Movie review: New Moon

It’s somewhat surprising so many Team Edward fans showed up to see The Twilight Saga: New Moon in the theaters at all, given the vampire Edward Cullen’s (Robert Pattinson) presence in the film was lacking. What may have made up for it was the Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) eye candy.

I wouldn’t call myself a non-fan of the vampire romance series, but I haven’t gone out of my way to read the books. In fact, I didn’t get through the second installment in the series before seeing the movie opening day, so after the first 20 minutes of the film I had no clue what would happen next.

If you haven’t considered which team you’re on – Edward or Jacob – then you may find the movie boring or silly at times.

New Moon succeeded in some areas where Twilight did not – there’s more action, less mushy, girly, puppy-love romance and slicker visual effects.

The story continues where Twlight left off, with Bella (Kristen Stewart) insisting on being turned into a vampire so she can spend forever with Edward. But Edward refuses to damn Bella and her soul. After a mishap at the Cullens’ home involving a paper cut that bleeds way more than a paper cut ever should, Edward tells Bella that he and his family will be leaving the small town of Forks forever.

Edward makes Bella promise she won’t do anything reckless.

Bella spends most of her time moping and grieving Edward’s absence until she discovers that Edward will appear to her as an apparition if she is getting too close to danger. She then becomes obsessed with seeing his face again and again by searching for the next life-threatening thrill.

And if you remember anything from the first film, you’ll know that the vampire Victoria has returned to Forks to seek revenge for the death of her beloved, which puts Bella in grave danger.

The love triangle between Edward, Bella and Jacob becomes more complicated when it’s revealed that Jacob is a werewolf – a werewolf who kills vampires.

It’s hard to care about this film if you don’t care about the series. New Moon isn’t a masterpiece by any means, but it isn’t the worst movie I’ve seen.