The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2-Disc Special Edition) (2009)

"Given this swoon-inducer, Summit Entertainment would be well-advised to set up fainting couches in the multiplex lobby...  Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
"Fan-ready and saga-solid.  Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
"Weitz lets the material breathe, and his actors interact. The film does not try to eat you alive.  Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Editor's Note The supernatural tale of starcrossed lovers continues as the Cullen family flees Forks in order to protect Bella (Kristen Stewart), and the heartbroken high-school senior discovers that vampires aren't the only creatures in town. Realizing that Bella will never be safe as long as he's around, Edward (Robert Pattinson) makes the difficult decision to leave his beloved behind shortly after her 18th birthday. Reeling from her loss, Bella embraces self-destruction after being comforted by Edward's image during a moment of mortal peril. But as heavy-hearted as Bella may be, her old friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) distracts her from her sorrows by helping her renovate a weather-beaten motorbike. When Bella encounters a former adversary with a sizable grudge, she's rescued from harm at the last second by pack of enormous, ferocious wolves. Subsequently delving into the history of the Quileutes, Bella discovers the secrets of Jacob's tribe while looking forward to a reunion with Edward that may have deadly consequences.

	Chaske Spencer
	Bronson Pelletier
	Alex Meraz
	Kiowa Gordon
	Tyson Houseman
	Ashley Greene
	Peter Facinelli
	Elizabeth Reaser
	Kellan Lutz
	Nikki Reed
	Jackson Rathbone
	Edi Gathegi
	Rachelle Lefevre
	Billy Burke
	Charlie Bewley
	Jamie Campbell Bower
	Daniel Cudmore
	Christopher Heyerdahl
	Cameron Bright
	Noot Seer
	Michael Sheen
	Graham Greene
	Tinsel Korey
	Kristen Stewart
	Robert Pattinson
	Taylor Lautner
	Dakota Fanning
	Melissa Rosenberg - Screenwriter
	Stephenie Meyer - Source Writer
	Mark Morgan - Producer
	Greg Mooradian - Producer
	Wyck Godfrey - Producer
	Chris Weitz - Director

USA Today
"Director Chris Weitz has crafted a film with visual flair and polish, particularly in the action sequences of werewolves vs. vampires." 11/20/2009

Box Office
3 stars out of 5 -- "NEW MOON becomes a melodrama about a broken heart that gradually and sweetly mends." 11/19/2009

Hollywood Reporter
"Once again, the three young leads give committed performances, with Lautner's character allowed a larger share of the spotlight this time around." 11/18/2009

Washington Post
"The performances are uniformly strong, especially by Stewart, who is turning into a fine young actress." 11/20/2009

Entertainment Weekly
"The production itself, directed by Chris Weitz from a script by Melissa Rosenberg, is fan-ready and saga-solid. Weitz goes for an appealing, slightly old-fashioned look..." -- Grade: B 11/27/2009

Variety 7 of 10
While this second chapter of Summit Entertainment's four-part franchise is as good as Twilight and arguably a shade better, it's indisputably darker in its depiction of the throes and woes of adolescent love, especially when one gets dumped. That's how things kick off for Bella Swan (Stewart), whose 18th birthday begins with a nightmare and ends with vampire heartthrob Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) telling her he's moving away, with no plans of maintaining a long-distance relationship. Bella quickly slips into a massive depression that resembles a full-scale heroin withdrawal, while her cop dad (Billy Burke) and barely visible school pals can do little but look on...As foreshadowed in the closing minutes of part one, help soon comes in the form of Native American dream boy Jacob Black, aka Jake (Taylor Lautner), who's clearly been working out since the first film (as Bella remarks several times)...Although they start off as friends, it's no secret where things are headed, and Bella engages in several near-suicidal acts that leave her torn between Edward's far-reaching grasp and Jake's bulging biceps...Director Weitz ("The Golden Compass"), taking the reins from Twilight helmer Catherine Hardwicke, and lenser Javier Aguirresarobe painstakingly depict the gloomy, dreamlike state of Bella's extended blues, and then pick up the pace about an hour in with several action sequences set in the rain-soaked woods near Forks, Wash...Stewart is the heart and soul of the film, and not only because her Bella is surrounded by characters who literally have neither one nor the other. She gives both weight and depth to dialogue ("You're just warm. You're like your own sun") that would sound like typical chick-lit blather in the mouth of a less engaging actress, and she makes Bella's psychological wounds seem like the real deal...Fangirls may be disappointed by Pattinson's reduced presence here, as his Edward appears predominantly in mumbling visions until a cliffhanger that brazenly sets up the next episode. Lautner's Jake provides a strong alternative to Edward's pale dreariness, though the filmmakers overdo the "strong" part in an ongoing effort to keep their target audience enraptured. - Jordan Mintzer

The Hollywood Reporter 7 of 10
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 the opening weekend boxoffice is guaranteed to be anything but anemic, most likely eclipsing that $70 million taken by Twilight this time last year...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)...Not wanting to give away too much of the plot (though chances are most of the movie's audience will have already read the book), let's just say brooding Bella is having a tough time where both objectified males are concerned, and that it turns out Jacob's been keeping a little secret of his own -- and it's not just finding a personal trainer in the middle of Forks, Wash...Given that he's directed both the more intimate character-driven About a Boy and the fantastical The Golden Compass, incoming director Weitz is a smart choice for the material...Once again, the three young leads give committed performances, with Lautner's character allowed a larger share of the spotlight this time around...Among the newcomers to the Twilight saga, Michael Sheen, who played an enslaved werewolf in the Underworld pictures, is given the opportunity to vamp it up as Aro, the 2,000-year-old leader of the Volturi...Production values are suitably dark and moody, with able assist from production designer David Brisbin's pre-Raphaelite visual cues to Alexandre Desplat's opulently ominous score. - Michael Rechtshaffen