I recently saw “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” and didn’t understand what the problem was. Its percentage on Rotten Tomatoes currently stands at 28%. The previous saga opener “Twilight” did better with 47% positive reviews.
For those who don’t know, Rotten Tomatoes complies reviews of movies from all over the web and clumps them together, creating the percentage of positive ones.
Sure, “New Moon” surpassed “The Dark Knight” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” for opening day domestic gross with $72.7 million on November 20. Big deal, it grossed a record $143 million domestically. The critics slammed it like a piece of meat on a grill.
The movie begins with the moody Isabella Swan (Kristen Stewart) at school on her 18th birthday. Her beautiful, immortal boyfriend Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) emerges and tries to wish her happy birthday. “Your birth would seem to be something to celebrate,” Edward explains. “Yeah, but my aging’s not,” Bella counters.
This all stems from a nightmare Bella had the night before, the opening scene for the film. She’s an 80-year-old woman standing next to her 17-year-old boyfriend, him wishing her a happy birthday. Bella is too distraught over aging to accept birthday wishes or presents, but she obliges to go to her boyfriend’s house for a party.
This is where the trouble begins.
While opening one of her unwanted presents, Bella slices her finger and blood drips onto the carpet. In a room full of seven blood-thirsty vampires who don’t even need to breathe but have to hold their noses to stop themselves from lunging at Bella and drinking her dry.
But one of them can’t resist the urge. Jasper Cullen’s eyes are black (a mark that he’s thirsty) and he dives for Bella, Edward and Emmit Cullen just barely restraining him. Poor Edward, witnessing his beloved Bella almost getting killed by his brother, resorts to leaving her.
After the Cullens race out of town, Bella does nothing for months. Literally. But she does find a savior, a ray of sun on her horizon. Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), her childhood friend turned major hottie. They repair two motor cycles together and Bella distracts herself from Edward’s absence.
But Bella soon discovers that she can see him again when she’s reckless, which is part of the reason she wanted to work on the bikes with Jacob. Soon, Bella is thrust into a completely new world.
One night at the movies, Jacob gets heated at Bella’s friend Mike; literally. His skin feels hot and before we know it, he’s transforming into a werewolf before Bella’s eyes. Not only does Bella discover this, but she encounters the enchanting Laurent. But he’s not there to protect Bella; he informs her that his running mate Victoria is looking for her, wanting revenge on Edward for killing her own mate James.
All this leads to the climax, where Bella jumps off a cliff and Alice Cullen (Ashley Green) thinks she tried to kill herself. Mistakenly she tells her sister Rosalie and Rosalie tells Edward. Going into emo mode, he goes to Italy to die by invoking the wrath of the Volturi, a high and mighty vampire clan who enforce the law.
When Bella and Edward make it back to Forks, Jacob has a few choice words for them about the vampire/werewolf treaty. Things get heated and Bella reacts in the nick of time, just before Jacob rips Edward to shreds. He takes off, and then the unimaginable happens; Edward pops the question to Bella.
We’ll have to wait for the third installment “Eclipse” to see more of that battle.
But why did so many critics hate the movie? Many reviews said it was boring, dull and lacked any enthusiasm whatsoever. I agree, much of it did seem to be a tad bit on the lackluster side. But it’s supposed to be that way; Stephanie Meyer wrote her characters to be angsty and depressed because the town of Forks doesn’t provide for very many bright and sunny days (it rains most of the year).
It’s been discussed on podcasts that this movie isn’t really made for Oscars or critics, it’s made for fans. That’s the solution in a nutshell; if you’re not into the books you may not be too thrilled with the movie. Bottom line, it’s not going to please too many older adults looking for an intriguing, food-for-thought plotline.
The critics didn’t even seem to give the acting any credit. Taylor Lautner stole the screen anytime he was on it; he was quite simply amazing. Many podcasters have now gone to the dark side and become Team Jacob just after seeing Lautner play him. It’s probably because of his sweetheart-style of speech and his charming wits. Not to mention the 30 pounds of extra muscle that’s flaunted throughout the entire movie.
Pattinson isn’t seen as much in this movie because of his leaving Forks, but even his portrayal of the hunky, lovestruck vampire was exactly to Stephanie Meyer’s writing. Even Stewart has stepped up her skills in her Bella role.
Getting back to basics, “New Moon” will tickle the fancy of many females — and males, for that matter — worldwide. It’s rumored to be on DVD in late February, and I can only imagine the volumes of pre-orders.
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