Rated PG-13 for some violence and action.

130 min

Directed By: Chris Weitz

Written By: Melissa Rosenberg (screenplay) Stephenie Meyer (novel)

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Anna Kendrick, Michael Welch, Justin Chon, Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Peter Facinelli, Kellan Lutz, Michael Sheen, Jackson Rathbone, Jamie Campbell Bower, Kiowa Gordon, Tyson Houseman, Dakaota Fanning

Review:

****Beware potential spoilers*** The following may contain spoilers but most likely not unless you have been living under a rock.

I can name 10 vampire related films or television series that are far superior than the Twilight Saga.  Believe it or not I love these films and look forward to seeing the remaining films in the series or “saga” as it is being referred to.  I have read the books and loved them.  Usually that means disaster for an enjoyable movie representation but in my opinion the films have so far gotten progressively better.  Pull yourself away from the hype of the films or the beauty of its stars for one moment and truly analyze it for what it is.  It is a strong, well-rounded, romantic, suspenseful and fantasy themed film.

Lets face it, the majority of you are not going to see this film unless you have either read the books and or seen the first film so you may not understand this description.  The basic plot of this installment of the saga is as follows.  Edward and Bella are in love now more than ever and everything looks to be happy in their lives until and incident occurs that causes Edward to leave Bella.  Bella crawls into a walking coma of depression after Edward has left and becomes friends with Jacob Black to partly take her mind off of Edward and partly to live dangerously so that she can occasionally see visions of Edward.

I can truly equate it to the great classic of Romeo and Juliet, which is actually eluded to in the film.  Bella and Edward are two star crossed lovers that should not technically be together but are magnetically drawn to one another because of the love and chemistry between each other.  On that level just about anyone can relate to this film.  I mean hopefully each of us has experienced love in some form or another. Unfortunately, most of us have also felt as if our world would end when the one we were in love with left us.

On another level there is the wonderfully creative storyline where vampires and wolves live amongst us and we do not even know it.  I like the idea that the Cullen family is a different type of vampire than the others and I love the creative manner in that Stephanie Meyer took when writing these stories.  On a whole the stories and films will be full of lots of action and suspense that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats.  New Moon, does have a decent amount of action but it is not action packed.  I do like the pacing so that helps with the amount of action.

One of my favorite elements of the movie is the soundtrack.  Each song is wonderfully picked to represent the scene.  I also think the caliber of the artists is phenomenal. For instance, there is Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke (lead singer for Radiohead), Band of Skulls, The Killers, Editors, Lykke Li, Bon Iver and St Vincent.   This is one soundtrack that I actually love every song and I recommend listening.  Check out a few of the songs at Napier’s News!

The Bottom Line:

For those of you who love the Twilight Saga this film will be definitely a must see if you have not likely already seen it.  I think the characters are compelling and unique and the storyline will continue to draw you in.  I recommend you read the books even though they are not the best written in the world they are a nice read.

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