Alice In Wonderland (2010)

You can afford to see more movies after you get a big win at online casino games like baccarat and craps online, all at CasinoBellini.com!

Alice in Wonderland, the much-hyped collaboration between director Tim Burton and the Disney company, is a live-action version of Lewis Carroll’s beloved classic. While not a direct sequel to the 1951 Disney animated feature film of the same name, this version uses the animated film as a springboard of sorts.

In this version of Alice, the titular character is now a young woman in her late teens, who returns to Wonderland to escape from an arranged (and surprise, for her at least) engagement party in Victorian London. Pressured, and totally not ready to answer the marriage proposal of a snobbish aristocrat, Alice runs away to follow the White Rabbit, who leads her down through the rabbit hole (viewers of the 3D version – this part was one of highlights of the 3D visual effects!), and into a whole new adventure in Wonderland.

When word first got out of Burton working on Alice for Disney, and Johnny Depp being involved in the project, expectations ran high. Burton is known for crafting dark and twisting universes, and Wonderland, the story where most of Alice takes place, seemed like a fitting candidate to be transformed by Burton’s vision. And Depp, known for inhabiting the zaniest of roles, would make the perfect Mad Hatter – no one else would seem to be able to fit in!

However, this movie’s Wonderland may not be what some might expect. This film’s setting is a bit darker, yes, but not a Burton-esque dark. Wonderland, or Underland as it is referred to by the characters in the film, is suffering due to the rule of the Red Queen (Bonham-Carter), hence the dilapidated, decaying look of some of the locales. However, it is not all gloomy – if anything, it just seems like a dreamier but less psychedelic version of the old animated film’s Wonderland. Burton still manages to create a fantastic universe, that I think, 3D or not, is quite beautiful.

The rest of the effects were nicely done, not too realistic as to lose the “magic” and dream-like state of Wonderland, but not too cartoony either, creating a fantastic world that feels “just right.”

Mia Wasikowska as Alice in Alice in Wonderland (2010).

Johnny Depp plays another weird role as the Mad Hatter, evoking Madonna with his gap-toothed smile, and channeling Edward Scissorhands and his version of Willy Wonka at the same time. It’s a more subdued, subtler Hatter, and not quite what I expected (but in a good way). He is less manic and more introspective, though still prone to bursts of zaniness, and I think it works for the character.

The actress who stole the show has to be Mia Wasikowska, a 19-year-old revelation from Australia, who was astounding as Alice. She portrays Alice magnificently. Screenwriter Linda Woolverton (known for writing Beauty and the Beast and co-wrote The Lion King) wrote Alice as the young girl growing up pressured to conform to Victorian norms, but who has grown into a bit of a rebel and is a strong-willed young woman looking to find her own path. Wasikowska portrays the character amazingly, as Alice journeys through Wonderland and becomes an empowered heroine.

The supporting cast was solid too. Helena Bonham-Carter steals the show as the big-headed (literally) Red Queen, with deadpan lines that can’t help but make you laugh. George McFly Crispin Glover is thoroughly creepy as the Knave of Hearts, spindly and quite manipulative. (Quite the opposite of the guy who used to get beat up by Biff Tannen.)

Helena Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland (2010).

Anne Hathaway was a bit of a weak link, as her White Queen evokes a dreamy, kind-of-hippie noble – a bit too…airheaded, for lack of a better term. I got that she was the noble, gentle queen, but her channeling Luna Lovegood of the Harry Potter franchise didn’t suit Hathaway too well, I think. The voice acting was superb, with Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar and Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat taking the cake. Others of note were Matt Lucas as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, who served as great comic relief, and Christopher Lee as the dreaded Jabberwocky, who was rightfully menacing.

One of the things I liked best about the film is the recurring theme is how Alice firmly believes that she is in but a dream, proclaiming that “this is my dream, you’re all just figments of my imagination!” A poignant scene with her and The Hatter occur, in which the realism of dreams is called into question, adding to the depth of meaning in the film. The payoff at the end was worth it, and while younger audiences will enjoy the visuals and the basic plot, the film offers adult viewers with something to digest as they leave the theatre.

