By Daniel Supanick
Staff Writer
I don’t understand the appeal behind the Twilight series. I have always found it very shallow and uninvolving. The characters are poorly developed blank slates, and spend most of their time brooding. We are never given any sort of explanation for or exploration of the relationship between the human and vampire central characters. We are simply meant to accept their love for each other because the characters say it exists.
The first Twilight film was awful. Not only was the story contrived and weightless, but the production values were poor. The visual effects were defective, the editing was distracting, and the cinematography was abysmal. The entire film looked as though it were being shot through the filter of a cinder block. The acting was even more distracting than these aspects. As vampire Edward and human Bella, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were completely devoid of emotion, and were given simple, unimportant character details on which to build their performances. These details would often be contradicted later once other traits were introduced. Truth be told, these elements made the film enjoyable only because they created humor where it was not intended. Twilight was a shoddily conceived film, and should have been much darker and more introspective.
The film’s sequel, New Moon, is somewhat of an improvement in terms of the series’ production values. The cinematography is far better and could actually be considered laudable. The visual effects are more seamless within the film’s universe. The soundtrack is less distracting than it was in last year’s predecessor, where the music often stuck out and ruined the effect. There’s one scene in the film that works in part because the music enhances it so much. There’s even a moderately notable performance from one of the cast members. These elements, however, do not a good film make.
The main problem with New Moon is that it continues the series’ illusion that it can get by simply on saying that things are the way they are, and that’s that. Edward and Bella’s relationship is one composed of giant, empty words punctuated by long, detached stares. There’s no meaning behind any of this, and we’re meant to accept it simply because they say they love each other. In a film that hinges on a heavy relationship, one would think the filmmakers would at least try to give it reasons to be.
The characters in New Moon are a bit more fleshed out than they were in Twilight, but are still wholly distasteful. Bella is the biggest problem in this area. In the first film, she was faceless, an empty portrait on which the filmmakers threw irrelevant characteristics. In New Moon, she is a tad more dimensional, although not by much, and is actually very unlikable. In this film, we are subjected to her acting on dangerous impulses to get the attention of Edward, who, quite honestly, doesn’t treat her very well and is a threat to her. To fill up this hole, she uses another boy, Jacob Black, who cares for her and treats her with the respect she deserves, only for her to lead him on to keep him around and make herself feel better. Having a mentally unstable heroine would be understandable if this heroine made steps towards ending her instability. However, Bella only continues her delusions and drags her loved ones into them, something a protagonist we’re supposed to get behind and root for shouldn’t be doing.
Then there’s Edward. Edward is a terrible character. He has no personality, no character traits, and no greater purpose. He is only an object for Bella to pine over. We are never given any concrete or even abstract reason for Bella to be in love with Edward because we are never given a bigger picture of Edward. We’re told that he is tortured and that he hates himself, but all we see is him pouting and sulking rather than making any realistic shows of self-hatred and low self-worth. Most of this problem lies in Robert Pattinson’s performance, one so devoid of any real meaning that it only makes the character more unreachable.
New Moon still does nothing in the way of making its story meaningful. Edward and Bella’s relationship is once again portrayed as a constant. As mentioned before, no deeper reasons are given for their love. We are instead given scenes of them whispering to each other about how they’d die without the other. There’s no tension in their relationship, and no characteristics to it. As in the first film, they spend most of their time staring blankly at each other instead of having any actual consequential moments or conversations. When Edward leaves Bella, her heartbreak is understandable, but her reaction, sitting in a chair at a window for three or four months in a row, is uncalled for. Why would she be reacting so severely when there was nothing there? What did Edward have that made her so complete? What did Bella have that made Edward suppress his deeper urges in order to be with her? These questions are once again left unanswered, and leave the film’s events without any importance or relevance. The story then tries to compensate for this absence of consequence by trying to liken itself to Shakespearian tales, which only makes it come off as pretentious.
New Moon also comes off as very silly at points where it shouldn’t and introduces non sequiturs that take credibility out of the story. Conflicts between characters are resolved too quickly and are presented as “aw, shucks, wasn’t that silly?” types of moments rather than the ones with actual weight they were set up to be. The werewolves in the movie would have been the highlight, had it not been for the unintentionally funny, Incredible Hulk-like “Don’t make me angry” moments that litter their impending arrival. Scenes meant to show Bella and Edward’s love for each other are executed with such poor foresight that they ultimately can’t be taken seriously. The filmmakers do nothing here to bring credence to the film’s elements, and once again leave it as a palate of nonsensical happenings.
The acting in this film still hasn’t improved much. Pattinson’s performance is certainly lacking, and Kristen Stewart once again tries to simulate angst by biting her lip and playing with her hair while reading her lines monotonously. At some points, her attraction to Edward is displayed through facial expressions similar to those Meg Ryan made performing her fake orgasm in …When Harry Met Sally. Taylor Lautner tries his hardest as Jacob Black, but is going up against actors who aren’t performing at the top of their game, and as a result his performance suffers. The only actor in the film who pulls off a memorable performance is Michael Sheen, who plays Aro, the head of the Volturi, the vampiric royal family. In the five minutes he’s in the film, he chews the scenery and creates a truly two-faced, evil character. When Sheen leaves the screen, his absence is felt, as no one reaches the performance levels he does. Sheen is the only actor who leaves the film alive.
New Moon is a better film than Twilight. Its improved production values prove that an effort was made to make it a more credible technical feat. Its primary problem though is that it still buys into its central characters’ delusions that everything is perfect, and still chooses never to leave the surface. It still doesn’t try to transcend the low expectations many have set for it and chooses to continue the silliness that characterized its predecessor. New Moon is an improvement, but still has a ways to go to make the Twilight series a good one.
Comments may be sent to daniels7@umbc.edu
