Reviews

A chaste love triangle between children of the night, the movie gives us all the requisite looks of tortured longing, and not a lot else. There are things to admire, like the silky expertise of Almodovar’s regular cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe, though Alexandre Desplat’s score is a bit too Michael Nyman-Lite for my taste. Basically, I like the idea of Twilight and wish I loved it like the fans do, but what New Moon misses is any animating pulse. For those on the outside looking in, the way the characters are insulated from real danger makes it kind of a drag. Those on the inside, who have dreamed the movie many times already, will lap it up regardless.

By Tim Robey, from The Daily Telegraph

The most improved aspect here, in comparison with the last film, is the action scenes. Director Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) is clearly much more comfortable with the scope of a project like this, and he's a lot better at handling action than Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke. This isn't an action film by any stretch, but the conflict between the vampires and werewolves heats up in this installment, and we get a few cool action and chase sequences. The CG is also well designed and rendered. The werewolves in particular are expressive, and the transitions from human to creature are swift and seamless.

At its heart, though, New Moon is an unabashedly melodramatic tale of tortured romance. Fueled by a melancholy indie soundtrack featuring the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke, Bon Iver and The Killers, this film knows its audience well. It delivers what is expected of it, but not much more. New Moon will undoubtedly appeal to the legions of Twilight fans out there, but it'll be a harder sell for the rest of the movie-going public. As a standalone film judged on its own merits, this vampire/werewolf movie doesn't have much bite.

By Cindy White