As a sequel to the previous, much beloved Twilight, New Moon was considerably better.  Though the acting still was not completely solid, it didn’t make me want to cringe every time an actor spoke or moved.  However, one thing that really bothered me was how the vampires and werewolves looked.  Both were unrealistic.  I assume this might be because monsters that don’t exist would be quite hard to recreate. 

                The storyline is based off of Bella Swan, a human in love with the vampire, Edward Cullen.  Through reasons that aren’t clear until the end of the movie, Edward and his family leave Bella in the small town of Forks, Washington, unprotected while another vampire, Victoria, is hunting her.  Bella is heartbroken but turns to werewolf Jacob Black for comfort.  Daring to take a risk on one fateful day, Bella decides to go cliff diving—diving off a steep cliff into the water.  Edward’s sister, Alice, who sees the future, witnesses Bella’s jump and believes her to be dead.  Edward hears the news, and being overcome by guilt and grief, decides to show himself as a vampire to the world so the vampire counsel will have to kill him.  Alice returns to Forks to relay the news to Bella, who is very much alive.  They go to find Edward and stop him in time. 

                The movie ends in a cliff hanger, which I didn’t appreciate very much. New Moon had plenty of comedic parts interwoven with the drama of it all.  This movie is rated PG-13.