New Moon, New Opinion

I have a lot of trouble admitting this--but I went to see New Moon tonight and I liked it.

I feel like the Twilight series has a surprising amount of silent followers. While half the world is gushing over Edward Cullen's glittering skin, the other half is declaring the vampire craze worse than Miley's latest single, yet sheepishly admitting under their breath that the movies have some merit.

I haven't read the novels. And I don't want to. Quite frankly, I have better things to do. But for the second year in a row, I have allowed myself to be convinced to sit through the raved-about Twilight movies and this time, I was mildly impressed.

For one thing, Kristen Stewart must have had acting lessons this year. Bella's still whiny and annoying (not to mention her screams in New Moon that could wake the dead), but I actually started to see a personality this time. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the vampire-obsessed high schooler was easy to relate to. Sad and rejected by her beloved Edward, she turned to the slightly more normal Jacob for comfort--only to find out that instead of sucking blood, he's howling at the moon.

In addition to the upgrade in general acting, the soundtrack was truly enjoyable. With gems by Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, and The Killers, as well as by newcomers like Anya Marina and Hurricane Bells, the soundtrack set the mood perfectly. I came in already liking the music, as I downloaded the score last week, but the camera angles and the general artistic choices made me love the songs even more.

I thought the storyline moved along better as well. I hear that may be the result of a new director, but whatever the case may be, the action at least kept me from yawning for two hours. Bella's sad face wasn't the only thing going on in this movie, although it was a major plot point. Despite the very trite and not-so-subtle abstinence message we all knew we were going to get at the end, (Edward proposes to Bella before they can consummate their union with blood-sucking and you-know-what-else) there was still a lot of chemistry between the actors.

All in all, not a waste of my money. No need to twist my arm when the third one comes out.