New Moon Movie

With the release of the second installment of the Twilight series in 2009, fans poured into theaters in droves. The movie set box office records both for its midnight release which grossed $26.3 million, and its opening day which grossed $72.7 million total. With the huge “Team Jacob” versus “Team Edward” controversy that was created with the first movie, it is no wonder that the movie topped the charts.

On her eighteenth birthday, Bella wakes up after dreaming about standing in front of a mirror as an old lady with her vampire boyfriend Edward. The fear of aging while Edward stays young is one of the driving forces behind her desire to become a vampire. The Cullens throw her a birthday party, and she cuts herself. With the smell of her blood in the air, she is nearly killed by Jasper, Alice’s soul mate. Edward decides that it is too dangerous for her to be around him and the Cullens leave Forks.

Bella is left devastated and turns to Jacob for solace. The bond between them deepens when Bella buys two old motorcycles and they spend time together fixing them up. Bella discovers that when she takes risks with her life, she can hear Edward in her head. In a desperate attempt to hear him again, Bella goes cliff diving. Edward mistakenly believes that she is dead and goes to Italy to sacrifice himself to the Volturi.

Alice contacts Bella and tells her what Edward is doing and they rush off to save him. They barely get there in time but Bella saves him. They are forced to meet with the Volturi and barely escape alive. The movie ends with Edward promising to change Bella after she marries him.

New Moon has wonderful special effects and stays close to the original story line. There are differences between the movie and the book, mostly because of the technical impossibilities of bringing some of the book’s content onto the screen. When possible, the movie stays true to the book and is a wonderful addition to the series.