Movie Review - Twilight: New Moon
Monday November 23, 2009
The second film of the Twilight saga has now been released with massive results worldwide with the film being touted as one of the most highly-anticipated films of the decade, maybe of all time if the amount of screaming fans is to be believed. Already New Moon has broken Australian box office records by taking in a massive $16 million on its opening weekend, thoroughly defeating the previous place holder of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince which had the previous record of $14,331,000.
New Moon has now fallen into third position as the highest opening day Australian release, behind only the last two Lord of the Rings films.
So it is obvious that the crowd is there for the Twilight saga, but is the film any good? For many, the Twilight films seem to fall into the genre of whether the audience has read (or rather, inhaled and absorbed) the books and those who simply see the films as just that and not the physical representation of one of the most popular stories of our time.
For those who have somehow remained oblivious to the Twilight phenomena, the plotline is your basic love triangle with a few supernatural twists. Bella is human and in love with Edward, a vampire, and is best friends with Jacob, a werewolf. Edward and Jacob hate each other as both disapprove of the others relationship with Bella. Jacob loves Bella, Bella loves Edward and Edward loves Bella but thinks he is bad for her so he leaves her, only to reappear as hallucinations in Bella's mind - all the while Jacob is proving himself as the caring supportive friend who wants more while Bella pines for the elusive gorgeous and mysterious Edward. Make sense? Good.
All three protagonists are in their teens (well, technically speaking Edward is 109 years old but is frozen at 17 years old) so there is a great deal of teen angst in the film along with heartache and pining for the one you want but cannot have. They are also all stunning, almost distractingly so, with more abs on show then most exercise equipment infomercials.
The thing about Twilight is that the books are just so engrossing that those who have fallen under its spell are well and truly hooked, meaning that the films will always be enjoyable for the mere fact that they create a physical world that we have all imagined (with perhaps ourselves in the story and not ever complaining Bella). Yet there are many people that enjoy the films predecessor Twilight without ever picking up the Stephanie Meyer series, with the film staying true to the book down to the dialogue phrasing and therefore capturing what is at the heart of this story - the powerful and consuming love of Bella and Edward.
As far as films go, New Moon offers up a nice amount of action and adventure with the werewolves being particularly impressive and the Volturi (sort of vampire royalty) being presented as the classic vampire image - polite, courteous and intelligent but villains nonetheless (with taking a tour group never to feel quite so safe again after watching this film and one particular grisly moment).
This action is spread amongst large sections of teen angst and expressing ones feelings, but overall as far as sequels and teen movies go, and enjoyable adventure into the supernatural without the scares normally attached to the genre. The gorgeous cast also helps.
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