'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' review

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson (Credit: Summit)

Photos:

related items

Robert Pattinson's fashion disasters

If only RPattz was always as smooth as Edward Cullen

Q&A: 'New Moon' star Kellan Lutz

'The Twilight Saga' co-star on the sexiness of vampires

'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' premiere photos

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and more

In “Twilight,” smart, sensitive teen Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) fell head over heels for tortured vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). The sequel picks up with the angsty couple concerned about their future: Bella discovers that dating an eternally youthful vamp makes you extra self-conscious about your age, and Edward knows that associating with a human exposes her to too much danger, even from his own family. So he abandons her, thinking it’s for the best. But Bella mopes around for months, engaging in risky behavior (because Edward might show up to save her!) and bonding with the younger Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), whose muscle-bound appearance is a little disturbing for a 16 year-old and who also happens to be…a werewolf.

The buzz: The phenomenon of Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” novels has been exhaustively documented and the first movie was a nice-sized (if not outrageously massive) hit. It was also a satisfying exploration of obsessive first love, with strong work from Stewart, an occasionally snappy script by Melissa Rosenberg (who returns as writer) and emotionally expressive direction from Catherine Hardwicke (who isn’t back this time). In Hardwicke’s place is Chris Weitz, the director of franchise-killer “The Golden Compass” who also co-directed “American Pie” and “About a Boy” with his brother, Paul.

The verdict: There’s mopey and then there’s torpid, and “New Moon” is about as sluggish a teen movie you can find. Stewart’s performance remains a fully committed pleasure, but Weitz seems to have taken the vampire thing a little too seriously—his bland brand of Hollywood polish sucks the life out of the movie. The entire cast delivers their lines primarily in slow, deliberate tones and strict fidelity to Meyer’s source material means a ponderous story punctuated with little action—Bella simply suffers over her separation from Edward and about once every half hour someone or something might try to kill her. Weitz could have salvaged this bumpy but necessary bridge to “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” (coming next summer!) with some real chemistry between Stewart and Lautner. Unfortunately, Jacob never feels like more than Bella’s whiny little brother, and Lautner, for all his muscles, comes up short in charisma. With Meyer’s story leaving Edward largely out of the picture, Pattinson can’t add any intrigue to this non-starter of a love triangle. Things perk up for the finale when Bella rushes to Italy to protect Edward (Get it? She’s saving him!) and encounters vampire coven the Volturi (played by some fine actors including best in show Michael Sheen and briefly seen but promising Dakota Fanning), but they’re also just a tease for what’s to come. Still, fans will buy their tickets, young girls will swoon over Lautner’s six-pack, haters will go on hating, and everyone will be back for “Eclipse.” Except, thankfully, Weitz. Let’s hope the next director, David Slade, brings a vision and a pulse.

Did you know? Is there anything “Twilight” fans don’t know about the series or the films? Seriously, there’s no need to even try.

Watch the Metromix video review of 'New Moon'

Add a comment