Whether you’re a Twilight fan or not you should definitely pick up The Twilight Saga: New Moon on DVD! That’s a stellar endorsement from someone who gave the film a rather scathing review when it hit theaters and had no interest in rewatching it on DVD, but in the end I enjoyed my time back in Forks with the Cullen clan purely because of the additional material on the DVD.
Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her vampire beau Edward (Robert Pattinson) seem to be in first-love bliss until an altercation with one of Edward’s brothers puts Bella’s life in danger. Edward decides to leave Bella to “keep her safe” but it ends up backfiring when Bella decides to become an adrenaline junkie in order to have brief moments with her love in dream form. Bella also becomes increasingly close with Jacob (Taylor Launter) who is going through changes himself that cause him to clash more with the vampire.
Twilight: New Moon is about equal to the first Twilight so if you loved it you’ll be over the moon, if you hated it…then why are you watching it in the first place? The Volturi are the most fascinating aspect of the whole movie as the movie delves into the politics of this particular world of vampires and gives the movie a darker tone since it’s focusing on a murderous type of royalty that commands all the vampires, unfortunately there’s not nearly enough time devoted to this section, about five minutes and it comes at the end of a two hour movie. Purists will say that’s how it is in the books but when big actors like Michael Sheen are involved one would think the time would be expanded. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are just as wooden as ever and Taylor Launter shows what a terrible actor he is having far too much screen time for a guy of such limited talent. Again, these are all expected if you’ve seen any part of this movie or the first so it’s not unexpected.
What is unexpected is how enjoyable the bonus material is. If you’re renting this you’ll only get the audio commentary with director Chris Weitz and Editor Peter Lambert but that’s enough to make this movie a must-see, even if you hate the movie. Weitz and Lambert have a fantastic rapport and come off like a typical viewer watching the movie with the viewer. They discuss the movie in terms of the casual viewer, ironic considering one actually directed the film. They discuss artistic influences used in the film, who would have thought New Moon was borrowing images from the Pre-Raphaelites and Magritte? Weitz cracks a ton of jokes about how “dreamy” Pattinson is and plays up to both the uninterested and die-hard Pattison fans, especially when he discusses how he had to put in the slow motion scenes. Weitz also throws in a jab about his past studio issues with The Golden Compass, discussing how he slipped in a tribute to that. It’s entertaining, insightful and like watching a movie with two friends so even if you despise the movie you can sit back and listen to them discuss the movie. If you get the 2-disc DVD or Blu-Ray there’s also a six-part documentary and various music videos so if you want a deeper look at the series and are a die-hard Twi-hard you probably already own one of these editions.
In the end I’m still not a Twilight fan but I enjoyed rewatching New Moon and listening to what Weitz attempted to show in this installment. If you enjoy director perspectives on movies then you’ll do well to merely listen to the commentary and skip the movie altogether. Rent It!
Entertainment News International (ENI) is the popular culture network for fans all around the world. Get the scoop on all the popular comics, games, movies, toys, and more every day!