Related posts:

1. Movie News: The Last Airbender and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland
2. Movie News: Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland trailer
3. Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Review: Alice In Wonderland (2010) - Pinoy Idle

A lot of people (me included) thought that The Hurt Locker and Avatar would split the awards, with Bigelow taking home the Best Director plum, and Avatar winning Best Picture.

Bigelow is the first woman in the 82-year history of the Oscars to earn the Best Director award.

The Hurt Locker and Avatar came in with 9 nominations each. Avatar won the Oscars for Visual Effects, Art Direction, and Cinematography. In addition to the Best Picture and Best Director awards, The Hurt Locker took home the Film editing, Sound editing, Sound mixing, and Best Original Screenplay.

Related posts:

1. Oscars 2009 Nominees!
2. Movie News: The Last Airbender and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland
3. Film: Stills from Half-Blood Prince

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

“The Hurt Locker” dominates Academy Awards - Pinoy Idle

Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief (2010)

Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief tells the story of Percy Jackson (Lerman), a regular kid struggling with dyslexia and ADHD. Soon enough, though, Percy discovers that his “disabilities” are really because he isn’t a regular kid – he is a demigod, borne of Poseidon, Greek god of the sea, and a mortal woman. And never mind that he just found out that he is the son of a god – Percy is also being hunted, accused of stealing Zeus’ lightning, the most powerful weapon in the world. If not returned, this could lead to a war between the Greek gods and the end of the world as we know it.

In the tradition of the old Greek stories, Percy is accompanied by his guardian satyr/best friend Grover (Jackson), and the demigoddess Annabeth (Daddario) in his quest to not only save the world by appeasing the angry Zeus and finding “the lightning thief,” but also to save his human mother from the clutches of Hades, god of the underworld.

Percy Jackson is a fun, modern take on the myths of old. I’m a sucker for Greek mythology, and it was fun to see how the filmmakers transplanted some of the tales into modern day America, including some lesser known myths. Of course, it’s not only the gods that are present – creatures and other characters of the myths make appearances, including a harpy, a minotaur, the wise centaur Chiron, and the gorgon Medusa (played splendidly by Uma Thurman, channeling her inner Poison Ivy), among others.

Director Chris Columbus, the director of various kids’ classics such as Gremlins and Home Alone, brings his experience in directing the first two Harry Potter films into this new book-based fantasy franchise. Unfortunately, Percy Jackson also suffers a bit from his pacing, which, like on his work in Potters 1 and 2, can be a little off. The transitions between scenes could have used some better fine-tuning too.

The movie is saved because aside from excellent visual effects, it sports decent acting from the young leads, despite the direction and sometimes-forced script. Most impressive were Logan Lerman (who also impressed me as Christian Bale’s son in the 2007 remake of 3:10 To Yuma) and Brandon T. Jackson, as Percy and Grover, whose onscreen chemistry is great. Jake Abel and Alexandra Daddario, as the other main demigods, were decent, but not “wow.” The adult actors, on the other hand, seemed to have a ton of fun with their roles and scripts (sometimes a little too much fun – “I dated your daddy!” – Medusa), and while there were some initial shocks regarding the casting (in a good way), they played out nicely enough.

Percy Jackson is far from perfect, but is an enjoyable film for kids, and will probably make enough to merit a sequel (and yes, I’m looking forward to it). It’s not as good as the Potter films (and those aren’t even the best fantasy sagas), but will certainly get some more people to brush up on their Greek mythology in anticipation for the sequel, and most probably in anticipation to read the novels. A lot of other franchises could certainly do worse.

Related posts:

1. Now Showing: The Wolfman, Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief, Valentine’s Day
2. Review: Percy Jackson & The Olympians
3. Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Review: Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief (2010) - Pinoy Idle

Dear John (2010)

Dear John is a romantic drama that tells the love story of John, a young soldier played by G.I. Joe and Step Up star Channing Tatum, and Savannah, a college student played by Mamma Mia and Jennifer’s Body star Amanda Seyfried.

