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By James White, MSN Movies

New Moon: Excited?

Like Harry Potter, the Twilight franchise is now a given, at least through the fourth book, Breaking Dawn, which is where producers Summit Entertainment unfortunately run out of original source material. For now, though, we have New Moon, the second in the series. It’s all change behind the camera as Chris Weitz steps in forCatherine Hardwicke and the story shifts to expand the world of werewolves and sparkly vampires. Bella and Edward face new roadblocks to their love and Jacob Black gets to show his true, furry side. Can it take another bite out of the box office, or will it mope off into the darkness?
New Moon (© Twentieth Century Fox)
YES!
 
It’s Twilight, people
If we’re talking purely box office terms, there are few more sure things this year. The first film quickly grew into a huge success, powered along by a rabid fan base. The sequel is maintaining the cast, staying largely loyal to the book and ramping up the romance. How can it not be a massive hit?
 
Some solid additions
The regulars, including Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner are all decent thesps, even if they are saddled with the overwrought characters dreamt up by Stephenie Meyer. But this time around, they’re being supplemented with some even better talent, including the great Michael Sheen, the usually impressive Dakota Fanning and the spooky Cameron Bright. 
 
Weitz knows what he’s doing…
Weitz hasn’t directed loads of movies, but he’s responsible for About A Boy and American Pie, so at least he knows emotion and teen angst off by heart. And he’s spoken before about how he connects with the story of Bella and Edward’s tragic love, so hopefully he’ll blend that with some solid filmmaking cred to produce something even better than the first film.
 
NO!
 
…But his last film was The Golden Compass
Beloved literary sensation crammed full with fantasy and emotion. Huge expectations. Decent budget. Lots of visual effects. Sound familiar? The last time Weitz took on something like this, it was The Golden Compass and we know how that turned out: a great big bomb. What was supposed to be a franchise was stopped dead in its tracks. Weitz has said that he wasn’t allowed to present Compass the way he wanted to (i.e. faithfully), so maybe he has a better chance this time, given that the Twilight team are all about sticking as closely as possible to the novel.
 
Those blasted trailers
Yes, we realise that judging something based on massive over promotion just isn’t fair, but being exposed to so many clips and teasers and trailers and teasers for trailers and trailers for clips and clips for… We get out of breath just typing it all up. And every time we see one of them, we start to get more and more sick of it all.
 
The wolves
The werewolves – or spirit wolves, as they should more properly be called – are a huge part of New Moon. Jacob turns into one, as do other members of his tribe, all thanks to a curse. But with the effects budget and experience on the film, why do the wolves look so… well… shoddy? It’s not a good sign – and hopefully the final footage will be better. Maybe.
 
 
Excite-O-Meter rating: 3/5
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