[May be some mild spoilers]

On Monday I finally went with a friend to see New Moon. I wanted to go after the screaming hordes of teenage girls had been, so we waited a couple weeks after it was released. By the time we went, the cinema was mostly empty and, apart from some giggling and whispering during the previews, we were able to watch in peace.

I’ve heard mixed reviews of New Moon. It seems that some people love it, some people hate it and, after watching it myself, I can see both sides. The movie was good in that, for the most part, it followed the book closely, which made Twihards happy. However, that was also what made the critics disappointed – the book is moody and emotional and depressing with not a lot of action. So the movie followed the book, which meant the movie was moody and emotional and depressing with not a lot of action. I found myself watching the few action sequences hoping for more and actually felt disappointed when it was over. I wasn’t surprised that the directer went all out in the small action sequences, trying to make the most of the opportunity.

The book very much sets up for the next book and this movie seems to do this too. I feel like I didn’t have to see this movie at all, that it’s not really a movie on it’s own, it’s a movie you watch before watching the next one straight afterwards. Having said that, there were some pretty cool moments, such as Jacob morphing into a wolf as he jumped over Bella (as seen in the previews) and we were given a sneak peek at Bella as a vampire.

Acting-wise, I found the main characters, particularly Bella and Edward, mostly monotone and boring. Kristen Stewart was less annoying this time round – only occassionaly she’d do her squinty-eye-thing or head twitch that I hated so much in the first movie. She was more confident and seemed to be more comfortable in the role this time around. Edward was sooo disappointing – his makeup made him look absolutely ridiculous and he looked like he was either constipated or about to cry the whole time. Whenever he was in a scene, I basically viewed him as the creepy cousin everyone ignores at the Christmas party, while Jacob was the one everyone wanted to end up under the mistletoe with.

I was skeptical about Jane (I pictured Jane with a less severe hair-do) but Dakota Fanning was really good, especially while she was using her powers – very calm and evil. I thought they could have made a little more out of Bella not being affected, since it’s sort of a big thing in the final book. The Volturi were really good and creepy at the same time. I think Michael Sheen as Aro really captured the character perfectly – seemingly polite and calm, yet thirsting for power on the inside. His disappointment in having to kill Bella was really well done – you could see it pained him to have to consider it, because he was so intrigued by her apparent “power” to shield.

The special effects were pretty fake, especially the cliff-jumping scenes. I can’t believe it wasn’t possible to film someone actually hitting the water and use special effects for the falling bit? Really disappointing. The wolves were okay I guess, but I think I was just expecting something… more. The dark wolf shape sitting in the forest was soooo bad I actually laughed out loud. It just looked so ridiculous, not scary or menacing at all. Speaking of wolves, I was a little disappointed in Emily Young’s face. I always pictured it as really savaged, but that might just be my over-active imagination.

All in all, the movie itself was okay – it was pretty much the book on screen, and the book isn’t exactly action-packed. I’m looking forward to the next one and seeing more of the Cullen family.

Have you seen the movie? What did you think?