budget of $37 million according to “Entertainment Weekly” (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20211840,00.html) while Summit Entertainment granted $50 million dollars for “New Moon” according to the L.A. Times (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-newmoon21-2009nov21,0,7638993.story). A little more money and a better director can go a long way, however, the lead actors are not Oscar worthy themselves.
However, Weitz is well known for his special effects in movies, most notably the film adaptation to Philip Pullman’s novel, “Northern Lights,” better known as “The Golden Compass.” In “New Moon,” we are introduced to the world of the La Push werewolves (more like shape-shifters, but the argument is better left to Geek Columnist Brennan Whitmore.) The wolves are described to be about the size of a bear and Weitz brings them to life and height in the film with his special effects. However, while it’s difficult to imagine six-foot-tall werewolves while reading the novel, it’s even harder to stomach while watching the movie. The blame is cast on Meyers: who can really see six-foot-tall werewolves in their mind?
Despite the overabundance of corny lines and awkward moments, the best courtesy of Mike Newton (Michael Welch), there are a few highlights to “New Moon.” Javier Aguirresarobe’s cinematography was brilliant. The transitions of time during Bella’s depression was clever and the camerawork during a werewolf fight was faster than lightning, but still managed to make sense and kick ass when it came to the action.
Through it all, Michael Sheen stole the movie as Aro, one of the leaders of the Volturi, the vampire royalty/government based in Italy. While Sheen is not unfamiliar with playing creatures (he played Lucian in “Underworld”), he is best know for his role as David Frost in “Frost Nixon.” Aro, however, was a complete turnaround from the talk show host turned journalist. It seemed like Sheen based some of his character on Dr. Hannibal Lecter, how Aro found everything as a puzzle and the fact that he observed his guests with fascination, and slightly creepy eyes. You could see the work Sheen put into finding Aro because even though he held a small role, the depth could be seen in the mere movements he made.
Overall, four stars and two thumbs up for “New Moon” simply because Lautner’s biceps and abs are worth the $12.50 to get into the movie.
