Rama's Screen

It’s a bit of a waste of breath and time reviewing NEW MOON only because it’s not far different than Twilight. As far as acting and the style, and Melissa Rosenberg’s over dramatic screenplay, they’re all still there. Unbearable, often times just plain god-awful and unintentionally hilarious. But if I had to point out one thing worth noticing is… Chris Weitz’s direction which may not be his best work but definitely more engaging than Catherine Hardwicke’s (the director of Twilight). I’ve never read the Stephenie Meyer’s book so I can’t tell you how faithful NEW MOON is to the original material but the movie is a slight and I emphasize the word ’slight’ improvement than the first one and Weitz gets the credit.

Following Bella’s ill-fated 18th birthday party, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and his family abandon the town of Forks, Washington, in an effort to protect her from the dangers inherent in their world. As the heartbroken Bella sleepwalks through her senior year of high school, numb and alone, she discovers Edward’s image comes to her whenever she puts herself in jeopardy. Her desire to be with him at any cost leads her to take greater and greater risks.
With the help of her childhood friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), Bella refurbishes an old motorbike to carry her on her adventures. Bella’s frozen heart is gradually thawed by her budding relationship with Jacob, a member of the mysterious Quileute tribe, who has a supernatural secret of his own.
When a chance encounter brings Bella face to face with a former nemesis, only the intervention of a pack of supernaturally large wolves saves her from a grisly fate, and the encounter makes it frighteningly clear that Bella is still in grave danger. In a race against the clock, Bella learns the secret of the Quileutes and Edward’s true motivation for leaving her. She also faces the prospect of a potentially deadly reunion with her beloved that is a far cry from the one she’d hoped for.

I’m remembering all the spoofs out there that have been made by fans or haters online to make fun of TWILIGHT franchise and I’m thinking there’s no use to go through all that trouble because the movies themselves are already funny as they are. I know I’d blame it on screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg but she’s just adapting, which leads me to wondering if the blame should be put on Stephanie Meyer herself, the same author whose writing Stephen King openly hates.
But here’s what I admire about TWILIGHT franchise,.. it doesn’t matter what I or other bloggers and critics think because tweens and fangirls love this type of quality, the target audience doesn’t care about analyzing it, watching NEW MOON is like watching a glorified CW episode. They’re cheesy, they’re wannabee soap operas, they’re flat and pointless but that’s exactly how they like it, and they wouldn’t want TWILIGHT (movies and the books) any other way.

NEW MOON is a love triangle story. The first movie was more of Edward and Bella, this time it’s Edward, Bella and Jacob, plus some weak-ass douchebag who doesn’t have the stomach to watch action flicks. Why would so many guys go after a mysterious, emo girl like Bella is beyond me, whatever happened to fighting to win the love of a vibrant, popular hottie?!
The scope for NEW MOON is much bigger in that it involves Italy, home of the Volturi, a group of ancient vampires that set up the laws and decide death penalty.
That’s where Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning come into play. Sheen, one of the most under-appreciated actors today, once again shows that he’s not afraid to unleash all his skills even for a franchise like Twilight. Dakota doesn’t get to showcase much of her talent but her presence makes an impression nonetheless. Forget Pattinson, Stewart and Greene, to me NEW MOON finally gets interesting when Sheen shows up on the screen.

Chris Weitz was nominated once for the adapted screenplay of ABOUT A BOY, excellent movie by the way. And Weitz also was one of the people who brought us the first AMERICAN PIE movie which as you know, despite the raunchy jokes, still had a good story. Weitz’s contribution to NEW MOON which is very obvious, is more focus on the relationships especially between Bella and her dad. Hardwicke’s vision for the first installment, Twilight, was more about wowing the target audience and I think the adaptation got lost in Edward carrying Bella on his back.
Granted, NEW MOON still has to go through Rosenberg’s dialogue and Weitz unfortunately still keeps certain style that Hardwicke left behind like shots of two individuals, having them either lying on the field or running in the forest which for some reason indicates Bella as a vampire?!
But Weitz makes sure that enough time is spent for us to understand what motivates the characters, at least the ones that play a big part in Bella’s next step.

A big chunk of the movie, for example, is invested in developing the relationship between Bella and Jacob, no matter how hard Jacob tries to prove that he’ll always be there for Bella, she can’t seem to be able to see him as more than just friends. So in the end, when Bella is confronted with having to make a tough choice, the target audience will feel for Jacob. Plus that constant reminder that Bella won’t be able to stay with Edward forever because she’ll age and Edward won’t. The fact that bothers Bella and also drives her to pull stupid stunts just so she can see Edward again.
It’s team Edward vs. team Jacob.
Notice I keep saying target audience because once again, none of what I say here would matter because Twilight franchise will always ring true to its fans.

* Place the cursor on the image below to check my grade for this film