It's 12:01a.m, on Friday, Nov. 20. The premiere of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is about to begin and there is not an empty seat in all of the ten auditoriums at the Jersey Garden's Theater.
Unsurprisingly, this is what thousands of other movie theaters across the country experienced that night as well. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" was even able to break "The Dark Knight" midnight showing record with $74.7 million. It's debatable whether fans came out to see it solely because of the effect the original had on them or because they were legitimately excited for more screen time for Bella and her vampire boyfriend, Edward. Despite the reasons, the film is already a massive hit.
Director Chris Weitz made a lot of changes in the "Twilight" sequel. The overall feel of the movie has a lighter, funnier tone and the acting is completely different. However, the movie still passed with flying colors.
Although different, the acting cannot be looked at as better or worse. Some critics argue that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson need acting lessons, but a majority of these critics admit to have never read the "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer. The actors do not need acting lessons-they were simply fulfilling the roles of their characters and making the best out of what they were given. In "New Moon," the acting also took on a more comical aura. In the first movie, Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) were both entering new worlds: Bella was encountering the world of the undead and both were experiencing true love for the first time, resulting in some awkwardness toward each other. Both Stewart and Pattinson have successfully improved their acting skills from "Twilight" to "New Moon."
From the opening scene, it is clear that the characters themselves have also evolved from the first film. The couple is livelier and more in love. Bella takes on an entirely different role in the sequel. Her character is more open to reality and accepting of the fact that Edward is no longer in love with her. The old Bella would have put up a fight rather than sit back and let him go.
Even the minor characters like Charlie Swan (Billy Burke) and Laurent (Edi Gathegi) take on different personas. Gathegi even went as far as having an entirely different accent than the one he spoke with in the first film.
However, the film stays true to the Stephenie Meyer novel. Weitz has done a much better job with following Meyer's vision than Catherine Hardwicke, director of "Twilight." On the other hand, the film clearly assumes that the audience has already read the book. The scenes head straight for the action without justifying the cause. If someone in the audience has not read Meyer's books, they will be completely lost at some parts.
The only major difference that took place from the pages to the screen is that Weitz leaves little to no room for any mystery. Meyer wrote the book leaving the reader to question what was actually going on with Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) far longer than Weitz held on to the werewolf secret.
"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is not for the masses, but rather "Twilight" fans only. Someone who has never seen "Twilight" or read any of the books will not be able to understand or appreciate the sequel to its full extent. Needless to say that it will not matter, for there will still be thousands of fans to sell out theaters across the country, desperate to see the saga unfold. Its excellence can only hope to continue when the next film in the series, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," is released in theaters in June 2010 with yet a third director, David Slade.
Laura Masino can be reached at laura.masino@student.shu.edu.
