Product Description
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This next instalment of The Twilight Saga sees Bella Swan
devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward
Cullen, but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship
with Jacob Black. Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world
of werewolves, the ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds
her loyalties tested.
With more of the passion, action and suspense that made Twilight
a smash hit, The Twilight Saga: New Moon is a spellbinding
follow-up to the international box office phenomenon.
What the critics say:
"Superb. This is the moment that the Twilight saga comes of age”
News of the World
“Breathtaking” New!
“Unmissable, our pulses are still racing” Company
***** from Look, Now Magazine and New!
**** from Heat, Grazia, the Sunday Mirror and News of the World
.co.uk Review
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New Moon, the second in Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster
teen-fiction saga adapted for film, is stronger than its
predecessor, Twilight. Director Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass),
taking the helm from Catherine Hardwicke, brings a lighter, more
assured touch to the sequel, which continues the star-crossed
love story of mortal Bella (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward
(Robert Pattinson). Incidentally, Edward is absent for most of
the film; after an accident on Bella's birthday reminds Edward
that her life is always at risk when he's around, he chooses to
abandon her, sending her into a deep depression. The only person
who helps her heal her broken heart is her friend Jacob (Taylor
Lautner), a member of the Quileute tribe who, as he grows taller,
beefier, and more aggressive (with less clothing), comes to
realize he's not entirely human either. But even his love for
Bella doesn't prevent her from throwing herself in the path of
danger, because that's the only time she can see visions of
Edward. One such eful misunderstanding sends Edward into the
coven of the Volturi (a sort of vampire Mafia, if you will),
where the most dangerous vampires hold both Edward and Bella's
e in their cold, dark hands. Much of New Moon rests on the
shoulders of Lautner, so scrawny in Twilight, who famously packed
on the muscle to avoid getting recast. He's very nearly
successful in carrying the load, but the cheese-tastic beefcake
scenes disservice him, and Jacob and Bella's complicated
friendship stumbles on its way to any kind of love triangle. Some
of that blame lies with Stewart, who understandably holds her
emotions close to her chest but reveals much too little (c'mon,
even an angsty girl has to be a little joyful in the arms of two
different hunks). As is with the book, the film is just a bridge
between sa, so the plot drags and not a lot happens.
Fortunately, while Twilight was trapped in its own
self-consciousness, the wobbly-legged cast seems to have found
stronger footing in New Moon; the jokes come faster, the writing
(by Melissa Rosenberg, who also scribed Twilight) is a hair
wittier. (Even Pattinson seems more comfortable in Edward's
skin.) The Volturi, highlighted by Michael Sheen's Aro and Dakota
Fanning's Jane, also make an all-too-brief impression, but at
least there's more to look forward to when Eclipse, the third
installment, is released. --Ellen A. Kim