Buff shirtless men and a good soundtrack await moviegoers
S WITH THE FIRST installment of the ?Twilight? movie series, the first few scenes of ?New Moon? were marked by ear-splitting shrieks from the audience. The reason for that, of course, was the appearance of Robert Pattinson onscreen. Brooding as usual and dressed like someone straight from the pages of GQ, Pattinson?s acting was nonetheless the only thing that did not improve from the first ?Twilight? movie.

?New Moon,? adapted from the runaway bestseller by Stephenie Meyer, was directed by Chris Weitz (the first one was by Catherine Hardwicke). Under the hands of Weitz, who also directed ?The Golden Compass? and ?About A Boy,? as well as producer of ?American Pie? and ?Nick and Norah?s Infinite Playlist,? what could have been a messy fangirl film was turned into something eminently watchable and sometimes even enjoyable.

But that?s not to say that the film doesn?t have its cheesy moments?Pattinson?s acting as Edward Cullen is decidedly wooden, which is understandable because there?s not much for him to do in the film aside from urging Kristen Stewart as Bella to not do something stupid. As a hologram, no less. And there?s also a scene that features Bella and Edward running through the woods dressed in flowing clothes (yes, really). That said, Stewart?s acting has moved beyond staring sullenly into space and making goo-goo eyes at her undead dreamboat, but some lines, such as ?Leaving you was the hardest thing I?ve done in 100 years,? make the movie cheesier than it already is. Then again, that?s Meyer?s fault, not the filmmaker?s.

The CGI is pretty old school as well, especially when the wolves burst onscreen. But you can tell no one?s really looking at minute details, because everyone?s staring at the buff, ripped bodies of the wolf pack (when they?re human, of course). In fact, a good portion of the movie is spent dedicated to showing off the grueling hours the actors must have spent at the gym, because the wolf characters (headed by Taylor Lautner as Jacob) spend nearly all their screen time half-naked. But as this is a film that thankfully does not seem to take itself so seriously this time, all the clichés somehow become more acceptable.

A better soundtrack featuring Death Cab For Cutie, Muse and Bon Iver, among others, also make the movie bearable even for non-?Twilight? fans. The melancholy songs add an indie vibe to an otherwise thoroughly mainstream movie, so expect heavy airplay from the soundtrack on the radio soon.

All in all, the second installment of ?Twilight? is pretty good, even for a teen movie. You won?t hear boys rave about it, but at least they won?t be sleeping through the movie either.

E-mail the author at biancaconsunji@yahoo.com