New Moon Review: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
I’m going to write this review in bullet points because paragraphs seem way too daunting after only getting three hours of sleep. What the hell was I thinking going to a midnight show?!!
SPOILER ALERT!! There will be spoilers in my review so if you’ve never read the books or haven’t seen the movie yet, be sure to skip this post.
The Good:
- K-Stew was slightly less annoying in this movie. She toned down her nervous ticks some and stopped biting her damn lip (still caught a few bites, but no where near as many as Twilight). And she looked so pretty in some scenes. It was definitely more like how I pictured Bella in the book.
- I liked the look of this movie waaayyyyy better than Twilight. The weird bluish/gray/MTV / CW cameras that they used for Twilight drove me insane. I was glad to see that they were gone and they hired a real cinematographer.
- The vampire makeup was less of a distraction in this movie, but I’m still thinking there is room for improvement in this area. The vampires were definitely very pale in NM. I remember thinking at one point that the people in Forks are complete idiots for not realizing that the Cullens are vampires. I mean they looked ghastly at times!!
- I thought they did a pretty good job depicting the October, November, December blank pages. That was one of my favorite parts in the book and I was hoping they would figure out a way to include it somehow. I also teared up a bit when Bella had her nightmares, so good job K-stew, on the screaming.
- I LOVED the music!! Whoever is in charge of choosing the songs for the movie needs to win an award of some sort. It is a great soundtrack and I thought the songs worked very well with the scenes. SPOILER: I especially loved the scene where Bella jumps off the cliff and is under the water with dream Edward. The music was so haunting and perfect for that scene.
- I thought Jacob and Bella had AMAZING chemistry!!! I think I may be a bit Team Jacob after watching this movie!!!
- On that note, I would also like to praise the director for including so many shirtless scenes of Taylor Lautner. God, how many more days until the boy turns 18? This is just so wrong! The girl I went to see the movie with has a 17 year old son so she was horrified at all my “oohs” and “ahs” over Taylor. Sorry, but I’m only human and he is HOT!! And while we are at it, I enjoyed the entire wolf pack–all incredibly cute and likable. Can’t wait for more scenes with them in future movies!!
- All of the werewolf scenes were INCREDIBLE!!! I loved the way they changed from human to wolf. I thought the wolves were totally realistic looking and I enjoyed the facial expressions. Slamdunk on the special effects, New Moon crew!!
- I think my favorite scene was the end with Bella saving Edward at the clocktower. It was exactly how I pictured it in the book (if not better). When she falls into his cold, hard arms and he says “Heaven?” –LOVED it!!
- I thought that they got the Volturi right. I didn’t have a clear picture of them in my mind so I enjoyed seeing their characters come to life on screen. They were creeptasticly AWESOME!! And that scene with the tourists going into the chamber and screaming was chilling!
The Bad:
- I wasn’t feeling Edward in this movie AT ALL!! I can’t put my finger on the exact reason for my lack of enthusiasm. It may have been the new contacts. Honestly, I think I liked his Twilight eyes better. He just didn’t seem as dreamy to me in this movie. Is that what the director was going for since they were trying to build up Jacob? Maybe. I’m also questioning Rob as Edward now. I feel so terrible saying that, but he just didn’t have that same, for the lack of a better word, Edward-ness about him as he did in the first movie. Obviously he doesn’t have as many scenes in this movie, but I didn’t feel like he really captivated me in the scenes that he was in. Please don’t shoot me for criticizing Rob. I love him, but I think he may need some better direction on where to go with this character.
- Not enough Cullen family! Not enough Cullen family!!! I guess this is just a by-product of the book, but that leads me to my next complaint.
- Do they really need to follow the book exactly as it was written? I just felt like (and I felt similar after watching Twilight) that it was just a collection of scenes thrown together without a real cohesive feel to it. It was like they had this checklist of things to include from the book and they worked so hard to get it right that they missed the mark on creating something truly amazing. I mean I LOVED the books, but I think I’d be ok with them adding some things or changing some things if it still made sense and it made the movie BETTER!! For example, I loved the little added touches that they threw into Twilight at the Cullen’s house. Couldn’t they have added a few more Cullen scenes even if they weren’t in the book? Or is Stephenie Meyer that protective of her “baby” and wouldn’t allow it?
