Disclaimer: The views expressed in the following review are that of a male adult who has not read the book on which the film is based. As such, the review on a whole is biased in that the only thing considered is the acting, direction, screenwriting, and common sense. Please don’t kill me.

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I recognize that this is a film that many people will go see due to its status as a part of a wildly popular book series. If you are someone who is a diehard fan of the tetralogy I don’t think this review will affect your decision to go see the film. Putting aside all the problems that I’ve had with the basic premise of the series, I entered the movie theater expecting to be, at the very least, entertained enough to make up for the ticket price. I was even prepared to perhaps shed a tear, or let out an ‘aw’, as the main characters’ love overcomes all. Alas, it was not meant to be.

First of all, let me tell you what was good. The direction by Chris Weitz is confident enough, though some of his choices puzzled me. Kristen Stewart, who plays the lead, delivers a few scenes that are appropriately heartbreaking. Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner, actually comes off fairly convincing at times as well. There were moments when I laughed at scenes that were intended to be funny. The CGI has certainly improved from the first film, although some of the creature design still has a ways to go.

The film starts with a dream during which the main character of the series, Bella Swan, worries aggressively and exaggeratedly about getting old, all this at age 18. The ridiculousness of this is offset by the fact that her boyfriend is an immortal, eternally 17 year old vampire named Edward, played by Robert Pattinson. Although he is asked, he refuses to turn her into a vampire. After an unfortunate incident involving a paper-cut in front of Edward’s family, however, Edward feels like being around other vampires is too dangerous, causing him to leave town, severing all ties with Bella. She is heartbroken, and seeks solace instead in the friendship of Jacob, a Native American boy who told her a legend about ‘the cold ones’, and wolves fighting. Bella is shocked, therefore, to find that he is a werewolf, and his body is changing. Afraid that he might not be able to control his teenage werewolf hormones, he tells Bella to stay away as well. She resorts to suicidal behavior to gain the attention of her vampire boyfriend, causing him to think that she is dead.

The first thing about the movie that jumped out at me was the fact that the writing was simply bad. The dialogue was often completely unrealistic, with terrible puns throughout. Melissa Rosenberg, who also wrote the first movie, must think that teenagers speak in awkwardly-worded puns all the time.

Now, for the true blasphemy: Robert Pattinson, unfortunately, is not a very good actor. He seems to have two emotions: “I’m seducing the camera,” and “my eyes are pools of impenetrable sadness.” This is a role that requires emotion, and unfortunately Robert simply fails to deliver on more than one count. While he does the two emotions well, the fact remains that more nuance would be better.

Ultimately, the movie is slow-moving, and overly dramatic. Rather than being a nice, clean teenage drama like the first film, this one strives to be an emotionally-driven supernatural thriller, with mad dashes around the world to save others. At over two hours, the film overstays its welcome significantly, failing to engage the emotions or develop suspense. |