Mooning over supernatural love

All you candy-coated vampire lovers. Here's a sneaky preview of my review (which will be published in tomorrow's Weekend Press).

Shh, don't tell anyone...

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (M) Directed by Chris Weitz *** Reviewed by Margaret Agnew 
 
The Twilight Saga: New Moon is what is often referred to as "critic-proof" in the film biz. It doesn't matter what reviewers say, scads of people - especially teenage girls - are going to flock to this movie.

Twilight is the teenage vampire romance that has expanded from a literary phenomenon to a cinematic one, making tabloid fodder out of its pretty young stars, Kristen Stewart and square-jawed Robert Pattinson.

For those who haven't read the four novels by Stephenie Meyer, I'll sum up the plot for you.

Drippy girl loves brooding vamp boy.
Vamp boy dumps girl (for her own good).
Girl mopes (a lot).
Girl seeks solace in spunky new boy.
New boy turns into werewolf.
Girl jumps off cliff.
Vamp boy thinks girl is dead.
Girl (who is not dead, thanks to wolf boy) must race to Italy to save suicidal vamp boy.
Vamp boy and girl together - again.
Wolf boy mopes.

Yes, it's that classic old love story.

I'm afraid New Moon won't make much sense for newbies. Seeing the first film and taking a teenage girl along for guidance will help.

My favourite teenage girl - my niece Petra, who has read all the books - kindly came along to give her learned opinion of the sequel. Her 14-year-old assessment was that it was ''rully, rully good''. She gives it four stars, although she was miffed that ''they missed out heaps from the book''.

It's always the way in film adaptations that certain parts of the beloved novel are jettisoned to fit the restraints of visual storytelling. Just ask Elizabeth Knox.

Despite a heavy-handed soundtrack, there are some nice touches here, especially from the talent brought in to play members of the vicious vampire overlords, the Volturi. Child star Dakota Fanning is nearly unrecognisable as the vampire torturer Jane, while talented English actor Michael Sheen swaps from his half-werewolf role of Underworld to play the mind-reading vampire lord Aro.

More disappointing for Team Edward fans is the morose, monotone delivery of Pattinson as Edward, who seems to have given in to the weight of teen angst, despite being 109 years old. I suppose being stuck as a teenager for a century would become tiring - all those hormonal surges. Speaking of which, Team Jacob should be pleased with how buff wolf boy Jacob (Taylor Lautner) looks.

The director knows his audience and has both Jacob and Edward shirtless before the two hours are up.

New Moon is perfect for anyone currently suffering from hormonal surges and teen angst.

 --------------------------------------------------------

So, who went to a midnight screening? That was past my bedtime, so I went to a 9am screening instead, where there was a surprising number of boys, although I noticed one walking out halfway through.

Please share your thoughts on the film below...

Follow NZStuffBlogs on Twitter and get fast updates on all Stuff's blogs.