- There just wasn’t enough chemistry between Edward and Bella. Again, I know that Edward isn’t in most of the movie, but I just didn’t feel any sparks between Kristen and Rob when they were together. This is a HUGE thing since that is the basis of the entire story. Hopefully, the third time’s a charm and they will get it right in Eclipse. (Please God, let them get it right!!)
The Ugly
- There was just this overall cheesiness that brought the movie down in my opinion. I don’t know if it was the lines they were given that just don’t translate as well on screen as they do in the book, but there were so many parts that I felt embarrassed for everyone involved. I can’t name a scene in particular, but it was just the overall acting, dialogue, and feel of the movie.
I’m going to give the movie a C+. It had a lot going for it, but it once again missed the mark for me. At this point, I’m pretty sure that Eclipse will be more of the same and I’m feeling a bit sad about that since this was probably my favorite book in the saga (after Twilight). Hopefully, I’m wrong and they will BRING IT, but I’m doubtful.
Ok, that is all I can think of for now, but I plan on chiming in on the other New Moon discussion this weekend. So, please be sure to add your two cents over at the New Moon Movie Madness post. Click the button to go there now:
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Thanks for the review! I won’t have much to contribute since I haven’t seen New Moon yet. I loved the books so much, and the Twilight movie for me was just a total cheez-fest. I thought it was bad acting, bad effects, just plain bad! I was hoping that New Moon would be a step up with a bigger budget and all… I do still feel the need to see it at some point, of course…
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Ok so we went and saw Twilight at 9PM, before New Moon (we were expecting an utter madhouse at the cinema, like with Twilight – not so much this time around, the crowd was a lot more controlled and subdued!) and I think seeing Twilight beforehand was the biggest mistake I could have made. The vast budget that was allotted to New Moon was so very evident after seeing Twilight!
I’m not sure what I think of the movie.
Well – I take that back…I did like it. A lot. However, seeing Twilight at 9PM was a mistake I think. It was SOOOO low-budget and the changes in New Moon are HUGE.
One thing I did absolutely LOVE about the movie (and I will try not to spoil it) was the director/screen writer’s portrayal of the Volturri. They were able to capture the purely evil essence, and sheer creepiness of them, that Stephenie Meyer never could. Her portrayal of them in the book is flat and really not very good. Hell, she’s not a good writer. Not at all. She misses the mark but the film captured them PERFECTLY. And the scenes in Italy were exactly as I pictured them in the book.
The only thing I HATED about the Volturri was Jane. I can NOT stand Dakota Fanning and I think an unknown or lesser known would have done a much better job for such an initially minuscule role. I think another actress could have made a bigger impact on how cruelly and painfully evil she is. Perhaps my intense dislike of the blonde pipsqeak biases my opinion. I don’t know. I just know that I didn’t like her at all.
I agree with the total lack of chemistry between Edward and Bella but I think it was intentional and went towards trying to portray the emotional divide that Bella was dealing with…or unable to deal with.
BUT…OMG the massive explosive chemistry between Jacob and Bella! Definitely visible and practically palpable!
And OMG…the crowds this time around were so much more subdued. A lot older too. The two 70+ year old women that sat in front of us in the cinema for Twilight, left that show early, just like we did, and went into the same New Moon cinema we were in. Was a little surprising. They looked like they could have been going to a meeting of the Garden Club, those two!
And at least this time is looked like Bella actually ran a brush through her hair from time to time rather than just getting out of bed and going with it.
I think one of the things that ruined New Moon for me was seeing Twilight beforehand. It’s obvious that Summit gave New Moon a massive budget this time around. The differences in the hair, and clothing were a bit weird. I mean it was very noticeable. And yes, while the make up was better….(it wasn’t so damned obvious they had make up on), I came away feeling the same way you did Jen, about the obvious paleness.
I think they could have expanded more on the life and “family” of the wolf pack. But that’s all I’ll say about that.
I’m still sorting out all of my feelings about this one. Plus, we didn’t get home until almost 4AM because we had to go quite a ways south as we decided to do this at the last minute and it was the only cinema that had tickets left.
Audrey at Barking Mad´s last blog ..Bliss
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I SO agree with your review… I don’t have my thoughts together enough to do a review today but you totally nailed it with this review!
