The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

Director:

Chris Weitz

Writers (WGA):

Melissa Rosenberg (screenplay)
Stephenie Meyer (novel)

Release Date:

20 November 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The Next Chapter Begins

Plot:

After Bella recovers from the vampire attack that almost claimed her life, she looks to celebrate her birthday with Edward and his family...

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Forks Washington | Washington | Werewolf | Stolen Car

Cast

Kristen Stewart	...	Bella Swan
Christina Jastrzembska	...	Gran / Bella
Robert Pattinson	...	Edward Cullen
Billy Burke	...	Charlie Swan
Anna Kendrick	...	Jessica
Michael Welch	...	Mike
Justin Chon	...	Eric
Christian Serratos	...	Angela
Taylor Lautner	...	Jacob Black
Ashley Greene	...	Alice Cullen
Jackson Rathbone	...	Jasper Hale
Russell Roberts	...	Mr. Berty
Cam Gigandet	...	James
Michael Sheen	...	Aro
Jamie Campbell Bower	...	Caius

Also Known As:

New Moon (USA) (informal title)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (USA) (promotional title)
Twilight 2 (USA) (informal title)
Twilight: New Moon (USA) (informal title)
Untitled Sports Movie (Canada: English title) (fake working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence and action.

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Japan:G | USA:PG-13 (certificate #45662) | Sweden:11 | Norway:11 | Ireland:12A | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:PG | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Thailand:G | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

David Thompson Secondary School, Victoria-Fraserview, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Imprint Entertainment

Trivia:

During the filming of Bella's birthday party, Jackson Rathbone got so into character that both Peter Facinelli and Kellan Lutz had to hold him back. During one of the takes, Elizabeth Reaser was knocked to the ground.

Goofs:

Continuity: While Bella and Edward are embracing each other right after they met up in Volterra and are interrupted, Edward's body is not completely "whited-out", only his face is. This is going on the entire time he is speaking to someone in the Volturri. His face is extremely pale, but his neck and abdomen is the color of a human being.

Quotes:

Bella Swan: You all know what I want. And I know it's a lot to ask for. The only fair way I can think of is if we put this to a vote.
Edward Cullen: Bella, you don't know what you're doing
Bella Swan: Just... shut up.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 2009 MTV Movie Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

La Cathédrale engloutie

Acting so wooden I got splinters

I have to admit, as an adult woman, I read the entire "Twilight" series. I am not obsessed by it -- but it was a fun, escapist read, even though I still have some reservations about the obsessive nature of love as depicted in these books.

"New Moon" was better, production-wise, than "Twilight" (I know, damned by faint praise.) But does Kristin Stewart have more than two expressions? She alternates between a vacant stare that is meant to denote intensity, and a stare with a tiny frown between her eyes that denotes distress. She speaks in a monotone and slouches around when she's not curled up in a fetal position, leaving one to wonder -- what exactly does Edward see in this girl, anyway? And Robert Pattinson -- He reminds me of "The Look" that Ben Stiller "perfected" in "Zoolander" -- i.e., a dozen looks, and they all look precisely alike. He can, at least, scowl nicely -- and as a result, tends to overuse it. Basically, though -- he can't act. This is a man who is meant to be burning with passion, and the only thing I can focus on is "what god-awful shade of lipstick did they put on that boy?" The rest of the Cullens got short shrift in this movie, with only token appearances. Jacob's transformations were never fully explained in the movie -- unless you have read the book, you have NO idea what in the heck he's talking about, much less why. I have to wonder how often he practiced whipping off his shirt to help Bella when she hits her head - it was pretty practiced, and obviously self-conscious, as if he could just hear the squeals of the teenagers in the theatre as he did it. But at least Taylor Lautner was allowed to show a certain engaging charm. Dakota Fanning as Jane looked good in amber contacts, but her role was extremely brief, and basically consisted of staring and marching around in odd Mary Jane-style shoes. Michael Sheen was rather intriguing as Aro, and actually came closest to my mental image of the characters.

Towards the end of the movie, the editing got pretty sloppy. The transitions were abrupt and, again, if you hadn't read the book, you'd be wondering where in the hell the yellow Porsche came from. The transition from Italy to Forks was possibly the most abrupt, and failed to re-establish the connection between Bella and Edward.

The book has enough faults of its own in character development -- I guess it's too much to hope that a movie would be able to correct those faults.