New Moon: DVD Review

New Moon: DVD Review

New Moon

Rating: M
Released by Sony Home Pictures

The Twilight Saga: New Moon opens with a shot of a full moon and ends with Bella taking a breath - and, in between for the fans of the saga, there's everything they could want. But for those who are probably not 100% bona fide Team Edward/ Team Jacob, there could be a lot of eye rolling and wondering what on earth the continuing obsession is about.

The story takes up where Twilight left off - with Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (R Patz) deeply in love and on the eve of Bella's 18th birthday. Despite her protestations, the Cullens throw Bella a birthday party - but a paper cut sees Bella shed some blood, which sees Edward's brother Jasper try to take her life.

As Edward ends up hurting Bella while trying to protect her, he decides it's safer for him to be out of her life - for good.

Destroyed by the rejection of her first love, Bella falls apart - enter Jacob (Taylor Lautner) who plugs the hole in her heart (despite hiding a secret about himself) with companionship and sworn oaths of fidelity.

But Bella finds he's not enough and when she discovers that thrill seeking and becoming an adrenaline junkie allows Edward to appear to her, Bella chooses to live life on the edge to be with her one true love.

Danger for Bella is just around the corner though - with vampire Victoria out for revenge after the death of her mate (whom the Cullens despatched in the first Twilight) and hot on Bella's trail. A series of miscommunications leads Edward to believe Bella's dead and forces him to sacrifice himself at the hands of the vampire clan, The Volturi (a la Romeo and Juliet.)

Can Bella save Edward in time? And more importantly, will she sacrifice her burgeoning relationship with Jacob for the star crossed love of her life?

Some films are review proof - and the latest in the Twilight franchise is one of those. It soared at the box office and continues to soar on DVD and Blu Ray.
Sure, I could spend time telling you how there's a gratuitous excess of abs on slow-mo show here (both with Jacob and Edward) - but that's what the fans want to see (certainly judging by the lusty cat calls and wolf whistles at the NZ premiere); I could reveal there's some horrendously corny teen love lines - such as Edward's "You gave me everything just by breathing" to Bella, but the swoons of any audience watching this suggest to me that that's just pandering to the fans - and I could tell you that parts of the film play like music videos as the soundtrack swells over aching teens caught up in their relationship and during the Wolf Pack chasing Victoria the vampire - but again, that's what the diehard fans of the franchise want.

With the third film almost here, it's a welcome burst for fans of the saga; everyone else may wonder what the fuss is all about - and some may claim New Moon with its bustling buff bodies and lustful tones as a guilty pleasure.

Extras: A sneak peek at Eclipse among a wealth of other goodies for fans of the Stephenie Meyer series.

Rating: 7/10