New Moon better on-screen than Twilight

While I liked the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight well enough, I must admit I was a bit squeamish to see New Moon after its debut last week. New Moon is my favorite book of the series, and I was afraid Director Chris Weitz would leave me disappointed. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

From Bella’s dream of growing old in the beginning to the narrow escape from the Volturi in the end, the film version of New Moon rarely ventured far from Meyer’s book. To be perfectly honest, I, like many fans, am not thrilled about the actor selections for some of the characters, mainly Edward and Bella, which has the potential to ruin all the movies for me. Luckily, the constantly blinking, sputtering, and seemingly mentally challenged Bella from the first film has transformed into the intelligent, pretty, and wounded Bella capable of humor, laughter, and tears. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Robert Pattinson is still over-acting in his role as Edward. In the books, Edward is brooding and vocalizes his difficulty being close to Bella. In both the Twilight and New Moon movies, I wanted him to stop whining and felt the need to smooth the constant wrinkle in his forehead.  I was actually happy he was absent throughout most of New Moon.

So…what made this movie great? Hands down, it has to be Jacob Black and the Wolf Pack.  Taylor Lautner is perfect in the role of Jacob Black from his border-line conceited attitude to his appearance to his protective, wolfish mannerisms. It’s unbelievable to me that Taylor Lautner was almost booted from the role he was meant to play, as he clearly out-performed every actor on set. In addition, the Wolf Pack was also amazing. Each character from Sam to Embry was exactly how I imagined. The wolves, themselves, were well-animated, as well. Based on the previews, I was worried the wolves would look fake and was also under the impression that they were going to be the size of regular wolves. Much to my surprise, the wolves were taller and larger than even Laurent when they first appeared in the famous meadow.

New Moon also caused me to change my loyalty from Team Edward to Team Jacob. In the books, I was definitely rooting for Edward instead of the underdog (no pun intended…well, maybe a little). However, in the film adaptation, I was definitely on Jacob’s side, and I started asking myself why. And I have no other choice than to conclude that the romance/friendship between Jacob and Bella is much more well-developed than that between Edward and Bella.  Thus, on camera, it seemed as though Bella and Jacob were much more connected on a deep emotional level than Bella and Edward.

Meyer’s Twilight included a gradual progression of the feelings between Edward and Bella. Through their lengthy interactions and conversations, the reader could see their commonalities rather than only seeing what makes them so different.  In the books, their love seemed perfect, rather than forced.  As a result, I didn’t quite buy their devotion to one another in the film adaptations of Twilight or New Moon. In Twilight, Edward wants to kill her, then he leaves, the he comes back and saves her life, sends mixed signals, and then Bam! They’re willing to die for each other. I just never got the idea that their feelings had progressed to love in the first movie. Therefore, it didn’t seem realistic in New Moon, either.

But I wouldn’t be doing the movie justice if I failed to mention the Volturi. They were great, and whoever did the casting was a genius. Dakota Fanning as Jane, alone, made the movie worth watching. Her mannerisms, her childlike appearance, and cool, calculated demeanor, created the perfect Jane, just as I imagined in the novel. Aro’s mannerisms are also not to be ignored. His superficial graciousness and friendliness to Bella, Edward, and Alice is perfectly delivered, making it obvious to the audience he could snap and kill at any moment.

While I wish I could like Edward more in the film adaptation of these best-selling novels, New Moon was still well-worth braving the massive crowds and paying inflated ticket prices. From start to finish, this movie closely followed the book and adequately brought the story to life. Is this my favorite movie of all time? Not even close. Is this movie one that I will buy on DVD and watch over and over? Absolutely.