Even before I start, I have to say I preferred New Moon to Twilight, no! As a book I preferred Twilight but as a movie the sequel is better, maybe because it follows the book more closely than Twilight did. I have to say thought, if you have not watched Twilight or read the book then you would not like New Moon.
New Moon starts off with the Birthday celebration of Bella planned by Alice (Ashley Greene), Edward’s sister. The party, which goes all wrong because a single drop of blood from Bella’s finger begins a frenzy in the house full of vampires. This incident makes Edward and his family leave Bella and Forks. A lot of the movie is about Bella’s heartbreak and recurring nightmares. She starts hallucinating and sees Edward every time she tries something reckless, like riding a bike. Bella gets old dirt bikes to Jacob Black (a teenager from Quileute tribe, whom we are introduced briefly in Twilight as Bella’s friend) and asks his help in repairing those, in due course it’s more than just the bike that Jacob repairs. However, Jacob starts avoiding Bella and thus she confronts him, only to be faced with a truth that makes her think that every single mythical character, every single fairy tale or horror stories could be true.
New Moon has a lot more than just the romance angle that dominated Twilight; of course there are vampires and actually more than what Twilight had. There are vampires who want to kill Bella, there is the Quileute tribe boys who all turn into wolves, there is the relationship between Bella and Jacob, which could have turned the other way if Edward Cullen had not come into picture again towards the end of the movie. There is Dakota Fanning making an appearance as a blood thirsty vampire named Jane in Italy, who belongs to the Volturri (a vampire version of royalty), who are hell bent on killing Edward. So although the pace of the movie might seem slow, there is quite a lot going on. However don’t watch the movie if you haven’t watched Twilight, you would not enjoy it.
The cast looks as good as they looked in Twilight, the Quileute Tribe boys, especially Jacob flaunt their sculpted bodies throughout the movie (the reason why they are only dressed in shorts throughout is because they are always warm and its easier for them to phase into wolves and back, but who cares about reasons they look superb). The make up again of Edward is a little overboard, I know he is supposed to be pale but….. Its just too white! The action sequences are pretty good; however I can’t say the same about special effects. Twilight has more rock flavor in the soundtrack but New Moon has these happy beat songs like All I believe and Shooting the moon.
If Twilight was swept over by Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) then New Moon showcases Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). If the chemistry between Bella Swan (Kristin Stewart) and Edward Cullen was intoxicating, then the one between Bella and Jacob is sizzling. If Twilight was about vampires, New Moon is about werewolves, well not actually werewolves, they are shape- lifters.
Overall a must watch for a Twilight fan and if you aren’t then you might find the movie very slow paced and confusing.