Film review: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Published on Thursday 19 November 2009 21:55

DIRECTED BY: CHRIS WEITZ *** STARRING: KRISTEN STEWART, ROBERT PATTINSON, TAYLOR LAUTNER, ASHLEY GREENE

CONSIDERING it was intended as a blockbuster stopgap – fast-tracked into cinemas after Harry Potter ran over schedule – the big surprise of last year's Twilight was how skilfully it had been assembled. Refusing to condescend to its demographic, the film offered two young stars who collectively comprised a fine ad campaign for pale and interesting, while director Catherine Hardwicke cultivated a dreamy atmosphere that – alongside the verdant Washington DC backdrop – couldn't help but remind older viewers of Twin Peaks.

The follow-up, New Moon, again sourced from author Stephenie Meyer, suffers from common sequel flaws – there's some needless backstory and a presumption of familiarity with minor characters that will be applicable only to those who pored over the original on DVD. In the very Lynchian opening sequence, the heroine has a vision of herself as her own grandmother: clearly, the chief concern here is what ageing might mean for romances between mortal and vampire.

Yes, it is with great regret we announce that, after a most fleeting courtship, Miss Bella Swan and Mr Edward Cullen (Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson) are parting company, convinced they're growing apart. Most of New Moon charts Bella's attempts to get over her undead ex, first through outdoor pursuits, then hunk-next-door Jacob (Taylor Lautner). How do you like your boys, this instalment asks – pallid with big teeth, or hairy with big teeth?

After exposure to TV's True Blood, the fear was the Twilight saga's New Romantic swooning might have seemed anaemic second time round, but New Moon suggests a series carving out its own swoony, sensitive niche. If the promise of a war between vamps and werewolves recalls the dreary Underworld movies – a Michael Sheen cameo doesn't exactly dispel the dj vu – it's at least backed up with smart Romeo and Juliet parallels.

Again, you're struck by how ageless these teenagers are. Bella confesses to feeling 40, the precocious Dakota Fanning is almost unrecognisable in scarlet contacts as a bad bloodsucker, while Cullen makes a final gesture of staggering maturity. It's stronger on dream logic than plot – the cliffhanger ending will only be resolved in next summer's Eclipse – yet knows its audience exactly: about 30 of its 130 minutes consist of slo-mo lingering on Pattinson's preternatural jawline and Lautner's preposterous abs.