![The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Blu-ray]](http://cdn.hometheaterforum.com/2/23/50x50px-ZC-23e9c024_NewMoonBD.jpg)
If one were to compare "New Moon" to "Twilight", I'd have to say "Twilight" is an emotional masterpiece if only for the interpersonal directorial touched imbued upon by Catherine Hardwicke. On the other hand, with Chris Weitz helming "New Moon", Weitz lacks subtlety in most of the scenes where characters actually talk to one another, and is hampered badly by the lack of acting chops by Taylor Lautner (Jacob) because any conversation Jacob has with Bella (Kristin Stewart) is agonizingly amatuerish and unconvincing, while practically any scene between Bella and Edward is haltingly stagnant in the way an unmovable mountain meets an irresistible force, it makes for uncompelling cinema.
If you've seen any of the marketing of the film, or seen the trailer, then what I'm about to reveal isn't all that new to you, so I'll go on that premise, so be forewarned if you've totally in the dark about the film. In a nutshell, Edward decides to leave Bella in order to protect her from his clan, although it's the last thing Bella wants. Bella gets depressed for months on end. Eventually she has an evening out with sarcastic Jessica, finds that the only thing that is helping her get out of her funk is adrenaline-inducing activities. From there, she seeks out Jacob for a project they can work on, and their relationship develops slowly until Jacob breaks off contact, and later on, it's revealed that Jacob is a werewolf, being one of the few in his family to bear the werewolf gene, along with others of his heritage.
Having 2 suitors turn their backs on Bella is almost too much for her to take, but Bella does find out about Jacob's secret, and then there's the rest of the movie that is long on drawn out chase scenes through the woods with Victoria in the mix, Bella's insecurities, Alice's visions, Edward's hole in his romantic heart through the forced separation he imposed. The last part of the film is just badly written and staged with a groan-inducing last line uttered by Edward.
With a running time of 130 minutes, director Weitz has turned it into a film that feels like it's 240 minutes long, I thought it was the equivalent of sitting down and watching molasses try to roll itself uphill. I think if you sped up the movie just a tad, run it at 1.5x speed, it might have helped the pacing, but the camerawork was odd, the progression of scenes edited was abrupt and full of bad choices, the cinematography was too clean compared to the grittier, grainier, colder tone in "Twilight".
I give it 1 star, or a grade of D.
If you've seen any of the marketing of the film, or seen the trailer, then what I'm about to reveal isn't all that new to you, so I'll go on that premise, so be forewarned if you've totally in the dark about the film. In a nutshell, Edward decides to leave Bella in order to protect her from his clan, although it's the last thing Bella wants. Bella gets depressed for months on end. Eventually she has an evening out with sarcastic Jessica, finds that the only thing that is helping her get out of her funk is adrenaline-inducing activities. From there, she seeks out Jacob for a project they can work on, and their relationship develops slowly until Jacob breaks off contact, and later on, it's revealed that Jacob is a werewolf, being one of the few in his family to bear the werewolf gene, along with others of his heritage.
Having 2 suitors turn their backs on Bella is almost too much for her to take, but Bella does find out about Jacob's secret, and then there's the rest of the movie that is long on drawn out chase scenes through the woods with Victoria in the mix, Bella's insecurities, Alice's visions, Edward's hole in his romantic heart through the forced separation he imposed. The last part of the film is just badly written and staged with a groan-inducing last line uttered by Edward.
With a running time of 130 minutes, director Weitz has turned it into a film that feels like it's 240 minutes long, I thought it was the equivalent of sitting down and watching molasses try to roll itself uphill. I think if you sped up the movie just a tad, run it at 1.5x speed, it might have helped the pacing, but the camerawork was odd, the progression of scenes edited was abrupt and full of bad choices, the cinematography was too clean compared to the grittier, grainier, colder tone in "Twilight".
I give it 1 star, or a grade of D.
1/2 / 
