A New Moon rises

The Twilight franchise has never claimed to be art. Author/empress Stephenie Meyer made a lot of profit from this universal truth. Her books are completely without substance, yet one keeps turning the pages. Twilight is entertainment in its most shameless form, and therein lies the beauty of it.

New Moon, the second in the Twilight series, upholds this notion unfailingly. It’s a little less artistic than the first, which was full of blue tones, high contrast and breathtaking cinematography. Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass), who replaces Catherine Hardwicke as director for the second film, increases the human emotion by using more close-ups than his predecessor. The transition is noticeable but not upsetting. Surprisingly, Weitz embraces the demographic that will be flocking to see this film (young girls) by upping the shirtless ante in the sequel.

For all you cave-dwellers, here’s the lowdown: Twilight is about a girl named Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart, Adventureland) who falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson, Little Ashes). Bella lives in the fictional town of Forks, Wash., where she recently moved to live with her father (Billy Burke, Wonderland). At her high school, a boy catches her eye. After much hullabaloo, it turns out this kid is a vampire. He comes from a family who call themselves “vegetarians” (i.e., they choose to subsist on animal meat rather than on humans).

New Moon opens with Bella dreaming of what it will be like in the future when she has grown old. This is not a future possibility for the immortal Edward, who as a vampire will forever be beautiful and young. Bella wakes up with a copy of Romeo and Juliet conveniently lying next to her on her bed.

New Moon continues the tragedy of star-crossed lovers. After one eventful encounter, Edward decides Bella is not safe with him and breaks up with her (presumably for her own sake). The two spend most of the movie apart as Edward and his family seclude themselves at an unknown location  and Bella mopes around depressingly to the soothing soundtrack of Lykke Li.

Throughout all this, Bella realizes that one way she can see Edward is through taking risks, like taking a high-speed motorcycle ride with another man. Whenever she is in danger, Bella sees hallucinations of Edward telling her to stop doing whatever she is doing.

This is where Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner, Cheaper by the Dozen 2) comes in. Inspired by her adrenaline-fueled motorcycle experience, Bella asks Jacob to help her fix up an old motorcycle. Her ulterior motive is to get closer to Edward, but Jacob doesn’t know that — he is just glad she finally wants to hang out with him.

Inevitably, they become closer and romantic feelings start to develop. And, of course, Jacob turns out to be a werewolf. Thus, Bella proves herself to be the ultimate monster magnet. Jacob makes up for the fact he is not Edward by having some pretty impressive deltoids and biceps. He is shirtless more often than not — a definite nod to the ladies in the audience.

Hunky as he is, Jacob is placed on the backburner when Bella realizes she must go to Italy and save Edward’s life. The sullen vampire is planning to commit suicide because he has heard Bella is dead and, in true romantic fashion, cannot bear to live without her.

While in Italy, Bella learns more about the Volturi, who are like a royal family of vampires. Dakota Fanning (Push), looking stranger than usual in red-colored contacts and heavy eyeliner, is part of this clan, as is Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon). In one pariculary engaging action scene here, the sound of flesh upon marble is almost unbearable.

Twilight is so powerful that it spawned an entire genre of copycats. For better or for worse, our generation is plagued with vampire television shows, movies and books. There must be something about these bloodsuckers that tickles our fancy.

This movie is a lot of fun to watch, and not only because of the godly abs of Lautner (granted those are a plus). There are many laugh-out-loud moments and nuances in the acting that truly lift the film, especially during the scene where Bella gets to know Jacob’s werewolf friends.

The film’s soundtrack was made to order for the film by indie artists such as Grizzly Bear and Anya Marina, bringing “underground” music to the masses. This is a franchise that definitely knows what it’s doing, and will continue to captivate wider audiences than just 13-year-old girls.

Watching New Moon is kind of like eating a pint of ice cream. You might feel guilty about it, but you’ll leave with a smile.

diversions@umdbk.com

RATING: 3 of 5 stars