Friday, November 20, 2009

New and improved: Twilight Saga's "New Moon"

I saw the midnight showing of New Moon last night. They added shows every 15 minutes up until 12:45, and they still sold out. I've you ever heard of such - what a phenomenon!

The film was fairly true to the book. Melissa Rosenberg wrote the screenplay again. Director Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) did an excellent job. It had a completely different look from the Catherine Hardwicke-directed Twilight. Don't get me wrong, I really did like Twilight, but any fool can see that this film had a bigger bankroll.

New Moon is probably my least favorite book in the saga because it's so sad. However, I really enjoyed this film. Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan really are perfectly cast. I also think that Charlie (Billy Burke), Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene) and Emmett Cullen (Kellan Lutz) are also exactly as I imagined them in the novels.

Here are a few of my favorite things about the film...

-Edward Cullen. No one does tortured yet heartbreakingly gorgeous like Pattinson.

-Bella's birthday scene. I thought this infamous scene (where Edward decides to leave Bella) was very well done. When Jasper tries to kill Bella at her birthday party in the stunning, candlelit Cullen home after she gets a papercut, the drama ensues as Edward defends her.

-Jacob.
Hello abs. It was evident that Team Jacob was in the house last night. Every time a shirtless Taylor Lautner graced the big screen there were collective screams. No, he's not quite a pro actor yet, but we sure do appreciate his strenuous workouts.

-Soundtrack and score.
I was very in tune to the songs in the film, since the soundtrack has yet to leave my CD player since I bought it. The score by Alexandre Desplat was also beautifully done.

-Volturi scenes. The scenes in Italy with the Volturi are very cool. Michael Sheen was great as Aro - just as I imagined him. Dakota Fanning was good as the pain-inducing Jane too.

-Bella saving Edward in Italy. Having Bella run through a sea of red festival-goers in slow-mo to save Edward from showing his true self in the sun was a great touch.

-Werewolves. I was worried how this whole werewolf thing would pan out. The special effects were incredible - when Jacob changes into a werewolf mid-air to protect Bella from Paul, you just about get chill bumps. There's also a great scene where the wolves fight off the vampire Laurent.

-Time passing. One of the interesting things that Stephenie Meyer did with New Moon, was leaving pages blank with only months after Edward leaves Bella. I wondered how they would do it in the film. Weitz had the camera pan around a heartbroken Bella as the seasons changed outside - very clever, indeed.

Spoiler alert:
-The ending. As you know, Bella wants to become a vampire, and at the very end, Edward gives her an ultimatum. He'll do it if she marries him. Swoon.

Since Eclipse has already wrapped, we don't have long to wait until the next installment - June 30 to be precise.

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