You Know What I Mean?

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" opens up with an image of a moon on screen suggesting the werewolves will come out and Bella's (Kristen Stewart) life is still dark and incomplete. The film ends with Bella taking an exaggerated breath of air, insinuating she will take a leap of faith with Edward. Everything in between is delivered exactly how Team Edward and Team Jacob fans want the plot to go down.

WARNING: If you are on Team Edward then your biggest let down with the film will be the lack of R. Pattz on screen. And when on screen, he is still as fine as you remember him, but his romantic gestures to Bella are sometimes worth the laugh. The film has even less visuals of Edward (Robert Pattinson), then Stephenie Meyers' book conveys. But, my-o-my does he sparkle on screen.

WARNING: If you are on Team Jacob then you will be disappointed in Taylor Lautner's inability to create on screen chemistry between his character Jacob and Bella. Don't worry, his muscles and abs are as defined as they look in the photos you have seen. In fact Taylor seemed to have focussed so much on his body, that he forgot to focus on acting. Yes you are right in thinking his shirt is off more then 75% of the film.

WARNING: If you are not on Team Edward or Team Jacob, then you should be on the team of people that stay at home instead of going to the movies.

Keeping up with the timeline of "Twilight," the story picks up in the "Twilight Saga: New Moon" exactly where we left off. Right back to the town of Forks, where Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) are in their senior year of high-school, still madly in love and still facing the challenge of their differences in lifestyle.

Bella celebrates her 18th birthday at the Cullen residence and while opening a present she gets a paper-cut, which leads to a dramatic drip of blood, which concurs in a very close call. As a result of this close call, Edward must desert his love for Bella and leave the town of Forks. Edward makes a vow to Bella that she will never see him again and Edward remains true to his word.

Bella toys with the idea that Edward will come back for her if she subjects herself to danger. In effort to bring back Edward and mend her broken heart, she turns to her friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and various dangerous activities that give her an adrenaline rush. Sure, you can kind of play around with the idea that she is depressed, alone and in need of a fix; therefor she becomes an adrenaline junkie.

By no means is "New Moon" comparable to Shakespeare's story of Romeo & Juliet, but when Edward fears that Bella has passed, just like Romeo he makes a dramatic decision to visit the Volturi and change his life. Don't worry we already know there is 3rd film so obviously Edward and Bella both live.

Every great love story has its tragic moments and obstacles. In real life and in the movies. In "Little Mermaid" we witnessed Ariel's longing to be on land, to be with her love, Prince Eric. Ariel gives up her voice for the one she loves. In Disney's "Aladdin," Princess Jasmine has to disobey her family and the rules of being a Princess, to be with the street urchin she fell in love with. These life altering challenges are not intended to make you fear love, rather find appreciation for the passion and desires these characters long for in one another.

Can you really deny yourself from understanding the appeal of a somewhat fantasy-like romance story? Can you find that fan girl or fan boy within you and choose a team?

"New Moon" is by no stretch of the imagination a failure on delivery. "Twilight" introduced the franchise and the obsession by bringing girls their Jacob and their Edward and their perfectly pitched love story - all on a dazzling silver platter. Twilighters and Twi-Hards are among the most hardcore group of "Twilight" fans. We don't call fans of 'Twilight' - Twi-Hards, because they just sit and wait for the next film. Most have read all the books. They have gone to the gas station to get gas, but instead purchased the pen with R. Pattz's face on it.

Director Chris Weitz knew the audience and "New Moon" feeds the fans just what they need to hold themselves over until they
a) go see the film a second time in theatres,
b) wait for it to release on DVD before re-watching it a lot of times, or
c) decorate their ceiling in "New Moon" posters and subscribe to every 'Twilight' related twitter alert, to stay in the know on everything.

Some may find it unfortunate that the plot of the 'New Moon' novel constrained the film to deliver on the crazy-in-love, fairytale like energy that made "Twilight" such a guilty pleasure to watch. Others may find the introduction of the Volturi, the new characters, the wolf pack and the action packed werewolves vs vampire fights just enough to fulfill their "Twilight" fixation.

I am interested in what you think. What you expect? What will make or break the film for you?

I will wait until the film hits theatres on November 20th to reveal my extremely opinionated review. For now, I will start my 222 day countdown for the release of "Eclipse" and continue to replay the Bon Iver and Death Cab For Cutie tracks on the "New Moon" soundtrack.