I think it's natural for anyone from my generation to be cynical towards any recently popular book-based movie franchise. Everyone knows that the Harry Potter books are way better than the movies, so we just love to brush aside a new one that claims to be a "phenomenon". Especially one about romance with vampires. Especially one that attracts middle school fangirls. Despite all of this, we will still read the books (if to just find out what happens in the end) or watch the movie (if to just make ourselves feel better by making fun of it).
When my roommate Anita asked me if I wanted to see New Moon this evening at the HUB, she was joking. I, on the other hand, decided it wasn't a half bad idea considering I did read the books and did watch the first movie and unfortunately didn't have anything better to do on a Friday night. We decided to go, like I said, to mock it and tell all our friends how terrible it was. Judging from all the snickers we heard in the movie theater after just the five minutes of the movie, it was clear that everyone else had come for the same purpose.
About two hours later when the credits rolled, there was a general air of "wow, that was kind of retarded" as people got up to leave. No, it was not a particularly enjoyable movie. It was agonizingly slow. There were times when I closed my eyes for 5-10 seconds and when I reopened them, nothing had changed. The most exciting parts were actually meeting new cast members, such as the werewolves and the Volturi. But between Taylor Lautner's torso, Kristen Stewart's "the world hates me" face and Robert Pattinson's gruesome facial expressions, where was the story?
And then it hit me...New Moon has no story. It wasn't the director's fault. I could tell you the entire story in one paragraph, though I won't since I don't feel like yelling "Spoiler Alert!". And that's why I think that while New Moon was not a quality film, it's a laudable effort. There's skill involved in even making a two hour movie on Stephenie Meyer's plot. No, I would not watch it again. But to make up for the lack of substance, it's richly detailed. It tries to be artistic and meaningful, and begs to be taken seriously. It's as if the filmmakers are like, "Sorry about the lame ass story. It's not our fault. But enjoy the scenery." Also, it's a pretty good adaptation of the book--faithful to the details. So I guess my point is, if you want to avoid reading New Moon (something I highly recommend), watching this movie is an acceptable alternative.
From me, the movie gets a 51%. I'm sure many of you would rate it lower, and I know I'm not supposed to be sympathizing with directors anything, but just consider the material they had to work with. Whether you want to watch it just to laugh at it or watch it just to get it over with, I think you should watch it.
And then tell me what you think by commenting below...:)
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