twilovers.jpgimage courtesy of Summit Entertainment

And then some!

Last night I caught a screening of New Moon here in Hollywood, and while the film hasn't been getting the best reviews, I loved it and I thought it was everything it needed to be.

Of course, the chemistry between Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart was electric from the start, but Taylor Lautner definitely had the surprise card up his sleeve! Half of the audience squealed with delight upon the first sighting of Jacob Black's chiseled abs, and the response was equally as deafening when we caught a glimpse of Edward Cullen's sparkly goodness a little bit later.

While there wasn't nearly enough Edward in New Moon, there was a reason for that and I definitely felt Bella's pain when she pined for her lover. Speaking of Bella, can I just say how gorgeous Kristen looked? She wore very minimal makeup, and there are numerous scenes where she's supposed to be worn out and depressed, yet she still looked stunning! It's easy to see why Rob can't keep his hands off of her, and I'm happy to report that there was a lot more smooching between the lovebirds in this installment of the Twilight franchise.

So what else did I love? Dakota Fanning was a fantastic and deliciously evil Jane Volturi, and Michael Sheen's take on Aro Volturi was just as impressive. Ashley Greene's Alice is the vampire I'd most like to be friends with, and I'm going to download the soundtrack as soon as I'm done writing this blog. Yeah, it was that good!

So what's NOT to love about the movie? For one, the CGI on the wolves was a bit laughable, but if you're a true Twilover and you're caught up in the movie, it almost doesn't even matter. The plot took off rather rapidly during the third act, and there were a few points where the dialogue made me cringe, but that happens with just about every movie so I'm not going to get too picky. New Moon isn't supposed to be an Oscar contender, it's supposed to be a huge blockbuster with a die hard fan following. If its midnight ticket sales on Thursday are any indication of the numbers it's going to pull this weekend, it's safe to say that this is THE biggest movie of the year. Nice work, guys. I give it a B-plus.

UPDATE!
New Moon has broken the record for highest opening-day gross ever! Summit Entertainment is reporting that New Moon earned $72.7 million on Friday, topping The Dark Knight’s previous record of $67.2 million.