Eye candy aside, the story is basically this: “bad” boy meets girl, they fall in love, bad boy becomes good boy, but then, life happens. In my opinion, after A Walk to Remember, this was the next most tolerable movie based on a Nicholas Sparks novel.

I don’t want to give a review on how the movie was played, or how the actors portrayed their characters, because it is a Nicholas Sparks movie, after all. You walk in the movie house and you know what to expect - a love story that usually is also a mush fest. All the Sparks elements are there - the small town setting, the “symbolism” of their love, and the “tragedy” that will test their love for each other. In the middle of the movie, you start to play a guessing game. Which of these characters will die (because it’s almost a Sparks’ trademark already)? How will the lead characters overcome whatever inevitable tragedy befalls them, and move on?

However, this one was still able to surprise me. Despite following the basic formula for a Sparks drama, the film managed a bit of variety that somehow made the film more “ok” than “too mushy.” (You’ll have to watch it to find out!)

That didn’t prevent me from wondering what the heck hit me to watch this movie while walking out of the movie house as the credits rolled though. Others may feel vulnerable, ready to feel the emotions that comes with what they see as falling in love. Some, like me, believe that the 160 pesos for my ticket was best spent appreciating Channing Tatum while he was surfing, or working out, or just wearing that crisp army uniform.

By the way, belated happy hearts day to all!

(The film managed to knock off Avatar off it’s perch atop the US box office for one weekend, with a strong showing on Super Bowl weekend - a clever move on the part of the studio, as they also timed the release near Valentine’s Day. - Ed.)

Related posts:

1. Review: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
2. Review: Star Trek (2009)
3. Review: (500) Days of Summer (2009)

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Review: Dear John (2010) - Pinoy Idle

This version of the popular TV series originally came under fire for casting Caucasians in roles that were obviously (from the series) Asian. Despite the protests from fans, the film looks good to go. I’m not thrilled with the casting choices, but I reckon I’d still give them a chance. Dev Patel, the star of Slumdog Millionaire, stars as the villain of the film, Prince Zuko.

It’ll be interesting to see how director M. Night Shyamalan, more known for his suspense films such as The Sixth Sense, The Village, and Signs, will handle a straight-up adaptation of the animated series.

The Last Airbender (2010)

The Last Airbender is slated for a July 2010 release.

Trailer originally came to my knowledge via FilmDrunk

Related posts:

1. Movie News: The Last Airbender and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland
2. Movie News: Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland trailer
3. Film: Stills from Half-Blood Prince

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Movie News: The Last Airbender full trailer - Pinoy Idle

After a slew of films released in January (most foreign holiday films were released just this year because of the MMFF), including The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (Heath Ledger’s last film, which I was unfortunately unable to catch in theaters), the excellent Sherlock Holmes, the underrated Daybreakers (another film we’ve mentioned in this space before, Legion, is still out, I think, but probably not for long) one might think that there won’t be any great stuff to tide moviegoers over till the big hits arrive for summer.

Fortunately, a trio of promising films opens today, which will complement Disney’s The Princess and the Frog (which has been getting good reviews; I’ve yet to watch it though) at your local moviehouse.

First off is the highly promoted fantasy film, Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief.

Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief (2010)

The film, adapted from the book of the same name, is the story of a boy who learns that he is the demigod son of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Heavily relying on Greek mythology, the story basically follows Percy Jackson as he and his friends attempt to recover Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt. Boromir Sean Bean plays Zeus, while Logan Lerman, who was pretty good playing Christian Bale’s son in the excellent 2007 remake of 3:10 To Yuma plays the hero. This movie looks promising, and since I’m a sucker for Greek mythology (I’m so excited for Clash of the Titans!), catching this one on the big screen is a no-brainer.

