Yap vs. Yap: Twilight: New Moon

Several months ago, Film Yapper Caine Gardner incited the wrath of teenage girls of all ages by daring to declare, "Twilight sucks!"

Fast forward a few months, as the release of the "Twilight" sequel "New Moon," Film Yap reader Jamaica Slicer cracked back with her response commentary "Twilight Rocks!"

Now, in a "Film Yap" exclusive, these two representatives from the "Twilight" haters and lovers hit up an advance screening of "New Moon" and went head-to-head on the film. Here's a transcript of what they said:

Caine:

A celestial anomaly took place on Wednesday night. I actually enjoyed "Twilight: New Moon." I'm the last person in the world to go to bat for this flick, but the latest installment of the "Twilight" saga is a big improvement over the first film.

It is still hindered by some horribly campy dialog, but the script incorporates more action and fleshes out the characters more.

For the three people out there who don’t know what New Moon is all about, here it is in a nutshell: Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is devastated when her vampire lover Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) decides to the leave the rainy little town of Forks to afford Bella a chance at a normal life.

Falling into a deep depression, Bella turns to her childhood friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) in her time of need. But he too has a secret that pulls him away from Bella, leaving her alone and more vulnerable to an evil that draws closer by the day.

Edward is led to believe that Bella has died, so he heads to Italy to face the Volturi, led by Aro (Michael Sheen) and Jane (Dakota Fanning), in an attempt to have his immortal life extinguished forever.

There was still plenty about "New Moon" that made me cringe. Shoddy digital effects, bad dialog, serious scenes that make you laugh out loud, crummy dialog, hokey camera work and, oh yeah, did I mention the dialog sucked?

What this movie benefited most from is the separation of the lead characters. We don’t have them looking longingly into each other’s eyes for two hours. They’re on separate journeys, with the bulk of the story revolving around Bella and the emotional rollercoaster she’s on.

Even with its issues, New Moon is a good film. I found myself engaged for most of the film and it has me wanting to see what happens to these characters in the next installment. With new director Chris Weitz at the helm, the movie is tighter than the original, but the news that he’s not directing the third movie is a little concerning.

So now that the Twilight franchise has been able to convert me, at least for one film, let's see what a true Twilight fan thought of the film.

Jamaica:

After seeing the movie, someone asked me what I thought, and a little squeak escaped my lips. I literally didn’t answer because I couldn’t come up with the words to describe how much I loved it. I was genuinely fearful walking into the theater because I had built up this movie in my head for such a long time that all it could do was disappoint.

It didn’t.

You’re absolutely right that “New Moon” blows away Hardwicke’s first installment in the series. I won’t be able to watch “Twilight” with the same eyes I did before because of how much better Weitz led the story along. His skill definitely shines through, including getting the best out of the cast--Stewart was actually tolerable, where her acting in the first film still makes me cringe.

The CGI was lacking at points and there were moments of campiness (including a shot during a serious moment of the film that had the audience laughing—oops), but I can’t agree that the dialogue was lame. I was impressed with how well the dialogue matched the book when appropriate but also threw in quite a few witty lines that showed the audience the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Do I think the film was perfect? No. But I absolutely loved it!

I think it says something that a male who has never read the books and publicly blasted nearly everything about the first film would actually admit to liking “New Moon.” So, would you consider giving "Twilight" fans a bit more credit now, Caine?

Caine:

Yes, I will give "Twilight" fans a bit of credit. A little bit. Like I said, "New Moon" was a big improvement, but it didn’t have to do much to out-sparkle the first film. I’m still not convinced that this series will live up to what everyone thinks it should be.

I agree with the fact that some of the CGI was bad, especially anything involving water. You’d think that with a bigger budget they might have thrown down some resources for the effects besides the werewolves. Probably had to use the extra cash for product for Pattinson’s hair. Times are tough, who am I to judge?

The three principal leads are surprising. I thought Stewart and Pattinson did a good job, but I’m intrigued by Lautner. I thought he did a nice job in the film and I’m interested to see him grow as an actor.

Pattinson is still an enigma for me. I just can’t determine how good he really is. Is he playing the role so effortlessly that it comes off as not being something special or is it just that – nothing special. I’d actually like to get your take on that one, with me having not read the books.

You said that a lot of lines matched, which makes me wonder about the books themselves then. I like a good love story, but sometimes words that sound great on the page don’t translate well to the screen. Maybe that’s the case here. The dialogue was stiff, cheesy and took more away from the film that it gave. They really need to give that a look as they prep for the next film.

Was there anything as a fan you saw that you didn’t like? Were there elements left out you feel would have made a better film? Also, since I’m giving most of the film a thumbs up, can you admit there were moments of dialogue, even if it came from the book, that were excruciatingly cheeseworthy?

Jamaica:

There were definitely aspects of "Twilight" that I didn’t care for, and the same is true for the sequel. For me, it’s all about capturing the essence of the books, which I felt “New Moon” did a much better job of. It stuck to the book quite closely, obviously having to cut back on some of the subplots, but still did a good job of further developing the characters. Specifically, it would have been easy to make Edward a perfect, lovable hero, but Edward is portrayed as the slight d-bag he actually is in the book.

The “frolic in the woods scene” seems like something that shouldn’t have made it past test-screenings. Completely editing that out would have kept the intense flow of the scene going and, more importantly, allowed the audience to imagine for themselves what is coming next in the series. It was, frankly, an unbelievably bad move.

I think our difference of opinion on the dialogue is best explained by our difference in gender rather than the fact that I have read the books. The dialogue never seemed cheesy to me, but that’s probably due to the fact that I want it to be possible that people in real life may have a conversation like that. But, I will give it to you that less melodramatic, hopeless romantic people may roll their eyes at various points.

I too was impressed with the cast this time around. I suspect having lived with these characters for over a year has helped. I seriously doubt I will ever be a fan of Stewart, but at least in this movie, I could sort of believe her as Bella. Lautner did a great job of portraying Jacob as a young man that has to deal with incredibly complex emotions. I know his casting for the second film had been up in the air for a time, but I think keeping him on was a good choice.

And Robert Pattinson (sigh)… I think he’s brilliant. I do believe my impression of him as an actor in both films is influenced by the books. Pattinson does an excellent job of portraying the complexity of Edward, while this may seem confusing to viewers who haven’t had the luxury of getting to know Edward as well as someone who has read the books.

And Pattinson’s hair is simply amazing in this movie. I wouldn’t be surprised if it got a separate paycheck.

Caine:

I’m glad you felt the same way about the frolic scene. They could have easily shown the last 10 seconds of the scene where you know she’s been changed and it could have worked. But like you pointed out, they interrupted a deep scene and made it laughable. Never a smart move.

I am also on board with you in your assessment about dialogue.

Maybe the problem isn’t the script at all; maybe it’s the actors' delivery of the dialogue. It’s tough dialogue due in part because it is pulling from source material that is so well known and they want to keep close to the vision people already have in the minds. Who knows? Either way it just doesn’t work for me.

As far as his hair goes – I’ve already put in on my Top Performances of 2009 list. Amazing control and poise in every scene. Truly Masterful.

Jamaica:

Well, at least we've found something we can agree on.

Caine's rating: 3.5 Yaps

Jamaica's rating: 5 Yaps