My New Moon Review (No Spoilers)

Yes, I stood outside for two and a half hours to see Twilight and New Moon both last night. I did not waste a penny and that is saying something because I'm someone who HATES wasting money at the movies. I was not sure it would be a big thing to see Twilight on the big screen since I had seen it so many times at home. I was so wrong. It was like I had never seen it before. Many people criticized Rob Pattinson's acting in Twilight but when you see it on the big screen you really notice every facial expression and he did an amazing job. Kristen was nothing to scream about but then I have a hard time with the Bella character herself till near the end of the series when she stops wining about everything, and I certainly don't enjoy Kristen's acting. Still, it was so much fun to see it. The baseball scene was great but went to fast!

Now, on to New Moon.

What I loved:

(I will not get into the story so that I don't ruin it for anyone who has not seen it.)

• Yeah to Summit for following the book so closely, even with direct lines that were great in the book.


• Taylor (Jacob)'s acting was so emotionally sound and he allowed us to really get absorbed into the perspective of his character. I was tickled to noticed the poor kid has not fully left puberty as his voice still crackles a bit. That was funny but not annoying. It actually added to it since Jacob is so much a man and yet still a boy in many ways still. The book creates such a long and drawn out pull on your heart strings for Jacob and though the movie did not have the luxury of time they did an excellent job of getting you to make that connection right away and have you feeling so darn bad for Jacob. Those of us who have read the book know that will carry on into Eclipse and I think Taylor has laid some great groundwork for his coming acting. Amazing.


• The wolves were my favorite part of the movie. When I saw the preview I was disappointed that they were not as big as they were in my imagination but on the big screen that all changed. They were overwhelming in sight and sound. Great job.


• Edward is not in the movie much but when he is you feel a maturity in Rob's acting as well as a maturity in the expression of deep love he feels for Bella. You felt his desperation entirely.


• The coloring of the film had a powerful effect. Many of you know Twilight was blue filtered and New Moon was yellow filtered. Their eyes were freakishly more noticeable and made for more intensity in New Moon with every expression. It also mad such a distinction to the Volturi eyes and set the Cullens apart as the different Vampire family they are.


• Kristen's acting got better as the movie went along. This was relief to see as I've been so frustrated with her acting before. Knowing where the Bella character goes in the story, one would hope she could fine tune her acting skills to be able to pull off where she is headed.


• It's cleaner! Twilight bothered me with it's pushing the decency line with Bella on her bed in t-shirt and undies inviting her love to make out with her. Thankfully Edward is all about restraint but it still was more than the book's intensity sexually. New Moon stays more true to the story and we see an appropriate amount of passionate kissing that is very loving and not stepping into sexually explosive.

What I did not like

• I'm sorry but the scene where Bella holds up her finger with the paper cut (which cannot be a spoiler for any who have seen the preview) has bothered me from the beginning. I feel it's VERY bad directing. When an adult gets a paper cut they probably will take their hurt hand into their good hand and look down at it. A toddler would hold it up for all to see and announce it. BEYOND THAT...HELLO! ...how about the fact that you know you are in a room with VAMPIRES! Any smart person would probably try to hide it or pop it in their mouth right away to block the smell. Jasper did not need this dramatic gesture, his senses are heightened enough without it and in the book you don't picture it that way at all. Besides that, the scene was good.


• The movie has to move so fast from one part to another. It does not flow as well as Twilight but Twilight had it's other problems. New Moon as a book is very long and drawn out and although it was fun to see things resolve faster on the screen, there were times I wished it would slow down so I could feel the pull I did in the book. If you had not read the book, I'm not sure you would be able to make the correlations as to what was happening next.


• The music was good but not as good and well placed as Twilight. Twilight got an A+ on score and soundtrack.


• The vision of Alice (I say no more for the sake of some) was ridiculous. I expected a Unicorn to ride in the scene. Please. Gag me. They better be cooking up something much better than that by the time we get to Bella in Breaking Dawn or I'll jump off the wagon entirely.


• Kristen's acting....what can I say? It got better but I would love to see some more emotional reaction out of this girl. Did we see a single tear go down her face? I don't remember one. Bella in the book is sobbing often and heart broken. Kristen acts like her throat is full of cotton when she gets sad but we don't see a normal female love struck reaction to heartbreak. She growls and screams in her dreams but she never weeps. Show me some weeping woman!

In between:

• THE ENDING! Oh, my word. The only part in the movie that played against the rules of the book. BUT! It was not bad. It was astounding. The whole theater had the same reaction "AHHH!"

I'll tell you no more ....go see for yourself.

If Summit follows their pattern of improvement we will be looking for one amazing Breaking Dawn! What a ride!

If you have not read my blog on the Twilight Saga itself as it relates to Christians please click home and scroll down past this post to the next.