The moon may be new, and the director may be different (Chris Weitz takes over the reins from Catherine Hardwicke), but otherwise, the second installment of the “Twilight” saga remains, for better or worse, exceptionally faithful to its 2008 beginnings.
Understandably not wanting to mess with that $350 million worldwide success, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” is content to stay within those tonal parameters rather than venture out in potentially more intriguing or substantial directions, which should suit its ferocious adolescent female fan base just fine.
The uninitiated, meanwhile, might find that the film’s deliberately unhurried 130-minute running time feels like a Cullen clan eternity.
Anticipation is sufficiently high that opening weekend box office for the Summit Entertainment release is guaranteed to be anything but anemic, most likely eclipsing the $70 million taken by “Twilight” this time last year. The film bows Friday (November 20).
Alluding more obviously to the “Romeo & Juliet” vibe of author Stephenie Meyer’s books, “New Moon” finds heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) caught in a tricky triangular relationship with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner).
Read the rest of the review, here.