I am not a great Stephanie Meyers fan, but I sure watched Twilight around 5 times. And this was not because I am in love with Robert Pattinson, but because I liked the director’s other movie Thirteen , and a really close friend is one of the fatally ‘Robsessed’ girls, and so anyway I watched the movie quite a few times. Now that I haven’t really had the time to get a bootlegged copy off the net, and it has not released in India yet, I can’t wait to watch New Moon.
But for my entertainment and yours, I have asked my crazy obsessed people to give me her views, and I’ve put them up here. Besides, here’s the link to the Rotten Tomatoes page.
Now. This is intense.
Twilght was an indie film, made on a small budget of $32 mil. The dialogues were cheesy, the acting bad, and the special effects were the worst seen in decades. I blame the director for all these shortcomings. One thing that did work, however, was the music. The background score and the soundtrack were haunting, possibly one of the best in 2008. It was because of the music that the general mediocrity of the movie could be ignored. And the style of the film was such that you would be drawn to Edward Cullen, the Byronic vampire hero. In spite of all its flaws (and there were many), Twilight was like a drug; you just had to keep watching it, squirm-worthy scenes or not.
In New Moon, the first-person narrator Bella Swan is dumped by the love of her life, Edward. Little does she know that he is leaving her only to protect her from his grisly other-worldliness. Bella, being a typical insecure teenager, buys into his lie and readily believes that he doesn’t want her anymore. So she becomes catatonic, and the only person who can save her from madness is Jacob Black, a werewolf. — Ok I got bored of summarising the story. Will just give my opinions. Delete this para.
Summit Entertainment did the many fans of The Twilight Saga a great disservice by increasing the budget of New Moon by only $10 mil, a pittance for something with such a massive fan-following. New Moon shines where Twilight failed, yet, it doesn’t have the pull that the first installment did. First, and most importantly, the background score is highly un-memorable. Some good songs from the soundtrack aren’t used as well as they could have been. There are exceptions of course, Possibility and Hearing Damage elevate their scenes to a completely different level.
Acting: The humans have done a wonderful job, bringing humour into an otherwise angsty movie. Billy Burke as Bella’s father, and Anna Kendrick and Mike Welsh as Bella’s friends Jessica and Mike steal the scenes in which they appear. Kristen Stewart who plays Bella, carries the entire movie on her capable shoulders; without her expressive acting, we wouldn’t know what was going on. Mixed reviews for the vampires; Michael Sheen as Aro shines, Robert Pattinson as Edward merely does his job and looks pretty (stunning). For someone who hasn’t read the books, his acting will seem mediocre, but he plays his part well, especially in the scene where he has to portray immense pain. Ashley Greene plays an annoying Alice, and you want to punch her while giving her fashion advice. Apart from Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), the werewolves have little role, and their performance is passable.
There is great improvement in the makeup department, but one wonders why no one bothered to upgrade to a better costume designer/wardrobe specialist. The cinematography and special effects are excellent; the discerning eye will see subtle touches such as the camera being nudged by CGI wolves, and a vampire’s speed being given context by a bird. The screenplay is shoddy, with poor pacing, an excess of cheesy lines (“I am nothing, nothing”, “No Bella, you’re everything, everything”), and a ridiculous scene where the couple wear granny-clothes, but overall, the movie works very well. It succeeds in one area that even the author failed; the convincing build-up to a love triangle. Watch it if you have read and liked the books, or have an affinity towards angsty, independent films. Watch it, also, if you like Kristen Stewart. You will fall in love with her for playing a beautiful, stubborn, strong and vulnerable Bella, arguably the most drab character in the series.
Courtesy: Deepika Sreedhar
Dude… When I said delete this para I meant it. And I forgot to add; if you’re Robsessed and a Twilighter (like me), you will want to watch Face Punch. And you will spend hours discussing the strange case of the wonky mipple. Yes. Mipple.
Good write up, i have less to comment about since i’ve only watched the first movie and read none of the twilight books, which i plan to read, since a book speaks a hundred syllabuses more than its film adaptation.
Thanks a lot for the review. Was planning to catch it at the theater. U saved me some money.
Oh no you definitely MUST watch new Moon! I was a bit negative in my review, but it is a pretty good movie. You will definitely enjoy it, I can assure you that. It’s just not as intoxicating as Twilight. But that’s okay because overall, it’s an improvement.
The film sucks and the novel is fuckin gay, betta read the original dracula or H.P.Lovecraftian fictions if ye love vampires. Steph had a great part in “Into the wild” n Rob aint half as sexy and elegant as John Travolta. Ugh one thing that came gue about the flick is the still photography and digital makeovers.
Ugh not steph i mean the gal who acts as bella
[...] Now that I have watched New Moon, first I will link you to a rather honest review of it written by a dear friend without whose influence I would’ve never exposed myself over and over to the addiction that is the Twilight saga. Here it is. [...]
@hari, I get it. The books were not good, the author created her own universe with different (read stupid) vampires. But those who are entranced by the books will tell you that SM isn’t a good author, she’s a good storyteller. She gave about a million women what they secretly wanted, and she portrayed emotions like yearning and young love very, very well. I totally get how it’s not your cuppa, but there has to be *something* that attracted so many girls/women, right? I personally think it was the mood. Those things are powerful. Can’t respond to your spiel on the actors’ looks, it’s a matter of opinion.
Have you read the books? Have you seen the movies? I’m not telling you to try, just that you should criticize them after reading/watching them. Not just for the heck of it. I can say with pride that I’ve been a vampire lover all my life, I’ve read books ranging from Dracula to Interview With The Vampire to Salems Lot, and movies and TV shows like Buffy, True Blood, The Lost Boys, etc. I’ve seen a theme. Either they’re actually scary or absolutely camp, and Twi comes under the latter category. There’s scope for expression and creativity in every medium. Which is why I ask you to have an open mind with regards to the Twilight series. After all, I’m not being a douchenozzle by trashing absolutely mindless and crappy movies like Transformers on every possible forum. Maybe you should give the ‘live and let live’ mantra a try; mindless haters aren’t welcome.
Transformers was frickin awesome..die
Why can’t I just say Twilight was frickin awesome, die? It’s because there’s this stigma attached to it, as though liking it is shameful. That really sucks.
Wow so you are, in fact, a nutjob.