Review: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Movie: The Twilight Saga: New Moon * Trailer * Official Site * Gecko Links	In Theaters: Nov. 20, 2009
Runtime: 130 minutes	Directed by: Chris Weitz
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some violence and action	Gecko Rating:

I was a little dismayed when I saw that Roger Ebert had given “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” only one star, but I can sort of see where he’s coming from. In terms of overall production, “New Moon” might not be the best movie ever made, but it’s romantic, continues the story beautifully from the first movie (“Twilight”), and sets things up nicely for the third film, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.” It also appeals perfectly to its target audience – young girls and middle-aged moms. For all these reasons, it gets four out of five geckos from me.

More after the jump…

We pick up the story with Bella (Kristen Stewart) celebrating her 18th birthday at the start of her senior year. She’s not really into the whole “presents and cake” thing, but agrees to a birthday party at the Cullen’s house. When she cuts her finger while opening a gift, Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) nearly attacks her. Being a young vampire, he doesn’t have as much control over his bloodthirsty instincts as the others. It all ends well, but the incident makes Edward (Robert Pattinson) realize that over the long haul, his relationship with Bella will never work. So he and his family leave Forks, Washington, leaving Bella to stumble through her senior year alone and depressed. 

But she finds comfort with longtime friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), who’s suddenly grown buff and strong. To get over her heartbreak with Edward, Bella asks Jacob to help her fix up a couple of motorcycles, so the two can ride together. But Bella has an ulterior motive. She discovers that whenever she’s in danger, Edward appears to her in a vision. Thus, she puts herself in danger quite often, from reckless motorcycle driving to cliff diving to solo ventures into the woods. There are still dangerous creatures lurking out there.

And Jacob is harboring a secret of his own, as he starts hanging with a group of Native American boys who like to wander bare-torso’d through the woods. The audience where I was the movie was so funny, because every time a guy would rip his shirt off or run through the woods half-naked, everyone would ooh and aah. I have to say, Taylor Lautner definitely logged plenty of gym time.

Meanwhile, the Cullens are off somewhere in the world, but Edward, distraught over news he hears about Bella, goes to see the Volturi in Italy. They’re the leaders in the vampire world, tasked with making sure all the vamps adhere to their many laws. When Bella hears about it via Alice (Ashley Greene), she has to take action, much to the chagrin of Jacob.

“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” is romantic, funny and dramatic, but oh, the teen angst. They’re tortured souls! The computer generated effects are beautiful, with gigantic, fearsome wolves who snarl and fight like, well, wild wolves. That bad vampire Victoria makes an appearance, as well, and gets into a violent tussle with the wolves.

The Volturi are a great addition to the saga, and while they don’t have a lot of screen time, they use it well. Dakota Fanning plays Jane, a powerful vampire who can inflict pain with her mind. The leader Aro (Michael Sheen) makes a giddily evil vampire, and he’s flanked by the more silent and stoic Caius (Jamie Campbell Bower) and Marcus (Christopher Heyerdahl).

The Quileute Wolf Pack includes Alex Meraz as Paul, Chaske Spencer as Sam Uley, Bronson Pelletier as Jared, and Kiowa Gordon as Embry Call. They look just fine, don’t they? 

I’m sure “New Moon” will be spoofed to the nth degree, and there’s plenty to spoof: longing looks between characters, mannerisms like Bella’s lip-biting, Jacob’s strength, and Edward’s sparkling … just about every character could easily be a “Saturday Night Live” skit. But that’s ok. It means the movie embeds itself into our psyche.

I think maybe Roger Ebert should have seen “New Moon” with some junior high girls (ok, that doesn’t sound right!). But I took my 12-year-old daughter and two of her friends, and just watching their joy at seeing the movie made it all worthwhile. And this mom loved it, too.

Note to Parents: The PG-13 rating is spot-on, but if your younger-than-13 child saw the first “Twilight” movie and was ok with it, they should be fine with this one, though there’s considerably more action. The wolves are quite awesome, snarling and fighting to the max. There’s an intense fight scene involving the Volturi, where one character gets thrown around quite a bit and another is dismembered. Not much is shown, but the effect is there.

Early in the movie, Jasper nearly attacks Bella, leading to a fight between him and Edward. Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre) and Laurent (Edi Gathegi) have separate tussles with the Wolf Pack, who also come after Bella at one point. Bella puts herself in danger, approaching a motorcycle gang, driving a motorcycle recklessly, and nearly drowning in a cliff-diving scene.

There are also plenty of romantic scenes, but nothing much more than kissing and hand-holding. Language is fairly mild, including “bloodsucker,” “dammit,” “what the hell,” and “oh my God.”

Image: TM and © 2009 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.