ClassyFabSarah´s last blog ..Wow Wow
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Ok
so the New Moon movie was my least favorite!
the New moon book was my favorite tho.
i feel likt eh movie couold of gave the Pack a little more spot light!
i thought the scene when the months where passing her by was one of the BEST!
i think the scene when Aro touched Alice hand, and saw them running in the
clearing was weard, and STUPID!!!!
i think that was a total JOKE!
they should of made that scene as it was in the book breaking dawn
when her heart stop and her Eyes where bright red!
i did like the fighting scenc with the paul, and Jacob
that was AWESOME!
but all in all they could of done a lot better, i will go see it again tho
so i also give it a C+
maybe eclipse will be a-lot better
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As a Twilight fan reviewing this for otherTwilighters, you nailed it 100%. While we were trapped in the pkg lot, my GF & I couldn’t pin down HOW we felt about it (hey, @ 2:45AM it’s impossible to have a coherent thought anyway). We did agree that the abrupt ending was jarring and VERY made for TV-ish. Everyone was like, “huh?” Nobody clapped…bad sign. We all know that what the professional critics will do to this movie will be uglier than what Laurant got last night…a media bloodbath. Reviews are already online, but can’t bring myself to read them. Deep down, I know they’ll be right. =( Having said that, if you actually think about it, it’s a tall order for any director to make a story about teenage vamps & werewolves NOT seem corny. My thought: we really need to get over ourselves and just accept & enjoy it for the fictional junkfood it is and stop beating it to death. In the end, you know damn well we’re all gonna see the thing more times than we’ll ever willingly admit, right?
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i definitely agree on all the goods, i loved it all. and i agree about how little the cullens were in it, i completely forgot, but i think it was okay without them. i gotta say, i was a big fan all around of the cheesiness because i don’t think you could have this franchise without it. but the special effects were amazing and totally made the movie so much better that way.
but yeah i was a fan and i’d probably give it an A- on my twilight scale, haha.
katelin´s last blog ..New Moon Friday: the movie, the winner and the interviews!!!
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[...] In all my New Moon madness yesterday… I did see the movie and I liked it, we had a great time! Absolutely fabulous girls night. I’m not gonna post comments on the movie cause Jenn (Daily Mish Mash) did such a good job summing it all up (not one thing I disagree with at all) that I’ll just say if you want a spot on review and you are a Twilight fan then read her post. [...]
This review is so exactly right. I don’t think I could have stated it better myself. I went in with zero expectations and I wasn’t disappointed but it wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen and it was definitely better than Twilight was. The special effects were so much better that I’d pretty much forgive the rest of it on that alone, lol.
Jen´s last blog ..TTIC New Moon Blog Hop!!!
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I enjoyed New Moon (the movie – it was my least favorite of the books) far better than Twilight. To me, nearly everything was an improvement except for Jasper’s hair. Gah, whoever was in charge of that horrid wig should lose his or her job! I think I actually liked Twilight’s soundtrack a lot better, too, but this one will probably grow on me a lot more in time.
Great review!
Devilish Southern Belle´s last blog ..Connected to the world….again!
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Ok… I am a month late for this stuff, but since I went on saturday I have to say that you did a great job reviewing it! I did enjoy it… and have to say that I went with zero expectations… and came out of the theater on a high! I so want to see it again! I mean… I loved the soundtrack, special effects, the glow! I was clear that they did got a lot more budget than Twilight!
so I need to go again!
And I didn’t get to see gran Bella! I was late
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i really hope that they will improve the quality of this movie in eclipse. this movie is all about the strong love and emotion betwen bella and edward, but they hardly sem to be truly loving with each other in new moon.im quite dissapointed with the movie. i think i love twilight more than new moon. the relationship betwen bella and edward in twilight make me breathless.their way of expressing their emotion is extraordinary, but cant say the same for new moon.so frustrating. the production should focus more on the quality of the movie not just on the cash flow. i had ben watching twilight for more tahn 10 times already but definitely there is no way im going to watch new moon movie again. its a disappointment. but definitely i love the story so much. thank you stephenie meyer for all the beautiful love story u have created….
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hey.. we have some things in common here.. i also wrote the review about the good, the bad and in between of New Moon..
Coincidence, i guess
V´s last blog ..DVD New Moon On Sale!!
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