Okay, I’m just going to say it. The Twilight Saga: New Moon is not a perfect movie. Critics — the really nasty ones — are going to nitpick and tear it to shreds. Which is really a shame, because while it is not a perfect movie — it’s a wonderfully enjoyable movie. (For this fan, at least.) I’ll be honest, New Moon is my least favorite of the books — but I felt a new sense of appreciation for it while watching it unfold on the big screen.


The Twilight Saga: New Moon is also a huge step-up from Twilight, in many ways. The overall scope and feel of the entire movie is both bigger and better.


Sure, we’ve seen in the trailers, clips, etc. that the effects are much improved (more on that in a moment). But the entire presentation has been improved, I feel, on the whole: the acting, the look and feel, the music, the effects, etc. The pacing, especially, is much better in New Moon. There are many parts in Twilight where it felt like the movie just dragged. I don’t get that feeling with New Moon. Could the pacing be improved further? Sure. There are scenes where the dialogue feels a little heavy (though fans may not complain, since the dialogue in those scenes is practically lifted directly from the book) — but the “slower” moments were few and far between. And oddly enough — it actually felt to me like there was more romance between Bella and Edward in New Moon than there was in the first movie.


Can I also just say thank you to the folks who injected New Moon with all the action scenes? We’ve got vampires and werewolves in action, cliff-diving, motorcycles, fight-scenes, chases. It’s all delightful and keeps the flow moving. One of the most well-done sequences, in my opinion, (minor spoiler alert) happens during Bella’s cliff-dive. The filmmakers have brilliantly interwoven Bella’s moment atop the cliff, with scenes of Charlie out hunting the “animals” behind recent attacks, Victoria hot on his trail, and the wolves hot on hers. The entire sequence is beautiful, fast-paced and engaging. It was definitely a stand-out moment.


Effects:


Kudos to director Chris Weitz for squeezing every penny out of the budget he got. The effects are markedly improved, and while we know the wolves are CGI — they’re pretty darn good CGI wolves and it’s still fun to watch them in action (and they get plenty of action).


Also significantly improved are the vampire action sequences. No more goofy “fast run.” No, the vampires of New Moon are pretty bad ass. They move quickly and beautifully. Their movements are also frightening, when called for (ie Laurent, Victoria and the Volturi are creepy as hell!). By now, you’ve all probably seen clips of the fight between Felix and Edward in the Volturi lair. I can tell you, it’s even better on the big screen.


Actors:


As with other aspects of the film, the acting in New Moon is also a big step-up from Twilight. Kristen Stewart, especially, shines as Bella — as she goes through a vast range of emotions. I’ve heard her speak about how exhausting it was to do — and after seeing her performance, I understand why. Stewart sinks with Bella to the lowest of lows, and we see her struggle to surface from her agony. We also see Bella find new happiness with Jacob, and experience true joy. We see and feel with her as she struggles to move on, while still holding on to what she has left of Edward.


Robert Pattinson will continue to make girls swoon with his performance of Edward Cullen. As the audience, your heart breaks with Bella’s during the highly-anticipated break-up scene. But unlike Bella, the audience also catches a glimpse of Edward’s pain — the grimace on his face, when Bella can’t see him — and that look alone speaks volumes. Sure, Edward acts like a total jerk when he breaks-up with Bella … but that one look shows us how much agony it is for him to go through.


Taylor Lautner also earns his heartthrob status here. He’s still young and learning, and there were times when his performance felt (to me) a little forced — but he really steps up to the role of leading man nicely, and I can’t wait to see how his performance continues to improve with future films.


As always, Billy Burke as Charlie Swan is a stand-out. He was a personal favorite of mine in the first movie, and he was my favorite again with New Moon. Charlie pops in and out of the movie — but he steals the show every time. He’s delightfully awkward as the father, trying to help his daughter heal from a painful break-up. But, as with the first movie, we also glimpse the depth of his emotions. This really shines through when he pulls Bella into his arms, after Sam finds her lost in the woods — and later when he comforts Bella from another of her nightmares.


And now here’s my biggest complaint about the actors in New Moon — there just isn’t enough time in a two-hour movie to spend with all of the supporting characters. They are all outstanding.


Let’s start with the humans. Michael Welch as Mike Newton, and Anna Kendrick as Jessica Stanley really steal the show in their brief but wonderful scenes.


The Wolf Pack are wonderfully warm and brotherly. The scene at Emily’s home (it’s in the book, people) really shows their comraderie. And the actors each get a chance to shoot off a few great one-liners. (Spoiler: a personal favorite was Sam saying to Bella, “Jacob was right. You’re good with the weird stuff.”)


