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I’m not an obsessed Twilight fan. I thought the books were entertaining, but I’m not emotionally attached to the characters. However, I do enjoy getting caught up in something that’s FUN. I like catchy fan quotes like “My heart belongs to my husband; my neck belongs to Edward.” I like imagining myself wearing a T-shirt that says, “LA PUSH DIVING TEAM.” Like I said on my personal blog, I’m a sucker for a themed party. And seeing a Twilight movie is one big, vampirey party.
I’m also a sucker for an adaptation. It’s exciting to see the tweaks a director inserts into a story that’s already beloved by so many, while hopefully creating a fresh, new work along the way. Here’s what I discovered during my viewing of New Moon.
What I liked:
-Jacob. I’ll admit that before I saw the movie, I would cringe at the sight of Taylor Lautner in the previews. I really, really didn’t think I’d like him. I didn’t think he was attractive at all, but actually funny looking. I was wrong. His acting was top-notch. I’ve heard people say that he was “a breath of fresh air” from the seriousness of Bella and Edward’s relationship, which is true. When you see him when he cut off his hair for the first time, it was a breath of fresh air.
-Like I’ve said before, Edward is a Drama Queen. (It’s okay to love a character but still have some things annoy you). Of course he has to be a drama queen in order for there to be enough drama in the story, so we can forgive him.
-The wolves weren’t as hokey as they could’ve been. They looked good.
-I like Charlie. In the books he bothers me because Bella babies him and he doesn’t know how to cook a pot of spaghetti. But he’s charming and very dad-like and loveable in the movies.
-Dakota Fanning’s young and therefore very vampire-like face was refreshing. She was a perfect vampire because she’s only 15. A part of me thinks all the vampires should be people who are under 18. I think it would be a cool effect to have them all look so young.
-Any scenes with Victoria. I think she’s beautiful and her red hair was visually striking.
-Scenes with the classical score (the music).
-Did you notice the faint outline around Aro’s lips…blood red! Like that was his drink of choice for the past few hundred years, go figure.
-Carlisle’s accent of an America gone by.
What we can make fun of:
-All the people who kept saying this actor or that actor was changed under the new director. I heard many times that Alice was different or Rosalie was different or whatever. They were all the same!
-Edward appearing to Bella. I shook my head as I watched this. I thought that’s how it was in the books and kept thinking, “Why didn’t they change it so it was just his voice? It looks so cheesy!” Then I found out that it was just his voice in the books. It would’ve been okay to have him appear once or twice, but more dramatic to have just heard his voice. I can see why they did what they did, though. It is a movie; you’re supposed to see things.
-The acting was lackluster for me, mostly in Edward, Alice, and the rest of the Cullens, as sparsely as they were seen. Excluding Jacob.
-Edward. He didn’t bother me in Twilight the movie, and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was here that did. My friend nailed it when she said that he has a smirk on his face and looks down to the side. Do you know what I’m taking about? He has a nice face, but the smirk-like expression made me crazy (not in a good way). Or it just dawned on me that maybe it’s because I hate it when men in movies make the decision to leave because they think it’s for the greater good. It’s egotistical.
-I think we can fairly make fun of the decrepit, old looking Volturi sitting in one of the chairs in the back. Aren’t they supposed to look young?
-The choice of music was terrible. I loved the music in Twilight, but in New Moon it was random and forced, instead of enhancing the scene like it’s supposed to. The exceptions were the classical score, which was beautiful, and the song during the scene where Victoria was running through the woods and Charlie’s friend had a heart attack. I don’t remember what the song sounded like but it was well-placed.
-Is it wrong to make fun of the name “The Twilight Saga” itself?
All in all, I’d say I don’t know how I feel about this movie. I feel like I’m lying when I say “I liked it,” but I didn’t dislike it, either. Maybe time will tell.
This review is a fun start for this blog. I like examining the little details that make a movie work or not work, that do the job of engrossing us the viewer. There will be many more to come.