For those bookworms who want to get their hands on a copy of the book series, Powerbooks has stocks of the nifty boxed sets (the Fully Booked branch I visited last Sunday still didn’t get copies of the boxed set though).

Another hyped-up film is the romantic comedy Valentine’s Day, which features a strong ensemble cast (Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Foxx, Patrick Dempsey, and even Topher Grace, etc.)

Valentine's Day (2010)

From the director of Julia Roberts’ classic Pretty Woman, the trailer for Valentine’s Day reminded me of a British romantic comedy with an ensemble cast - Love, Actually. My first impression was that it’s the American Love, Actually, and needless to say, a ton of moviegoers out there are all hyped up for this. So set your Valentine’s Day dates for this one!

Last, but not the least, is The Wolfman, a remake of the 40s classic.

The Wolfman (2010)

Featuring a strong cast: Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving, and Emily Blunt, the film’s release has been pushed back for quite a while, so this premiere has seemingly come out of nowhere.

I haven’t watched the original classic horror film, from the Lon Chaney, Jr. and Bela Lugosi era, but I’m still excited for this film. Heck, it’s Anthony Hopkins and Hugo Weaving! Benicio del Toro, a favorite from crime classics like The Usual Suspects and Sin City, in the starring role certainly helps too. But I shouldn’t keep my expectations too high - remakes of the classics are usually kinda off. (That said, I really really hope that Clash of the Titans won’t suck too badly.)

Happy viewing!

Related posts:

1. Review: Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief (2010)
2. Review: Percy Jackson & The Olympians
3. Now Showing: RDJ’s Sherlock Holmes, Zombieland

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Now Showing: The Wolfman, Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief, Valentine’s Day - Pinoy Idle

I’m really hoping Up In The Air will be shown here! I’ll also have to catch up on the ones I missed on the big screen. My goal for this year is to able to watch all the Best Picture nominees before the awards are handed out.

Related posts:

1. “The Hurt Locker” dominates Academy Awards
2. Discussion: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Oscars 2009 Nominees! - Pinoy Idle

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

A re-imagination of the world’s most popular detective, Sherlock Holmes follows the story of Holmes (Downey, Jr.), his loyal friend Dr. John Watson (Law), and Holmes’ rival/master thief Irene Adler (McAdams) in a mystery involving the powerful Lord Blackwood (Strong), who seems to have risen up from the dead to cast an aura of terror over London. Director Guy Ritchie teams up with a solid cast of stars to bring the classic characters to life for a new audience.

I initially had a few concerns about how they could bring Sherlock Holmes’ to the big screen without it being too “talky” or awkward (like the Da Vinci Code and its sequel), but I should have known better.

Guy Ritchie is known for his British caper films, such as Snatch, or the more recent RocknRolla, and he brings his style to the film. He is able to balance his fast-paced, action-oriented style with the investigation of the case that Holmes is trying to solve.

The acting is just excellent. Just like he did for Tony Stark in Iron Man, Robert Downey, Jr. (henceforth referred to as RDJ) completely took over the character of Sherlock Holmes.

The legendary detective’s eccentricity and genius are at full display, and makes Holmes such a charismatic character. He’s not as gaunt or lean as I imagined, but RDJ works for the fight scenes (and boy, do the fight scenes work!)

This isn’t your image of the deerstalker-cap-wearing-Holmes, but a more realistic Holmes, if you will. This Sherlock Holmes is an effective fighter while being a deductive genius. Any character who is that smart has to be a bit eccentric, and RDJ plays the character to perfection.

But I have to admit, I was already expecting an excellent performance from RDJ, after watching him in Iron Man and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. It was Jude Law’s turn as his loyal friend Dr. Watson that was perhaps more surprising. I’m a Jude Law fan, but his Watson is easily one of his best characters. Far from the bumbling sidekick popularized in the old 30s/40s films and ingrained in pop culture, this Watson is more like the original character that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote.