The Volturi are expectedly creepy, and though there’s been a lot of hype about Dakota Fanning’s performance as Jane — my personal favorite was Michael Sheen as Aro. He’s such a rich, colorful character in the books — and Sheen really brings him to life. He’s just a joy to watch on screen. Of course, Fanning is also creepy and wicked as Jane — and the supporting Volturi members fill their roles well, albeit their performances are notably brief.


The remaining nomads also have brief, but notable performances. Oh, Laurent, it was sad to see you go. Edi Gathegi is such a genuinely nice person — and watching his performance, you know he means it when he talks about how much he enjoys playing Laurent. Rachelle LeFevre as Victoria is also a distinct presence throughout the entire film — all without speaking a single line. (That’s right … no “curve ball” references here; she doesn’t have a single line. It doesn’t matter; she’s still scary as hell.)


And of course, the Cullens. You had to know going in that they’re hardly in this movie. But when they do appear on screen, they’re lovely to be around as always. The scene between Carlisle and Bella, when he stitches up her arm, is especially poignant. It’s also nice to see Ashley Greene finally get to shine as Alice — the only Cullen besides Edward to get some decent screen time. Jackson Rathbone as Jasper also gets a couple extra moments on-screen, and he’s delightful — especially when finally demonstrating his gift to manipulate emotions.


Music:


You’ve all probably heard the soundtrack for New Moon by now, and you know that it has a much more cohesive sound to it than the Twilight soundtrack. That translates to the big screen. The soundtrack selections also work well with the new score from Alexandre Desplat, which has a broader and more cinematic sound to it than Carter Burwell’s Twilight score. I felt like the music selections were smart and well-placed throughout the movie.


Specifics (Spoilers ahead):


Okay, I’m going to drop a few minor spoilers here to talk about some specifics from the movie, so consider this fair warning. There be spoilers ahead:


* Gratuitous eye candy. Depending on your perspective, this can be a good or a bad thing. While I enjoyed the eye candy — I also felt like it was kind of silly. Yes, Edward is hot as he struts across the parking lot. He also looks kind of ridiculous. Equally ridiculous is Jacob ripping his shirt off to dab at a minor wound on Bella’s head. (Seriously, dude, stop getting half-naked).


* Product placements. Edward drives a VOLVO. Bella and Alice fly VIRGIN ATLANTIC to Italy. Okay, the Volvo I’ll allow — since it is a detail from the book. But Virgin, really? Did you really need a 15-second commercial in the middle of New Moon?


* Missed opportunity: During my favorite sequence of the movie (mentioned previously), we see Charlie attending to Harry Clearwater during his heart attack. It’s an emotional moment in the movie, and my heart goes out to Charlie. Later, Charlie chastises Bella for leaving him for three days with no word (when she runs off to Italy). He tells her not to do that to him again. The filmmakers missed an opportunity here to bring back the emotions of losing Harry — since Charlie was worrying about his daughter’s whereabouts on the heels of watching one of his best friends die. Pretty hard-core stuff there, but the filmmakers sort of let Harry’s death slide.


* Major highlight: The three-way date between Bella, Jacob and Mike. Michael Welch told NNT over the summer that the scene wasn’t originally in the movie, but that Stewart and Lautner insisted it be added. He told us he was so thankful they added that scene, because it was one of his favorites — and now, so do we.


* The audience originally chuckled when the scene this still picture (right) is from appeared on the big screen … but the laughter stopped once everyone realized what it was actually showing. I don’t want to give it away, but … O.M.G. Seriously.


* Bella’s scar: Yes, we see Bella’s scar from James’ attack — and Jacob takes note of it. This is a small moment in the book, but it’s always been one of my favorites and I was glad to see a version of it make it onto the big screen.


* E-mailing Alice: One of my favorite plot devices of New Moon was this little twist. Instead of Bella simply narrating parts of the movie, we get a glimpse inside her head through her e-mails to Alice. The messages all go unanswered (and in fact, are undeliverable) — but it’s a lovely twist to have Bella say, “Dear Alice …” before pouring her heart out about what she’s experiencing and feeling.


* A nitpicky complaint: During a certain sequence depicting the passage of time (yeah, you probably know what I’m talking about), the landscape outside of Bella’s window is shown as a snowy scene for the month of December. Sorry, folks. It does not snow like that in Forks. Yes, towns in the Pacific NW like Forks occasionally get socked in with a winter storm (we saw one in Oregon & Washington last year) — but those are rare.


* PERK: Trailer for Rob Pattinson’s Remember Me (and yes, it looks good!)