the Twilight Saga: New Moon lives up to hype and expectations

On Friday, November 20, 2009, the long anticipated sequel to the box office killer, “Twilight”, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” hit theaters. “Twilight” fans or, “twi-hards” waited in lines at movie theaters for almost three hours to catch the movie during its midnight showing. These screaming fans in their “Team Jacob”, or “Team Edward” clothing, proved that “Twilight” has a very dedicated fan base.



The movie based on the novel “New Moon”, by Stephanie Meyer portrays the story of true heartbreak and despair. The masochistic vampire, Edward Cullen, played by returning actor Robert Pattinson, discovers that his mortal love, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), should not be in his life anymore. He leaves town with his family: Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), Esme (Elizabeth Reaser), Rosalie (Nikki Reed), Emmett (Kellan Lutz), Alice (Ashley Greene) and Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) all who are returning actors. Edward promises Bella that he and his family will never return, “It will be as if I never existed,” he had told her. This puts her in a state of complete depression. Bella’s father Charlie (Billy Burke) is left with a broken daughter who is overwhelmed with unending nightmares. When he offers to send her away to her mother's home in Jacksonville, she reacts by trying to reach out to her one-time friends Jessica Stanley (Anna Kendrick), Mike Newton (Michael Welch), Angela Weber Christian Serratos), and Eric Yorkie (Justin Chon). This leads her to discover that she has a knack for thrill-seeking, primarily because it creates hallucinations of Edward in her mind.
Just as there seems there is no hope left for her, Bella’s best friend, Jacob Black helps to cheer her up. The relationship they share doesn’t completely heal the hole created in her heart by Edward’s absence, but makes it seem as if it were never there. As their friendship started to grow, Bella soon learned that Jacob had a secret about who he is, just as Edward did with being a vampire. Jacob is a member of a pack of werewolves. He has the ability to morph into a full wolf in a matter of seconds. With evil vampires still in the area going after Bella, Jacob and his pack: Sam Uley (Chaske Spencer), Embry Call (Kiowa Gordon), Paul (Alex Meraz), Jared (Bronson Pelletier), and eventually Quil (Tyson Houseman). Meanwhile, evil vampires, Laurent (Edi Gathegi) and Victoria, (Rachelle Lefevre) are creeping around Forks, trying to seek Bella out. She must then rely on the werewolves to protect her, only strengthening her relationship with Jacob.
Things take a different turn however, when Alice Cullen mysteriously returns back to Forks. After having a vision of Bella jumping off a cliff, Edward was convinced Bella was dead. He planned to confront the Volturi, a royal Italian vampire family; the only way he could potentially commit suicide. If he was able to break the vampire laws, the Volturi would kill him on the spot. Alice and Bella race to Italy, in attempt to save Edward’s life, leaving behind a devastated Jacob. Once in Volterra, Italy, Bella is successful in saving Edward, preventing him from exposing himself to humans. Bella, Alice and Edward are taken to meet with the entire Volturi family to settle on what to do with them. Aro (Michael Sheen), is the leader, with Caius (Jamie Campbell Bower), Marcus (Christopher Heyerdahl), Alec (Cameron Bright), and Jane (Dakota Fanning). They fortunately decide to let them go, with the condition that Bella will soon be turned into a vampire, to prevent their culture from being exposed.

Back in Forks, Bella admits she wants Edward to be the one to change her. Edward explains that the only way he will turn her into a vampire, is if she marries him first. After stating that, a flabbergasted Bella stands, staring at Edward with nothing to say.

“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” is one of the most financially successful films that has been seen in a while. This is due to the dedicated fan base; the production team of the first “Twilight” movie had no idea at what would become of the success and planned on it being a single, independent film. Now that the Twilight fans have made an undeniable impact on the movie’s sensations, the successes of this film are endless.

The screenplay of the movie was wonderful. Melissa Rosenberg did an excellent job projecting Stephanie Meyer’s beloved book. Not only did she bring in key points from the story, but she brought new ideas and flavors to them. For example, when bringing up the Volturi, she brought in a moment of Bella and Edward staring at a portrait of Volturi members, Aro, Caius and Marcus. In order to make it more interesting, she wrote to pan over the picture and have it turn into a scene in itself. Also, something more difficult was to portray, “the end”, or the time Bella remains in a deep depression, before being helped by Jacob (approximately 3 months). In this scene, she wrote for a 360º shot around Kristen Stewart in her catatonic state. As the shot goes around her three times, you see changing weather outside the window, to show the progression. Chris Weitz, the new director, no doubt, took “New Moon” to new heights by introducing action-packed sequences and wonderful special effects. The CGI’s of wolves were extremely lifelike and believable. The way he shows a sequence with the wolves chasing the evil Vitoria, is mind-blowing and pretty terrifying.

The acting in this movie was more improved than in the first movie. In Kristen Stewart’s portrayal of Bella Swan, there is little room for complaint. Throughout the film, her glances, emotions and expressions were entirely believable. Her depression took its toll and made viewers feel her pain. She brought the human out in Bella, and was able to be completely convincing during the toughest moments. Robert Pattinson (as Edward Cullen), once again, also brought his character of Edward to life, though he was gone, he showed up plenty of times and wasn’t missed by his fans. Taylor Lautner, by far had the hardest shoes to fill. The character of Jacob Black undergoes a full transformation and becomes a new “person” once joining the wolf pack. Lautner pulls it off without a problem and is sure to rack up more Team Jacob fans, after this performance.

After its first two weeks in theaters, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” earned an average of $2,100,986 a day, making it the number one movie in America.