New Moon - The Film

Okay, so I said I'd take Little Miss 13 (the twilight addicted daughter) to this movie and off we went.

It's interesting as I find myself in two minds here.  First of all, the base material, ie. the book 'New Moon', is the worst  and most boring book of the series.  Possibly because it drags through the middle there with tales of Bella the Dull and her 'aching hurting I'm missing my boyfriend' heart.  Thankfully they condense this in the film and I still maintain that the author needs a strong talking to for subjecting us to so many pages of Bella's emotional failings.

We then have the Jacob character getting more air time as he develops in the series, and also into a wolfman.  This bit I was really looking forward to as I thought the scope for wolfy transformations would be at the top of a CGI's wishlist.  Not so apparently.  The wolves are alright, but not nearly as big and menacing as the book made them out to be, and there just isn't enough of them in the movie.

Now, I realise that this could be quite true to the book but the problem is that apart from the great Italian Vampire Mafia scenes at the end of the film, the action is few and far between and hence why I go hot and cold on the film.  It really didn't live up to its true potential but as far as teen movies go, it is definitely watchable and especially handy if you're planning on seeing the next two movies as the filler in of gaps.

Of note is the very talented Dakota Fanning (see picture above) who plays one of the mafia's evil henchmen, the notoriously powerful Jane.  She is feared for her ability to inflict pain on someone with her thoughts and she brings this character to life superbly.

Other than that?  S'all right.  Like I say, see it to fill in the gaps (and avoid reading the book version), so you're up with the play when movie 3 comes out - if you want to be up with the play that is.

I will be because I was tricked into reading the first book, and like my younger sister I then just had to finish the series because I don't ever leave books unfinished (even if I don't like them - must be a family thing..), and of course I have two daughters who insist on dragging me to the films because they seem to enjoy discussing this kind of thing with me.  The three of us are reading more of the same books and then watching the film adaptions and it's actually kinda cool.

To conclude, I have no idea if you should watch this film or not.  Definitely yes if you intend to see the whole series through (and seeing as the first 2 films have been quite faithful to the books this bodes well for the future as the last two book are miles superior).  If you're just curious then you may well end up slightly disappointed as I don't believe it lives up to the hype but you are fully warned.