(Here’s my original review of the theatrical release) I’m generally not one to get caught up in the latest ‘flavors’ no matter the source. I like to look into things on my own and decide whether or not I’m ‘into it’. I’ve just never found myself to be a part of the mob mentality. “Twilight” was first introduced to me a couple of years ago when dropping my stepson off at a bookstore. He was meeting some friends who were waiting for a book signing for author Stephenie Meyer. It seems she was in town to sign copies of her book, “Twilight – Breaking Dawn.” I had never heard of it, but my stepson told me it was part of a series of ‘awesome’ vampire books. This piqued my interest, in part because I’m into all things horror… but more because my stepson is NOT into reading.

Anything that caught his attention might be worth checking out.

The first thing I did was visit the various websites associated with the “Twilight” series and found out all about the main plot, which involved loner girl Bella and her relationship with Edward… a vampire. The first book introduced us to Bella as she moved from sunny Arizona to drab and dark Forks, Washington to live with her father. As if going to a new school wasn’t bad enough, she soon found herself obsessed with fellow student Edward Cullen. Edward was somewhat pale, but by her descriptions had the face and body of a God. (Glad to see she wasn’t at all shallow.) Edward was part of a family of teenagers adopted by a local doctor and his wife, the adoption part made all the more weird by the fact that all of the members of the family shared this pasty appearance.

That was good enough for me, so I tracked down the audiobooks for all four books, and my wife and I settled in over the next few weeks listening to them in the car to and from work. We were very quickly caught up in Bella and Edward’s world, despite some of the teenage angst trappings. Actually, my wife got really sucked in by the angst but we both agreed that though we loved Bella… she was an idiot. It took her far too long to figure out what Edward was… a fact that is exacerbated in the second book when it takes her even longer to ‘figure out’ her friend Jacob’s secret. But Bella’s denseness aside, we both very much enjoyed the story.

The movie for the first book came out, and I opted to pass it up in theatres (at first) because I was sure it would be disappointing. But even at this point I did not realize what a phenomenon it was until one day while I was in a Supervisor’s meeting at my work. It seemed that out of our 8 person team, no less than 5 of us were into the books (and audiobooks). After that, every meeting started out with at least 5 minutes of discussing the latest chapters, careful not to give anything away to those who were not as far. Once the discussion of the movie came up, I was told that it was a fairly faithful adaptation, albeit a bit truncated as are most adaptations from book to screen.

Armed with that information, my wife and I took my stepson and his girlfriend to the theatre to see it for ourselves. Afterwards I agreed that it was a really good adaptation and had kept most of the spirit of the book, but it needed to be longer. It did take a little bit to accept Kristen Stewart as Bella and Robert Pattinson as Edward, but only because we had preconceived notions of what they should look like. Once we got past the initial scenes, they settled into our imaginations just fine as they did wonderful jobs with their interpretations of the characters. I also had a few problems with some of the effects, most notably when we are shown what really happens to vampires when they walk out in the sun. In the book, this is a major change from the accepted vampire lore, but its description is easy to swallow. Seeing it on the big screen… well… let’s just say all that glitters is not gold.

That said, “Twilight” was not your typical vampire movie. In many ways there was little originality to it, but it did take a lot of liberties with the vampire lore. There were many changes from what most of us know... including how to kill them. And the word used to describe the Cullen family in terms of their diet, in order to make them ‘good’ vampires, is kind of a hoot. It definitely appealed to a younger audience, as did the relationship as whole. I do worry about the whole obsession part of Bella’s side of the equation as it played in the movie. In the book, you do get deeper into the feelings that surround her obsession and they begin to make sense. The movie was not allowed to delve as deeply, making her obsession seem like little more than an Emo girl crushing on a really gorgeous guy. Still, that is not enough to completely knock the movie. But the way it played out, it worked better as a companion piece to the book as opposed to a stand-alone movie.

