Thursday, December 24, 2009

Movie Review & Reflections: New Moon (Spoilers, if you haven't seen!)

I saw my wonderful Aunt Amazing today, and she said, "Deb, I was disappointed not to see your thoughts on New Moon!"  So, in honor of Aunt Amazing, here are my thoughts on the movie.  I'm anxious to get yours.

1. Better.  I thought this one was better in almost every respect than the movie version of Twilight.  The actors seemed a bit more comfortable in their roles, especially Kristen Stewart.  However, since Bella is supposed to be in an emotionless fog for most of the film, perhaps this one just played to her strengths.  I don't know.

2. Better than the book.  I actually think the film improved on the book in several ways.  Some of the (minor) changes they made allowed the story, for me, to make more sense and have more emotional resonance.  (I should say New Moon has always been my least favorite in the series.)  Most notably: the visual hallucinations of Edward, which I know was done to keep Rob Pattinson visible, but I thought it really added to the story.  I also liked the twist on Harry's heart attack, having it brought about by Victoria during the hunt.

3. Team Jacob.  I now understand how someone could prefer Jacob to Edward.  Jacob, in the books, has always been a completely unappealing character.  I had no idea how Bella could possibly want him, even a little bit.  Now I know, thanks to Taylor Lautner's performance, which I think is what makes the film.

4. Music.  Like Twilight, New Moon had a great soundtrack that really, really enhanced the movie for me.

5. Disappointment: I wanted more of the Volturi sequence.  I know, they did it nearly verbatim, but that was one area where I really wanted more.  They picked amazing actors to play just about everyone, had a big buildup, amazing location, all for a scene that ended far too soon.  I would have loved to see about 10 minutes of angsty Bella cut in favor of an extra 10 minutes of red-eyed Volturi action.  Oh, well.

I thought it was good.  I saw it with Momz and we each commented on how fast it went by; it didn't seem like a two-hour-plus movie.  Overall, this movie made me hopeful that the films will continue to improve.  Eclipse, from what the director has said on Twitter, is in the can and set for a summer release.  Breaking Dawn is set to be two movies.  I predict they will cut it at the point in which Bella "dies" and begin the second half when she opens her eyes as a new vampire, but that's just my prediction.

And, my friends, what then?  Will we ever get Midnight Sun?  Will we even want it by that point?  I'm not sure.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Team Edward Vs. Team Jacob

Watch Taylor Lautner hamming it up as a member of Team Edward.