I watched Twilight New Moon at an inconspicuous cinema, at a very un-trendy hour. I figured that by strategically selecting the time and location, I would not have to be overwhelmed with screeching teeny boppers drooling over Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) or Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) as they vied for the attention of leading lady (and I use the term loosely) Bella Swan (Kirsten Stewart).

Twi-hards - there were hoards of them.

I figured wrong. When Edward made his first appearance, there was a scream, and it was not dissimilar to the cheer that enveloped practically all cinema patrons when Jacob took his shirt off (though admittedly, that was not an all too terrible sight).

It seems that where society was once divided along the axis of east or west, Angelina or Jennifer, Vegemite or Marmite, it is now divided along an axis of Edward or Jacob.

The movie that has saturated our lives and overwhelmed our media not only managed to make our teenage girls salivate over domineering boys, but also inspired them to emulate an un-ambitious, love-obsessed female willing to lose her soul and forsake everything she knows for the man in her life who seems hell-bent on separating her from her friends, whether they are male or female.

And the end product of this reel of hyped-up performance? Totally not worth the constant in-your-face coverage that has manifested itself in newspapers, magazines, radio interviews, blogs, train rides and slumber party conversations.

It seems that in the rush to have it out in a timely fashion, the director must have foregone certain aspects that could have enriched the whole viewing experience, at least aesthetically.

The werewolves that protect the areas surrounding the town of Forks (where the movie is based) resembled something out of a CS Lewis movie, not the kind expected from the record-breaking blockbuster that New Moon is.

Scenes seemed rushed, as though they didn’t have that spectacular energy poured into them. Shame really, considering the money pouring into the Twilight phenomenon.

Apart from the brief appearance of veteran Hollywood starlet Dakota Fanning (in all her teenage glory), and the determination of Jacob Black to woo the girl in a painstaking game of unrequited love, the film fell flat, dull and rather short of inspiration.

Considering I was rather pleased with the books, and additively read them quite quickly (all four in four days), I did go into the film with an open, if a little optimistic, mind.

But too much coverage on the part of the world’s media, too much comfort on the part of those involved in the film (they could have filmed it with a digital camera and still had the audience numbers) and too much hype about its potential quickly deflated any chance of it making an impact.

But it’s a piece in the Twilight Saga, and as a result, New Moon will still be shining as long as we believe in the love that dreams are made of, even if the portrayal of such a love was nothing short of Hollywood hype falling way short of the moon, and far too trumped-up to have its players counted among our times’ stars.

11 comments

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    • Ella says:

      10:35am | 24/11/09

      Not suprised honestly. I went to see the first one out of curiosity and have to say it is on my list of worst films ever. The story was dull, the acting poor and that’s without getting into the bad example it sets for young people on how to conduct a relationship. For me it wasn’t a story about love but about unhealthy obsession, and a badly done one at that.

    • COF says:

      12:49pm | 24/11/09

      I called my first child Jacob, born just before I was aware of the twilight phenomenon (no movies were out, but the books were). It look like he will be referred to by his surname the rest of his life.

    • Cass says:

      12:50pm | 24/11/09

      I note you comment regarding scenes been rushed but in fairness its about a 500-600 page book and they’re trying to squeeze alot of information into 2 hrs 10mins. It needs to be short, sharp and shiney to keep people interested. If they made New Moon 3 hours then Breaking Dawn would need to be 4 hours at least to cover the whole plot.

    • Kristen says:

      12:53pm | 24/11/09

      Did I like it? Don’t ask me, I’m just a girl tee hee.

    • Mato says:

      02:21pm | 24/11/09

      Big promotional campaign = crap movie.  Case in point: Baz Lurman’s Australia and now the New Moon shenanigans.  I suppose an exception would be Batman: The Dark Knight.  But this ridiculous level of promotion makes me resent a movie before it’s even released in cinema’s. 
      It’s fair enough to promote a movie, but saturation really pisses me off.
      Maybe I will illegally download it just to spite them…

    • ej says:

      02:57pm | 24/11/09

      Everyone in our cinema snickered when Jacob first took off his shirt because it was just soooo obvious.

    • R Sole says:

      03:00pm | 24/11/09

      Well it is a terribly hard choice the character of Bella has to make in the films…....necrophilia or beastiality!!

      No wonder the media is all over it!

    • monica mara says:

      04:27pm | 25/11/09

      very bad movie, to much PR the acting is terrible, i read all books not only once but few time, and the first movies was bad, but this one it is worst, the money is making is because it get the population of 12 year old to 17 year old and that it is all, it will not go as icon, really bad, i’m not looking foward to the Eclipse at all, i prefer to read the books again, and let my imagination to fly.  the movie it does not deserve the money it is making at all

    • Jayne says:

      08:52am | 26/11/09

      I love the twilight phenomenon, I have read all the books 2 and 3 times each but i found that Book 2 - New Moon was the hardest to read and my least favourite in the collection. I thought the first movie was great… i found this movie ok and to be more to the book and true to the story being my least favourite in the saga, i had always expected that this would be my least favourite movie. It was good for what it was but lets face it, the book was bad so you cant expect the movie to be that great…

    • shelly_hs@hotmail.com says:

      03:03pm | 27/11/09

      i love twilight…its the best movie ever made

    • The Faux Journalist says:

      05:02pm | 27/11/09

      Ofcourse its garbage, nothing surprising there. But Sarah you read 4 books in 4 days?? Do you have like a real job or any commitments? How do you pay the rent? Please I am fascinated. I am pushing it to read a chapter a night before I crash. I’m not even through Twilight yet! Please someone create a blog called Howtoreadbookswhenyouworkfulltime.com

 

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