This brings us to the night of November 18th... and the very full screening of the first sequel, “New Moon.” When my wife and I arrived at the theatre we weren’t really prepared for the immensely long line of adoring fans ready and waiting to go in. I was thankful of being able to bypass the line, making note of all of the ‘Team Edward’, ‘Team Jacob’, and ‘Edward and Bella Forever’ shirts on display. My wife joked that she should have worn her “... and Buffy staked Edward... the end” t-shirt. I mentioned she might not have made it out alive if she had. This was a rabid audience, and I was admittedly looking forward to seeing it with them.

The mood inside the auditorium was festive, despite there being only a handful of us to start. The studio had brought in a local band to play, which was very entertaining. Then of course once the main audience started streaming in, the various radio stations and website hosts began throwing out t-shirts and the like. Nothing like watching teenagers tackling each other to catch a shirt to get you in the mood for a movie! Thankfully nobody was hurt, it was all playful fun.

Then... the movie started...

A harvest moon filled the screen, slowly fading to allow for the letters for “New Moon” to appear. (I had to comment that at one point the screen only said, “OON”, but I was the only one that found that amusing.) The audience burst into huge applause, only to be quieted as Bella’s voice grabbed everyone’s attention. From that point on, the experience of watching “New Moon” ran the gamut of silent rapture as the audience hung on every word from the characters they had grown to adore to VERY loud squeals from the women (and probably a handful of men) in the audience every time one of the male actors showed up on screen without a shirt. Far from being annoying or embarrassing... it was actually quite funny and only added to our enjoyment of the movie.

Summit Entertainment made a wise choice when opting to film the ‘Twilight’ series, in that they are going with different directors with each entry. Much like the Harry Potter franchise, this should serve to keep the films from becoming stale duplicates. This is already the case with “New Moon” in that it is a much different movie from the first. Aside from the addition of bigger special effects... the look of the film, the acting, the locations, even the music has all taken a step up. Now this is not to say that we have Academy Award winning performances here. Truth be told, there are very few ‘good’ actors in the movie. The addition of Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning is another step up as the only really strong actor from the first film was Billy Burke (as Charlie – Bella’s dad). Here at least Billy is in good company, even if they don’t have any scenes together.

Both Stewart and Pattinson reprise their roles admirably, and there is a definite sense of improvement over their rather stilted acting from the first. However, the improvement is still not enough to elevate them fully into the range of believability. I think a few more acting lessons, and a continuation with the series will probably prove fruitful by the time we hit the last film allowing for the possibility of casting in additional roles in the future. Fortunately, as ‘Twilight’ is really little more than an MTV style soap opera, the performances are at least acceptable. (The effects guys really need to work a little on Edward’s make-up though... he still looks really goofy when moving in slow motion.)

What “New Moon” does share with its predecessor is a sense of rushing the story. In order to keep the running time shorter (which guarantees additional showings each day and higher revenues), of course the story had to be truncated a bit. Things moved a lot faster and key elements had to be taken out. Again these did not serve our main characters well, as again... both Bella and Edward seem even shallower than they are in the books. You never really get even small sense that they are truly in love. Obsessed maybe... but not in love. Jacob (Tayler Lautner) really comes across as the most sincere of the trio, and in the one similarity to the relationship in the books, is the most used by Bella.

Speaking of Bella, there is a lot of talk that she is supposed to be some kind of great role model for young women. (WHAT?????) She’s very strong and independent. (HUH????) It scares me to think of ever falling for a woman like Bella. She’s rather obnoxious and unfriendly, generally only hanging out with her ‘friends’ when she wants something out of them, then drops them at the drop of a hat. She is full of angst and self-loathing. She wants to be with a dead guy... and wants to BE dead so she can live with him forever. She is obsessive and shallow, rarely thinking about how her actions and reactions will affect other people. Need I go on? This is truly my only real complaint about the series is that she is decidedly NOT someone girls should look up to. However this is what makes the books so much fun to read and the movies fun to watch... she’s more screwed up than me.
(We now return you to the review of the movie...)

