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The second installment of the Twilight Saga – New Moon– is upon us and fans (as well as their dates) will be glad to know that it is a better film than its predecessor in every way.

New Moon picks up directly where the first story left off.  For those that have not seen the film, this is not the place to start.  It is imperative that you read or see Twilight as you will be quickly lost in Bella’s world of vampires.  For those that have read the second novel, there is no need to give a plot summary as this movie is a direct port of the novel by Stephanie Meyer. It is likely that she had a tight leash on the production and direction as it takes absolutely no risks in the scene by scene recreation of the book.  Unlike the Harry Potter series, there is not a lot to be gained by reading the books once you have seen the film.  Undoubtedly this will please the most diehard fans, but it carries the same pacing issues that most directly adapted scripts face

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson reprise their roles as Bella Swan and her vampire soul mate Edward Cullen, and they are clearly more comfortable with their roles and each other.  However, New Moon belongs to the werewolves and the greatly expanded role of Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner).  Jacob’s youthful energy is a welcome foil to the serious and often brooding Edward, and it is easy to see how this love triangle becomes the basis for the series’ popularity among women.  The ladies in the audience will also be glad that the men of the film seem to prefer their shirts off, much to the dismay of their dates who do not have time to work out 8 hours a day.

The studio was clearly more comfortable with the financial viability of the series as production values for New Moon are significantly higher than the first film.  Twilight seemed to have a number of scenes that were not complete, and the special effects could be jarring as the effects budget was not there to accurately portray the motion of the vampires.  New Moon does not set the bar in digital effects, as the wolves and vampires in motion are clearly digital creations, but it also does not take the audience out of the film.  Thankfully, no one will have to suffer through another scene of vampires playing baseball.

A change in directors – with Chris Weitz taking over the chair - is clearly an improvement as New Moon is a much tighter film than the first.  While Twilight seemed to stall in a number of places, New Moon keeps a steady pace throughout with an appropriate amount of fun and energy allowed in.  This does not mean though that it will keep adrenaline junkies on the on the edge as the potential for danger and action always seems to be developed but never fully realized.

The supporting characters are the biggest beneficiaries of the new direction.  No longer do the other Cullens feel like models reading off a teleprompter.  You start to see some personality in them – even with their abbreviated presence – which gives great hope for the actors as their roles expand in future films.  Emmett (Kellen Lutz), Rosalie (Nikki Reed), and Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) catch up with Alice (Ashlee Greene) and seem much more in line with their written counterparts but Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) still feels wrong

The film also introduces two groups that are important to the rest of the saga – the werewolves and the Voltari.  It will be hard for series fans to argue with any of the casting decisions in the werewolves.  The decision to go with lesser known Native American actors is rewarded with actors that might as well have been the inspiration for the characters in the book.  The Voltari do not fare this well.  With the exception of the leader Aro (Michael Sheen) and Jane (Dakota Fanning), the entire family does lacks the sense of power and danger that is portrayed in the novels.

New Moon is a better film in every way than its predecessor, but the chasm between the target audience and the rest makes it hard to give a fair score.  Fortunately, the chasm in New Moon no where near as wide for the opposite sexes as it was in the first film.  For men it is probably a 2.5/5, but a 4/5 for most women (who get the score as they are the target audience).  The girls that spent 3x retail price for Bella’s bed sheets on eBay can go ahead and shut down their voting for film of the year.

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