The continuing adventures of mopey Bella Swan and her miserable vampire boyfriend Edward, with added Jacob - now a super-buff werewolf.
brilliant...
I wasn't overly excited by the first Twilight movie, but there were signs that it could have been good - Taylor Lautner's Jacob was not just attractive, he also lit up the screen when he appeared. Knowing his role expanded in New Moon then I was happy to watch this sequel. And boy was I happy once it started too! Bella makes reference to how buff Jacob has got since she last saw him at the beginning of the movie, and then once his long hippy hair is cut off and he starts walking around in just a pair of denim shorts we get to see just how buff he really is. It's easy to tell where the nickname Jak-Abs comes from! Lautner continued to be the most charismatic of the main cast members, with Bella mooning over Edward for much of the running time, as he's decided he has to leave - except he pops up in shimmer ghost/visions things that look stupid and appear to be there to placate the 'Team Edward' portions of the audience. Bella continues to treat everybody who's not a vampire shittily, and although she falls for Jacob, once she finds out Edward's going to top himself in Italy (go figure) she's off to stop him without a single thought for cute puppy dog Lautner. I found the whole film to be more satisfying than the first, possibly due to better direction, probably due to a focus on Jacob and his werewolf pack - who are mighty impressive, turning into HUGE wolves that are a solid CGI job.
As ever this is Bella's movie, and Kristen Stewart continues to scowl and mope through the film - as the part demands I suppose. It would have been a braver move to completely forget about Edward rather than have the visions popping up. Bella becomes such a selfish character, and I wanted to reach into the screen and slap her silly, commanding her to get a grip and stop moping over her vampire boyfriend. The supporting characters get pretty short shrift, although Edward's sister is fun - she does however bring about a massive shift in the movie when Bella spontaneously flies to Italy (not telling her poor Dad) to stop Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning killing Edward. Unfortunately, she gets there in time, and then none of the bad vamps decides to kill Bella, despite the fact she knows about their breed. This whole section is clearly a manipulative set up to make you come see the next movie, and undoes a lot of the good work of the rest of the film - Bella, and thus the story, forgets about Jacob who seems to have just been serving as filler in the ongoing love story.
briefly...
An average action/romance flick with a couple of uninvolving leads - brightened considerably by Taylor Lautner's smile and pecs. Could there be a bit more excitement next time please?
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