He’s no mere sidekick! I guess people have this perception of a doctor being a scholarly fellow, but this doctor is a war veteran. Watson serves as a foil, someone emotional and very human, to Holmes’ detached and logical detective. The doctor also opens a can of whoop-ass in the movie, holding his own in a fight. The chemistry and dynamic between them just works. You get the sense of friendship between the two, and how they play off each others personalities.

Mark Strong, who always appears in Guy Ritchie’s films, is regal and evil as Lord Blackwood. Strong’s presence commands attention, and he is able to channel that mysterious aura that envelopes the case that Holmes is trying to crack. Even though Strong has appeared in a lot of movies, he appears as very different characters, a testament to his acting skills. Recently, he was Septimus, the last brother in Stardust, and the smooth hitman Archie in RocknRolla.
The weakest link in the cast is Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, who, while solid, was not spectacular. Still, she did an excellent job of playing the role of the dangerous thief, the only one who has confounded Holmes.

The rest of the supporting cast was solid. Of note are Eddie Marsan as the bumbling Inspector LeStrade, who always seems to arrive at the scene of the crime too late, and Kelly Reilly as Mary Morstan, Watson’s love interest. The latter was a bit understated, and she seemed too much like a baddie hiding a secret for my taste, but that’s just me.

The film boasts of a truly awesome score by Hans Zimmer, which set the mood for key scenes excellently. Known for his scores on recent blockbusters such as the Pirates of the Carribean series, The Dark Knight and classics such as The Lion King, Zimmer was able to compose music that excited me at every turn, and lent the film with the proper aura of the setting and the story.

The filmmakers managed to create the world of the 1800s into far from a dark and dreary place. The world of Sherlock Holmes, dark as it may be, is still quite lively and full of characters, lending the mystery film a bit of a lighter tone. Ritchie utilizes slow motion and sped up action scenes, but unlike other films where they just feel overused, they are perfect for this movie. Holmes’ “breaking down the opponent” action scenes were especially amazing (it’s so hard to explain in words - you have to watch it to capture the awesomeness!). The action movie flair of the film, with explosions and chases, doesn’t detract from the plot, which moves along at a perfect pace. Though it clocks in at 128 minutes (2 hours+), it totally didn’t feel like it.

With an excellent combination of great plot, great acting, great visuals, great music, and most importantly - and this is key - excellent storytelling, Sherlock Holmes is a complete entertainment package for me. It’s definitely great to start the year right with a great movie, and you can’t go wrong with this one.

*Thanks to Eula for the Holmes/Watson pic!

Related posts:

1. Now Showing: RDJ’s Sherlock Holmes, Zombieland
2. Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
3. Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Review: Sherlock Holmes (2009) - Pinoy Idle

First off are the films that have already been released in the US.

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, and the lovely Rachel McAdams portrays the popular detective with a fresh twist.

RDJ as Sherlock Holmes

Jude Law as Dr. Watson

The film is directed by popular crime film director, Guy Ritchie, who most people might know as the ex-husband of Madonna, and whose credits include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and RocknRolla.

From the trailers I’ve seen (and other reviews; it’s been released since Christmas last year in the US), it looks to be a fun, action-packed movie. The casting of Robert Downey, Jr., the star of the Iron Man films, will no doubt attract even more viewers. The film also features Mark Strong (of Stardust fame) as Lord Blackwood, the main antagonist of the film.

Next up is Zombieland, a zombie comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin.

Zombieland (2009)

I’ve wanted to watch this ever since I saw the trailer. The foursome are survivors of a zombie apocalypse who band together to get to a sanctuary. I loved Simon Pegg’s zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, and while Zombieland looks to be a bit different, it still looks promising. I’m turning into a sucker for zombie films (might be an effect of the Left 4 Dead 2 gaming sessions!)

Next up is something more serious and lesser-known, the upcoming fantasy-horror film Legion.

Paul Bettany stars in Legion.

Paul Bettany stars as the archangel Michael, who descends to Earth to stop the apocalypse when God decides to wipe out humanity. The trailer is properly scary, and the premise of the film is quite interesting, pitting Michael against other angels as he protects a pregnant young waitress whose unborn son might be the second coming of Christ.

