Salt Lake Tribune Review

It doesn't take Alice, the soothsayer of the vampire family the Cullens, to see for whom "New Moon" -- the second installment in the "Twilight" franchise -- was made.

If you're a big fan of the first "Twilight" movie or of Stephenie Meyer's books, you'll be in the theater, no matter what you read in this review.

The rest of you are excused. Your friends and family will meet you in the lobby in about two hours and 10 minutes.

"New Moon" picks up where "Twilight" left off, with high-school girl Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) hopelessly in love with fellow student -- and 107-year-old eternally youthful vampire -- Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). After a scary incident in which Edward's undead siblings smell blood from Bella's paper cut and go a little nutso, Edward abruptly decides it's best if he and Bella never see each other again.

The script, by Melissa Rosenberg (who also adapted "Twilight"), spends much time on Bella's post-breakup depression. She goes into phases, first becoming reckless (in hopes of luring the protective Edward back) but later settling for hanging around with childhood pal Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). It helps Bella's broken heart that Jacob is now a total studmuffin, with ripped abs and toned biceps.

Jacob has a secret, and it's not his workout regimen. The movie takes more than an hour to reveal this secret, even though it's a central part of the movie's marketing campaign and there are hermits in remote
caves who can tell you what it is.

OK, here goes: Jacob is part of a clan of -- SPOILER ALERT! -- werewolves, who have a long-running animosity toward the vampires.

Director Chris Weitz ("About a Boy") takes over the franchise from Catherine Hardwicke, who emphasized the teen romantic angst over the vampire stuff. The tension between Bella and Edward was the main appeal of the first "Twilight," and is sadly missing here.

Weitz's and Rosenberg's attempts to shoehorn the absent Edward into the plot are forced. Equally forced are the repetitive scenes in which Bella and Jacob are about to kiss, but then get interrupted. Unlike the first film, this time Bella is shown as such a passive figure that in most scenes she doesn't even get to drive her own truck.

The movie is further hamstrung by Rosenberg's clunky dialogue and by computer-generated werewolves that are as fake-looking as the polar bears in Weitz's "The Golden Compass."

Then there's the finale, which awkwardly tries to expand "Twilight" into a supernatural epic by introducing the vampires' ruling family, the Volturi. This clan must be important, because it's led by actors we've actually heard of -- Michael Sheen ("Underworld," "Frost/Nixon") and Dakota Fanning.

The Volturi become an important part of the saga later, but in "New Moon" it's just another time-killing obstacle to keep Bella from getting kissed.

-- Sean P. Means

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