Director Chris Weitz does an admirable job of bringing new effects to this installment, as the werewolves look pretty darn good... in that heavy CGI sort of way. They look cool and pretty much match the description that is given to them in the books, but there is no real sense that they are... well... real. A few shots work well, the rest of the time it looks like the actors are working alongside realistic cartoons. But as is the case with the acting overall and the fact that these are not movies to take seriously, they work well enough to move the story along. There are, however a few bad cinematic choices made that almost ruin the movie as a whole. I won’t get into them all here, but the most blatant comes during a look at one of the visions Alice (Ashley Green) has of Bella becoming a vampire. We see Edward running... no... frolicking is more like it... in slow motion through the forest in slow motion and he is joined from the side by Bella. Both are wearing white, Bella’s dress flowing. I might have thought it was just me, but howls of laughter erupted in the theatre, even from the most die-hard fans. It totally broke the otherwise serious scene that it played over.

“New Moon” is probably not going to appeal to hardcore horror fans, as it is still a much more a twisted romance story aimed at teenagers. However, I really did enjoy it overall (having read the series) and would have to consider it a ‘guilty pleasure.’ I am actually very much looking forward to the next installment, “Eclipse” which is promised to us by next summer. The story goes in even newer directions and has sequences that I’m hoping will offer a little more serious interaction... and perhaps a lot more blood. (Hey! It IS a vampire movie!). It is being directed by David Slade, who brought us the awesome “Hard Candy” (lots of angst) and “30 Days of Night” (lots of blood)... hmmm... shows promise!

Oh... and by the way? Color me ‘Team Jacob.’

(Now on to the review of the Bluray release)

The Bluray for “Twilight: New Moon” offers a challenge for fans. There are so many ‘Special Editions’ that one doesn’t know where to buy it from. Walmart has its ‘exclusive extras’, as does Best Buy, Borders Books and Target (which gets a whole extra disc). I guess it all depends on what you want… heck…get them all. If you’re really a fan, that’s probably what you’d want to do anyway. It’s your parent’s money anyway.

What I have in my hot little hands is the single disc, non-exclusive ‘Special Edition’ that offers a handful of extra features, but I’ll get to those in a bit. This Bluray edition isn’t too shabby in the transfer department, but it’s not perfect. Or maybe it’s a little too perfect. The color palette is fairly drab when the story takes place in Forks, but that is as it should be considering the constant cloud cover, but when travelling elsewhere, the colors look very vivid. But there were a few scenes, especially in the wooded areas that could have looked a little better with a hint of grain. The image was too sharp at times and looked a little unreal. The sound mix was very well done however, as all of the dialogue…. no matter how sappy… could be head clearly. The scenes that required silence were almost deafeningly so, and the ‘action’ sequences delivered a terrific level of bass. The overall ambience was strong throughout the film. I could have done with a little less screamo / whiner music, but that wasn’t the fault of the sound mixer.

As far as extra features on the non-exclusive Special Edition, there is an audio commentary by director Chris Weitz and editor Peter Lambert. I was hoping for a deep discussion on the film and how it presented them with the challenge of making great cinema. Instead they mostly described the movie, only touching on a few points along the way. It was as if they knew their target audience was going to be a bunch of dim-bulb emo girls so they ‘dumbed down’ the commentary so as not to confuse them. I noticed there weren’t too many multisyllabic words.

There is also a 6-part documentary feature that runs a little over an hour. It focuses on the fan base for the series initially, and then moves on to the production itself. At that point there is a lot of praise for the director from the cast, a look at props and costumes, a few special effects, the editing, and finally the addition of all of the final touches. All in all, it offers a few interesting moments, but for the most part it is aimed at the target audience… so… well, you know.

Additionally, there are videos by Death Cab for Cutie (Meet me on the Equinox), Anya Marina (Satellite Heart), Muse (I Belong to You – a behind the scenes look), and Mutemath (Spotlight). These I could have done without, as admittedly every song is wretched. While they worked in the movie to help the actors emote, they are horrible to listen to by themselves.

Directed by: Chris Weitz
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Rachelle Lefevre, Billy Burke, Michael Sheen, Dakota Fanning
Extras: Audio Commentary by Director Chris Weitz and Editor Peter Lambert; 6-Part Documentary; Music Videos
Specification: Widescreen 1080p High Definition (2.40:1); 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Release Date: 3/20/2010
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Website: http://www.newmoonthemovie.com

We'll give Twilight: New Moon (Bluray) a B-.