Film Review – New Moon (the Twilight Saga)

I couldn’t help myself – I just had to see what all the fuss was about. This weekend I braved the crowds of screaming 16 year old girls and ventured into the Vue cinema to see ‘New Moon’, the second instalment in The Twilight Saga. The films are adaptations of Stephanie Meyer’s series of books, all of which I’ve read.

Having seen the first film, I must admit that I was quite looking forward to this. I thought that the main characters were very well cast, using fairly unknown actors. The lead male, Robert Pattinson, plays the vampire Edward Cullen in both films. He had a little previous success with a small role in Harry Potter, playing Cedric Diggory (who was killed off shortly after appearing). Now, Mr Pattinson has not only won the hearts of teenage girls across the world, but also of our stunning Whitechapel Escorts. Even mothers and grandmothers are swooning over the boy. If only we all had that effect on women!

In the first Twilight film, we saw love blossom between Edward and Bella in the small American town of Forkes. Bella is a 17 year old human girl, and Edward is a 108 year old vampire who still looks 17 – the age he was when he was ‘turned’. The situation puts them in quite a predicament.

SPOILER ALERT! The storyline of New Moon is no huge secret because the books are already published. In this film, Edward leaves in the hope of protecting Bella from danger, leaving her distraught and haunted by nightmares. She develops her friendship with Jacob, the boy from the Quileute clan. She soon discovers that he is in fact a werewolf, made to fight vampires.

Although this film is enjoyable with a bit of wolf and motorbike action, it is obvious that it is mainly aimed at girls. Both of the lead males spend a fair amount of time with their shirts off, flexing their rippling muscles. I don’t need to watch them walk in slow motion, giving me time to take in their handsomeness. A little over the top…

All in all, New Moon is an alright film. It’s only worth seeing if you saw and enjoyed Twilight, or if it will keep your Mrs quiet for a while. Though it must mean something that it’s broken box office records, overtaking sales of Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean!