The Eclipse teaser trailer opens with a dark and brooding Summit logo, which ties in nicely with the official movie logo shown at the end. See the little eclipse peeping over the Summit mountain? That’s clever. And ominous.

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“With the new movie and 50 minutes of extra footage and interviews, ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon Ultimate Fan Edition’ also contains an exclusive, seven-minute sneak peek of ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,’ ” the press release boasts. “It begins with an exciting behind-the-scenes look at the production of the newest film. New interviews with stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, as well as with series-creator Stephenie Meyer, are integrated with revealing on-the-set footage of some of the key scenes and sets from the upcoming movie. This first look at ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’ concludes with the world premiere of an actual scene from the upcoming film.”

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What do you do after traipsing around the world for two weeks promoting a film, especially one that soared to a $285 million worldwide opening weekend? One might assume that you take a long, long nap. Not “New Moon” director Chris Weitz, who sat down for one more interview to discuss his fears about the release and his reaction to negative reviews.

“Nothing surprises me in terms of reviews,” Weitz told Entertainment Weekly. “Having been a reviewer myself, there are only two ways to spin this story. You can either be the one guy who says this is a great movie, or more likely, take a more jaundiced view of the whole thing. And given the media blitz that has accompanied ‘New Moon,’ it’s rather unsurprising. I do wish there was more appreciation for cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe. I think he’s a genius, and I think he made something beautiful.”

Given the enormous pressure involved with taking on a wildly popular franchise and the intense media attention focused on his stars, Weitz hoped he wouldn’t disappoint studio Summit Entertainment. “If one could imagine their …

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*SPOILERS*

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).

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“This is the last time you’ll ever see me,” Edward Cullen says to Bella Swan. As if.

Spoken early on in “New Moon,” that promise is one of the least likely to be kept in movie history. With most of that film still to unfold, and two more adaptations of Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series in the works, the next due out as soon as next summer, the world is going to see as much of Kristen Stewart’s melancholy Bella and Robert Pattinson’s undead Edward as it can take. Maybe more.

In the short term, however, Edward is as good as his word and “New Moon” suffers as a result. Constrained by the plot of the novel, the film keeps the two lovers apart for quite a spell, robbing the project of the crazy-in-love energy that made “Twilight,” the first entry in the series, such a guilty pleasure.

“New Moon,” which has been grandly titled “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” in honor of that first episode’s huge success, marks the franchise’s entrance into the self-protective, don’t rock the boat phase of its existence, which is inevitable but a bit of a shame.

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The Twilight Saga: New Moon” demonstrates that werewolves, while also belonging to the dangerous-when-biting class, are a lot more fun than vampires. They favor knee-length shorts, sneakers and seem most comfortable when shirtless, probably because their abs are so hot they require constant airing out. Instead of lamenting the eternal state of their being, they romp in the forest or go cliff diving. They maintain a core temperature of 108, enjoy snacks of muffins the size of small cats, and have decent senses of humor.

Ultimately, this makes Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), despite the furriness, far more suitable boyfriend material for any teenage girl than vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), although don’t bother telling Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) that. The heroine of the “Twilight Saga” turns 18 on the day our story begins, but she still doesn’t listen to reason. That’s not her thing, as we learned in “Twilight,” Catherine Hardwicke’s dark and emotionally stormy introduction to the cinematic versions of Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling four-part series, in which Bella fell in love with Edward, a noble vampire who sparkles like diamonds (rather than ignites, as is traditional in the vampire mythology) in sunlight and can only kiss her for a few seconds before his animal instincts are awakened. Paging Vampire Bill, who has figured out how to satisfy himself and his woman.

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Yep, we’ve seen “New Moon.” And the best news we can give you might be this: We want to see it again. And again.

Most of us here at MTV News make no secret of the fact that we’re fans of the franchise, and if you’re reading this story, we know you’ll see this latest “Twilight” installment — which is why we wanted to write something that doesn’t so much say, “See this movie,” as it says, “Don’t worry; this movie is all you’re hoping for.”

So, after a few days of reflection, here’s our spoiler-free list of the ways that “New Moon” delivers:

Maybe it’s because the franchise’s stars are one year older. Perhaps it’s because of director Chris Weitz. Or, most likely, the stars have the confidence of now knowing that these films will be seen by millions and are feeling more comfortable stepping into the skin of the characters they’ll be known as forever. Whatever the reason, every returning actor is better in this film than in “Twilight.” Most notable is Taylor Lautner — who displays incredible screen presence and physicality in his first true starring role — and Kristen Stewart, who perfectly conveys the heartbreak and insanity of Bella’s fractured mental state with every scream, sob and adrenaline-fueled wicked grin.

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After the success of the first installment, music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas (Gossip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy) gets her pick of the alt litter here, with each contributing original, previously unreleased material: From the opening chords of Death Cab for Cutie’s dusky guitar rapture ”Meet Me on the Equinox” to the spooky robot-ennui of Thom Yorke’s ”Hearing Damage” 
 and Grizzly Bear’s gorgeous folk-pop pastoral ”Slow Life,” New Moon rarely falters. A peacocking remix of Muse’s shamelessly operatic ”I Belong to You” becomes a Bowie-esque glam-rock stomper. In its wake, Bon Iver and St. Vincent quietly unfurl ”Rosyln,” a duet of hushed, almost church-like beauty.

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