The film features a solid ensemble cast, with Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, and Lucas Black, star of Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, rounding out the human leads, and Adrianne Palicki as Charlie, the young waitress who Michael protects. Kevin Durand, most recently featured as Frederick Dukes/The Blob in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, plays the archangel Gabriel, leader of the angel army.

Another upcoming film that I’m interested in is the Ethan Hawke-starrer Daybreakers.

Ethan Hawke stars in the vampire sci-fi/horror film, Daybreakers.

Daybreakers is a science-fiction/horror movie, where the majority of the population of the world has turned into vampires (no, this ain’t Twilight anymore!). But with normal humans now a minority, the food supply of the vampires is drying up (pun not intended), with scientists like Edward Dalton (played by Ethan Hawke), a vampire himself, looking to find a blood substitute before they go extinct. He encounters a group of fugitive human survivors who wish to find a “cure” for vampirism and restore thue human race. Sam Neill, Willem Dafoe, and Isabel Lucas round out the main cast of the movie.

I like the concept of Daybreakers, although I’m not sure if it’s going to be released in the Philippines. I saw a poster for it in SM North EDSA, but the poster was a horribly botched job that looks more like a cheap B-movie than the international poster. It’s just been released in North America and will come out in Australia in a few weeks, so I’m hoping that the local distributors get it right for this promising film.

*****

Lost under the media hype of Iron Man 2, which will star Scarlett Johansson as the anti-heroine Black Widow and Mickey Rourke as the supervillain Whiplash, is another May blockbuster release, Robin Hood.

Robin Hood (2010)

Russell Crowe stars as Robin Hood in the Ridley Scott-helmed epic. The movie presents a more historical Robin Hood (as 2004’s King Arthur, featuring Keira Knightley and Clive Owen, attempted to do). Crowe plays Sir Robin of Loxley, who returns from the Crusades to find his home oppressed by the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Russell Crowe stars as Sir Robin of Loxley, aka Robin Hood.

Cate Blanchett plays Lady Marion, Robin’s love interest, and Danny Huston, Mark Strong, and William Hurt are just some of the cast members in this feature that, from the trailer, felt like a sequel to the other Crowe-Scott collaboration, the Oscar-winning epic Gladiator. Which isn’t a bad thing at all.

Don’t sleep on this one, as it is one among the many challengers to Iron Man sequel for the biggest big blockbuster May release, along with Disney’s Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, chick flick Sex and the City 2, and the last (allegedly) sequel to the Shrek animated film franchise, Shrek Forever After. We’ll talk about more releases in the upcoming weeks, including upcoming fantasy/action films Clash of the Titans (March) and Prince of Persia (May), and a couple of family-friendlier films such as The Lightning Thief (February), How To Train Your Dragon (March) and Toy Story 3 (June).

“Sherlock Holmes” and “Zombieland” are released today, January 8, in Philippine cinemas. “Legion” comes out on January 22, while “Robin Hood” is slated for a May release.

Related posts:

1. Review: Sherlock Holmes (2009)
2. Now Showing: The Wolfman, Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief, Valentine’s Day
3. (500) Days of Summer: Showing October 21

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Now Showing: RDJ’s Sherlock Holmes, Zombieland - Pinoy Idle

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

The first film in the series was so bad it was good. I admit it, I was entertained. New Moon isn’t as bad, but while entertaining enough, isn’t particularly good either.

New Moon picks up where the first film left off: Bella Swan (Stewart) and the “vegetarian” vampire Edward Cullen (Pattinson) are still lovebirds. Bella’s birthday is being celebrated by the Cullen family, with the celebration organized by Alice, one of Edward’s “sisters.” Unfortunately, the party doesn’t go as planned - when Bella suffers from a small papercut, the sight/scent of her blood drives the bloodlust of Jasper (Jackson Rathbone, who will notably be playing Sokka in the upcoming The Last Airbender). Edward accidentally harms Bella when he pushes Jasper away (super-strength, and all that), and is guilty over it. What follows is two hours of teen drama interspersed with some supernatural fight scenes and a vampire “high council,” as Edward leaves Bella “for her own safety,” Bella goes into crazy/depressed mode, and Sharkboy, uh, I mean, Jacob Black (a beefed up Taylor Lautner) tries to prove his affections for Bella.

