NEW MOON (2009)

Posted by Steph Appell

Dir. Chris Weitz

Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, 11/21/09, 3:35PM

By now, even if you have not read any of Stephenie Meyers’ novels or seen either of the two films, unless you live in a media and cultural vacuum, you know that something called Twilight that involves vampires is very popular with the female half of the population. If your exposure to this franchise goes beyond the passing casual at all, then you know what a complex beast it is, and how little a review like this can hope to contribute. The films could be absolute garbage, but as long as they were reasonably faithful to the novels and had the author’s stamp of approval (the cult of personality surrounding Meyer herself is only one of the many intriguing facets to this enigma), they’d make millions.

The problem, of course, is that the movies are not terrible, though no one should mistake them for high art or even good genre films. They do not succeed as horror, romance, or teen movies, which is essentially what they’d like to be. Nevertheless, they are not unbearable, wastes of the time it takes to watch them, or entirely without redeeming qualities. Setting aside any critique of their basic narratives, which in as high a profile literary adaptation as this we cannot really fault the filmmakers for, both of the films negotiate their relationship to the source text in interesting ways, improving on it as much as possible. Not to put too fine a point on it, directors Catherine Hardwicke and Chris Weitz made the best films possible under the circumstances — an atrocious source text, an enormous, rabid, and hyper-critical fan base, and the budgetary constraints of a small studio (Twilight) that has a bit of extra weight to throw around on a sequel (New Moon).

I nominate this shot for Most Laughable Use of Slo-Mo in 2009.

Thanks to the success of Twilight, all the familiar faces have returned for New Moon. Dreamboat Robert Pattinson is still as wooden as ever, perpetually-stoned Kristen Stewart hardly ever bites her lip or tucks her hair behind her ear (it helps that she seems to find playing depressed and reckless a bit easier than playing mystified and enchanted), but it’s Taylor Lautner’s Jacob who really stands out. Regardless of Lautner’s astonishing and much-hyped physical transformation, he is simply the strongest of the three leads, exuding Sexy-But-Caring-Best-Friend vibes so effortlessly it’s hard to tell how anyone could walk out of the theatre not rooting for Team Taylor. The supporting cast are a mixed bag, with most of the Cullen family turning in extremely one-note performances, though Peter Facinelli as patriarch Carlisle shines in a brief scene early in the film. Other standout supporters include Rachelle Lefevre as the evil Victoria, Michael Sheen at his creepy-without-veering-into-camp best as the aristocratic Aro, and Billy Burke as Bella’s father Charlie, whose looks of bewilderment could just as well be wondering what the hell he’s doing in this movie as they could be good acting. Unfortunately, these successes are balanced by just as many failures, particularly Dakota Fanning’s sadistic Jane, who made no impression whatsoever, the werewolves, whose Native American actors should be applauded in the name of diversity but who all get so little individual screen time that they’re collectively forgettable, and British up-and-comer Jamie Campbell Bower as Caius, who speaks maybe twice and otherwise just looks constipated.

Burke: "So, this is awkward." Stewart: "Yeah, I'm just here for the sweet Canadian weed."

Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe makes the film far more beautiful to look at than Meyers’ juvenile prose deserves, and composer Alexandre Desplat’s lush score is not only a vast improvement on Carter Burwell’s previous effort but is actually one of the better scores of the year. Likewise, music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas’ return is welcome and even praise-worthy; New Moon’s higher profile meant that she could solicit artists for original compositions, some even written for specific scenes, resulting in some really nice moments and a solid soundtrack album to boot.

Unfortunately for all of the people I’ve just praised, New Moon is essentially the story of a teen girl in an abusive relationship with a violent and suicidal older man. In a moment of brief clarity, the man ends the relationship to try to spare the girl further harm. Though she is devastatingly heartbroken for a time and does some pretty stupid things as a result, as teen girls will, she begins to move on and finds comfort, companionship, and even love with another boy, who has secrets of his own but seems better able to manage them without taking out his difficulties on her. But the girl never really abandons her old flame, and after preventing him from committing suicide, their romance is rekindled and he ends the film with a marriage proposal.

Let me reiterate that: This is a film that, however much it negotiates this over the course of its narrative, ultimately asks you to root for a girl to return to an abusive relationship. While the audience in the Drafthouse theatre, judging by their many vocal reactions during the film, obviously didn’t take New Moon at face value, it’s entirely possible that an entire generation of girls will use the Twilight franchise as their model for ideal romantic relationships. Now there’s a scary thought.