Before everything, let me just say that this film actually had a nice soundtrack. The mood (even though it was mostly “adolescent angst”) was decently captured in the music, and the action scenes were accompanied well. It also boasted of much better effects and better production value. The first film, Twilight, had special effects that were on par with, or even worse than TV’s Smallville. Thankfully, the studio at least invested a bit more and made the visuals a lot better, complete with contact lenses for the vampires. (My friend still claims that the werewolves looked more like oversized and cuddly Chow Chows than fierce wolves though.)

Although these are two bright points though, the main draws of the film - Edward and Bella - are a bit of a downer. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are still pretty wooden as the starring couple, and have little on-screen chemistry (or was that part of the book?).

Thankfully, the rest of the cast did better. Taylor Lautner as the werewolf Jacob boasted of a lot more personality. I actually think that he has more personality than Edward and Bella combined! Another saving grace is Ashley Greene, who creates a lovable and quirky Alice Cullen. Her role as Bella’s best friend sort of came as a surprise to me (I have no idea when they became that close), but she makes her screen time count.

The appearances of Michael Sheen, Jamie Campbell Bower (Anthony from the 2007 Sweeney Todd film) and Dakota Fanning as members of the Volturi also provided a strong supporting cast to the film. Dakota Fanning, of note, looked sufficiently scary, and made her few scenes count. I was also surprised by Cameron Bright’s appearance - I remember him playing the cute son of Aaron Eckhart in Thank You For Smoking, but now he’s all grown up as Alec, the twin brother of Dakota Fanning’s character Jane. I do hope to see more of them in the sequel, because I’d rather watch them (even though Michael Sheen’s character, the vampire Aro was kind of weird, in a bad way) than the painfully awkward Edward/Bella scenes.

Michael Sheen as Aro, Jamie Campbell Bower as Caius, and Cameron Bright as Alec in New Moon.

Dakota Fanning as Jane, a powerful member of the Volturi.

The inevitable sequel comes out next year, and I do hope that the makers will be able to make it a bit more coherent, and actually put some semblance of real romance in what is advertised as a romantic movie.

Annalee Newitz of io9 does a great job of breaking down the film:

“What’s amazing about New Moon, and the whole Twilight series generally, is how easily it becomes self-parody. I think that’s part of its appeal to teenagers, a group of people who cut through adult pretension and lies so incisively - and yet fall so hard for impossible fantasies. It caters to a youthful desire to watch a fairy tale, and then to see that fairy tale mocked mercilessly as the after-school-special bulls*** it is.

I suspect that audiences for New Moon will sometimes choose to see Edward as genuinely romantic, while others will laugh at his makeup. Still others will - like the movie itself - vacillate wildly between romantic yearning and scornful laughter.”

New Moon, despite its flaws, has still captured the imagination of throngs of fans worldwide, evidenced by one of the best opening weekends in US domestic box office history. It boasts of tons of comedy and lines so bad that I laughed out loud while watching (for example, the characters go watch a movie called “Face Punch” - doesn’t get any better than that as far as movie titles go), and enough pretty actors to keep you interested, but ultimately, it lacked the fun I had while watching (and laughing) at the first film, Twilight.

Watch it for the (unintentional?) comedy and the eye candy, but don’t get your hopes up if you’re looking for a masterpiece. Enjoy it for what it is, and you won’t be disappointed.

Related posts:

1. Review: Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)
2. Review: (500) Days of Summer (2009)
3. Review: Terminator: Salvation (2009)

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Review: New Moon (2009) - Pinoy Idle